A JaCG reader from Denmark, Steen, sent me the link to this car. He owned one at one time and included some details and comments in his e-mail.
The DAF 66 was the replacement for the DAF 55. Like the 55, it used a Renault engine. (The "Cleon" engine, which for 30+ years could be found in just about every small car Renault built, from the 1962 R8 right up to the 1996 Clio and Twingo.) Like all DAFs, the 66 has a CVT transmission. Steen had this to say about the transmission:
Back in the 80'ies I owned a DAF 66 with the VARIOMATIC transmission. It's an automatic transmission employing 2 rubber belts, on 2 sets of sliding conical discs. The front set of discs were driven by engine vacuum, the rear set worked as passive slaves (spring loaded). I have attached a picture. Magnify it and you should get the idea.The picture is below.
Steen goes on to say:It was by no stretch of imagination a fast car. 0-60mph was in the 20sec range on a good day but driving it was a pleasure as there are no shifting of gears: When you press the pedal, the engine revs up to 3000 and stays there, while the car accelerates, through the variable gears. Once (!) you reach the speed you want, you release the throttle, the gear slides into highest ratio and engine revs drops (unless you want to go faster than the 3000 revs, in which case you have to wait further..)Around the time this car was built, Volvo purchased DAF. The 66 was the only DAF car Volvo kept building, but they renamed it the Volvo 66. (The Volvo 300 series, introduced in 1976, was designed as a DAF, but never sold with a DAF badge.)
This is a really nice looking car. I like how the hood covers the top of the fenders. From from the rear it has a multi-European (for lack of a better term) look to it. It's really well proportioned. It's unique looking without being weird.The dashboard has a nice look to it. It looks purposeful in an early Audi way. The silver surrounded toggle switches look like they're from a French car.
All-in-all, this is a unique looking car with some unique technology.
This car is located in Denmark. It would be a blast to have this in the US. The price of this car is Kr. 27.000, which works out to around $5200.00 US.
Located in Hobro, Denmark, click here to see the DBA ad.A big thanks to Steen for sending me this link (and for writing half this post!)
