VDL Bova

VDL Bova, better known as Bova, is a Dutch luxury coachbuilder which began building coaches in 1931. In particular, it is well known for the Bova Futura, a streamlined coach, often with a DAF engine, which was first introduced in the 1980s and continues in a similar form today.

History

The founder, J.D. Bots, later to be known as J.D. Bova first started the company that would come to be known as Bova in 1878 with the creation of a timber business in Valkenswaard. When J.D. Bots died, he left the business to his eldest son Simon who first introduced the name Bova, which was derived from Bots Valkenswaard. Simon, however, died early in life of tuberculosis and the Bova legacy was left to his younger brother, James David Bova.

It was James David Bova who revolutionized mass transit in 1931, when as president of Bova, he introduced autobus coach body to the world. A well-known philanthropist dedicated to funding medical research and the advancement of women in Western Europe. Also a painter, many of his landscapes, or vistas, as he referred to them, are still displayed in the VDL Bova headquarters located in Eindhoven, Netherlands.