1956 Nekaf M38A1
Bovensmilde
In 1947 the Dutch company Nederlandse Kaiser-Frazer Fabrieken (NEKAF) was created with a new factory constructed in Rotterdam. NEKAF assembled 6,000 1949 Kaiser knock-down kits imported from the US using some local content (batteries, tires, interior, carpets, glass) and ignition and electrical system parts from France and Great Britain. Kaiser cars were assembled through 1954 with NEKAF exporting to Europe, South America and the Middle East.
US-built Jeep vehicles were imported into The Netherlands by S.A. Ateliers de La Dyle under an agreement with Willys Overland. Once Willys was purchased by Kaiser, the Willys agreement was transferred to NEKAF. In March 1954 assembly of the Jeep CJ-3B started and was followed by the FC-150, FC-170, the pickup truck, station wagon, CJ-5 and DJ-3A. On 21 January 1955 NEKAF signed a contract with the Royal Netherlands Army to supply 4,000 M38A1 jeeps with the first delivery to the army on 28 May of the same year. The vehicles were knock down kits imported from the US with some local content as with the 1949 Kaiser assembly. NEKAF delivered an additional 1,624 vehicles to the army through 1959 until production was taken over by Kemper & Van Twist Diesel who delivered another 2,237 jeep vehicles through 1963 although these were still commonly known as NEKAFs.
The NEKAF jeeps differed from the US version by adding side reflectors (white in front and red at the rear), low intensity "city lights" on the front fenders and front and rear mounted directional signals. In a bid to reduce the costs, the Ministry of War, having invested already in clothing for the crews, ordered the cabin heaters to be deleted. This modification entailed considerable redesign of the engine cooling unit which eventually led to increased cost of the vehicles (some 12,000 Dutch Florins each). The jeeps, dubbed NEKAF by the military, started to enter service in 1956 and remained so well into the 1990s albeit on reservist duties. The NEKAF jeep saw action in the brief Dutch Indonesian war in 1962, but particularly during the UNIFIL operation in which an armoured infantry battalion participated from 1979 till 1983, the NEKAF turned out to be a robust and reliable vehicle in South Lebanon. Upon withdrawal of the Dutch battalion all UNIFIL NEKAFs were dismantled and sold locally as scrap, save three NEKAFs that were secretly withheld and privately driven back to the Netherlands. One of these sole surviving UNIFIL NEKAFs is now in the collection of the Legermuseum Delft (the Dutch Army Museum).
1956 Nekaf M38A1
Bovensmilde
In 1947 the Dutch company Nederlandse Kaiser-Frazer Fabrieken (NEKAF) was created with a new factory constructed in Rotterdam. NEKAF assembled 6,000 1949 Kaiser knock-down kits imported from the US using some local content (batteries, tires, interior, carpets, glass) and ignition and electrical system parts from France and Great Britain. Kaiser cars were assembled through 1954 with NEKAF exporting to Europe, South America and the Middle East.
US-built Jeep vehicles were imported into The Netherlands by S.A. Ateliers de La Dyle under an agreement with Willys Overland. Once Willys was purchased by Kaiser, the Willys agreement was transferred to NEKAF. In March 1954 assembly of the Jeep CJ-3B started and was followed by the FC-150, FC-170, the pickup truck, station wagon, CJ-5 and DJ-3A. On 21 January 1955 NEKAF signed a contract with the Royal Netherlands Army to supply 4,000 M38A1 jeeps with the first delivery to the army on 28 May of the same year. The vehicles were knock down kits imported from the US with some local content as with the 1949 Kaiser assembly. NEKAF delivered an additional 1,624 vehicles to the army through 1959 until production was taken over by Kemper & Van Twist Diesel who delivered another 2,237 jeep vehicles through 1963 although these were still commonly known as NEKAFs.
The NEKAF jeeps differed from the US version by adding side reflectors (white in front and red at the rear), low intensity "city lights" on the front fenders and front and rear mounted directional signals. In a bid to reduce the costs, the Ministry of War, having invested already in clothing for the crews, ordered the cabin heaters to be deleted. This modification entailed considerable redesign of the engine cooling unit which eventually led to increased cost of the vehicles (some 12,000 Dutch Florins each). The jeeps, dubbed NEKAF by the military, started to enter service in 1956 and remained so well into the 1990s albeit on reservist duties. The NEKAF jeep saw action in the brief Dutch Indonesian war in 1962, but particularly during the UNIFIL operation in which an armoured infantry battalion participated from 1979 till 1983, the NEKAF turned out to be a robust and reliable vehicle in South Lebanon. Upon withdrawal of the Dutch battalion all UNIFIL NEKAFs were dismantled and sold locally as scrap, save three NEKAFs that were secretly withheld and privately driven back to the Netherlands. One of these sole surviving UNIFIL NEKAFs is now in the collection of the Legermuseum Delft (the Dutch Army Museum).