VDL Bova was a luxury coachbuilder based in Eindhoven, in The Netherlands which began building coaches in 1931. In particular, it is well known for the Bova Futura, a streamlined coach usually powered by a DAF engine, which was first introduced in the 1980s and is still in production as of 2018 as the VDL Futura.^[1]

In 1878 Jacob D. Bots founded a timber business in Valkenswaard. When he died, he left the business to his eldest son Simon who first introduced the name Bova, which was derived from Bots Valkenswaard.^[2]

In 1931 the company began building coaches, and in 1969 introduced the Benelux, a self-supporting integral coach.^[3] The company was purchased by VDL Groep in 2003, who also owned the Berkhof, Jonckheere and VDL Bus Chassis brands.^[4] From 2010 the individual brands were discontinued and VDL Bova became part of VDL Bus & Coach.

Products

Integral Buses and Coaches

• Benelux (coach/interurban, replaced by Europa)
• Europa (coach, replaced by Futura)
• Futura (coach/interurban, replaced by VDL Futura 2)
• Magiq (coach, derivative of Futura, replaced by VDL Futura 2)
• X-press (low-floor bus with rear engine, only 16 built in 1980)

Bus and Coach Chassis

• Calypso (coach, with Europa underframe and Duple bodywork)

Bus and Coach Bodywork

Initially Bova built bus bodywork on a variety of chassis, but switched to building integral vehicles in the early 1970s. After becoming part of VDL Groep some chassis/bodywork combinations of DAF/Berkhof heritage were sold as complete vehicles under the VDL Bova name:

• Lexio (interurban bus based on VDL SD400 chassis, replaced by VDL Citea)
• Synergy (double-deck coach based on VDL SBR4000 chassis, rebadged from Berkhof Axial 100. Replaced by VDL Futura FDD2)