DAF 66..

DAF were always going to have a tough time staying in the car business. The company started with the weirdest looking thing, the DAF 600, and they kept their decidedly ‘Eastern Bloc’ styling for quite a while. Mind you, under the skin, there were even stranger things.

This is DAF’s take on continuously variable transmission, CVT to you, used in the later DAF 55, and the point at which you should quit with the sniggering.

So the car only had a steering wheel, stop and go pedals, and a lever which determined direction of travel. What more do you need anyway?

So, you start the engine, ensure that the front wheels are pointing in the intended direction of travel, push the lever into FORWARDS and then you use the go pedal. As the speed increases, centrifugal weights act on the pulleys, the engine revs drop away, and you are in motion. It was ingenious automatic transmission which was simple and it worked for small engines.

At the traffic light grand prix, a DAF 66 could beat the very best. Styling hadn’t changed too much, but by time that the 55 had arrived, the rear wings had been tined down, and the 66 is sporting a very ‘Triumph TR6’ look.

You’re still laughing, aren’t you. Well quit it right now.

I used to watch Rallycross on British TV years ago, and one year, I forget which, two Dutchmen entered a couple of DAF coupes.

This DAF is in the lead and that is what the two original DAFs did. They lead from start to finish, every race, and for the whole year. In fact, the were in front until the two Dutchmen got bored with winning and withdrew from the sport. They more than proved that the DAF and its weird transmission was more than a match for any of the other cars.

Has that cleared up the unwarranted laughter? I sincerely hope so..

DAF cars were not high speed racers, but they were fast enough and tough enough to do very well in endurance rallies and the likes of Rallycross.

There were no new models after the 66, but the transmission lived on in the Volvo 340 which would have been a DAF 77 had Volvo not essentially bought out DAF.

My mother owned two Daf’s, a 55 and a 66, and she loved them. Unfortunately, when Volvo took over the marque, service had to be done by a less than honourable local Volvo dealer. The last straw was when the local dealer switched wheels and brand new tires that I had got fitted for four tatty wheels and part worn tires.It was a sad ending to what had been a happy partnership between my mother and her funny car.