TRUE BLUE

Owner-driver Dan Lote’s first new truck is a stunner – but then this all-blue Daf XF 530 had to be something special to replace his much-loved first truck

- Dan Parton

At a glance

Make & Model: Daf XF 530

Superspace FTP

Engine: Paccar MX13 13-litre six-cylinder Euro 6D

Power: 530hp @ 1675rpm

Torque: 2600Nm @ 1000-1460rpm

Gearbox: TraXon 12-speed automated manual

Operator: Daniel C Lote Transport

For any truck enthusiast, getting to watch a truck being built in a factory is a rare treat. But to watch the actual truck you are going to be driving being put together on the factory floor is on another level entirely. But owner-driver and dyed-in-the wool truck fan Dan Lote got to do just that at Daf’s Leyland assembly plant back in 2019. With the old maxim “if you don’t ask, you don’t get” ringing true, he got the opportunity by asking the Greenhous Daf salesman, Liam Smith, when he was discussing the specification for his new truck.

“When we were going round the factory, we first saw it as a rolling chassis, then later we saw them lift the cab on, and by the time we had come to the end of the day, they had finished the truck so I got to sit in it and have some photos taken before we returned home,” says Dan. “At Leyland, they have the truck on a big conveyor and once they have started it doesn’t stop moving, it goes along at walking pace and everyone has their own jobs as they assemble it. Everything is spaced out on the production line, so they have enough time to do what they need to before it reaches the next person – it’s very clever.”