There was no meeting.

No market research.

No boardroom in which someone asked which vehicle would best meet the mobility needs of the modern consumer.

There was only a question.

What if the Netherlands built its own car again?

Not a supercar trying as hard as possible to prove how expensive it is. Not a screen on wheels with a steering wheel as an afterthought. And not a retro caricature forever looking backwards.

Just a car.

Though ordinary is relative, of course.

It had to be quiet. Electric. Four-wheel drive. Large enough for seven people, two dogs, a cool box, boots, chairs and everything you only discover you need once you are already on your way.

It had to be able to visit the theatre without embarrassment.

Take the motorway without picking a fight with it.

And then continue to Veenhoop, where the road narrows of its own accord and nobody is impressed by your acceleration time.

DAF went on the nose.

H11 on the plate.

The colour became Veenhoop Green.

One colour. Nothing more is needed.

Once it appeared on the screen, it looked strangely credible. As if it had not been designed at all, but had spent years waiting in a Frisian barn for the world to become electric enough.

The old DAF looked ahead with a Variomatic.

This one looks ahead with four electric motors, plenty of luggage space and presumably somewhere Bram can travel comfortably.

The brochure promises a range of 739 kilometres.

More than enough to drive from Veenhoop to the rest of the Netherlands and return in time for coffee.

Of course it does not exist.

Not yet.

But H11 has often suffered from a reality that lags slightly behind.

Once it was a green camper by the water.

Now a Dutch touring car has suddenly appeared on the dyke. Room for what truly matters. From opera to riverbank.

Perhaps it will never go into production.

Perhaps it will remain exactly what it is now: an idea with headlights.

That is fine too.

Not every vehicle has to be built to take you somewhere.

Some only need to stand in front of you for a moment, in exactly the right colour, and say:

Just keep going.