It all started in 1928, when a man named Hub van Doorne founded DAF. In the beginning they were just manufacturing trailers.
Though this changed after the second World War. Mr. van Doorne invented a new type of transmission, named the Variomatic Transmission.


In essence the Variomatic Transmission is a Continuously Variable Transmission, better known as a CVT.
The Variomatic was a stepless transmission and it used a belt and two pulleys to operate. The system doesn't have seperate gears,
but a continuously shifting gear. It also has a 'reverse mode' instead of a 'reverse gear'. This meant that you could drive backwards,
at the same speed as driving forwards. They used this advantage in the annual Dutch reverse driving championship.

In 1958, DAF revealed their first prototype car, it was a small but practical 5-seater coupé.
This would be their first car using the Variomatic Transmission. A year later they revealed the their first production car.
The DAF 600, this car was nearly the same as the prototype. DAF introduced the DAF 750 in 1961, as the successor to the 600.
This car would have about 30 horsepower, which is nothing by today's standards. They also revealed the DAF Daffodil.

In 1966 DAF started making a new range of cars, most noticably with new styling. This platform would be referred to as the B-types.
These cars would still use the Variomatic Transmission, like the a-type platform.
The DAF 44 was introduced in 1966 and was part of this new platform, this car was slightly bigger than the cars built upon the A-type platform.
Not long after the DAF 55 was introduced, this car was quite different than the 44, for instance it had watercooling. And a sleeker design.
The successor of the 55 was the DAF 66, it was introduced in 1972. Not long after it's introduction, Volvo bought DAF and all DAFs were going to carry
the Volvo badge. This also happened with the DAF 66, this is why some people refer to it as the Volvo 66. Their last car rolled off the production line
in 1977. This would be the end of DAF's cars.
Now, this didn't mean that DAF would stop producing automobiles, nowadays they're still producing trucks.

I am going to be honest with you, I would love to own a DAF 44, it is such a small, but charming car.
And I think it is important that we keep driving them, because in the end they are part of our history.
We built them, and we should be proud of it.

Thank you for listening, are there any questions?