The DAF 600 is a

small family car The C-segment is the 3rd category of the European segments for passenger cars and is described as "medium cars". It is equivalent to the Euro NCAP "small family car" size class, and the compact car category in the United States. In 2024, the C-s ...

produced by Dutch automaker

DAF Daf (), also known as dâyere and riq, is an Iranian frame drum musical instrument, also used in popular and classical music in Persian-influenced South and Central Asia, such as in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, many ...

from 1959 until 1963. It was DAF's first production passenger car. The 600 was first presented at the

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

Motor Show An auto show, also known as a motor show or car show, is a public exhibition of current automobile models, debuts, concept cars, or out-of-production classics. It is attended by automotive industry representatives, dealers, auto journalists a ...

in February 1958 and was in production by 1959, although the firm had published the first details of the car at the end of 1957.

Manufacture

Mayor Truus Smulders-Beliën in one of the first DAF 600s In 1959 the first two DAF 600 cars manufactured were awarded to the first Dutch woman to be a mayor, Truus Smulders-Beliën, and the chair of the Dutch automobile club. Smulders-Beliën been chosen because she was well known and she appeared to have ordered one. She was contacted and she agreed after it was realised that it was her staff who had ordered it. She was unaware of the order and the mayor did not have a driving licence. From 1959 till 1963, a total of 30,591 cars were produced. The engine was an in-house development, a

air-cooled Air-cooled engines rely on the circulation of air directly over heat dissipation fins or hot areas of the engine to cool them in order to keep the engine within operating temperatures. Air-cooled designs are far simpler than their liquid-cooled ...

four-stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...

flat-twin A flat-twin engine is a two-cylinder internal combustion engine with the cylinders on opposite sides of the crankshaft. The most common type of flat-twin engine is the boxer-twin engine, where both pistons move inwards and outwards at the same ti ...

petrol engine A petrol engine (gasoline engine in American and Canadian English) is an internal combustion engine designed to run on petrol (gasoline). Petrol engines can often be adapted to also run on fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas and ethanol blends ...

displacing . Maximum power is at 4,000 rpm. Larger displacement versions were later developed and this engine remained available in DAFs until the DAF 46 was discontinued in 1976.

Variomatic transmission

The 600 was the first production car, after the 1920s '' Clyno'', to have a

continuously variable transmission A continuously variable transmission (CVT) is an automated Transmission (mechanical device), transmission that can change through a continuous range of gear ratios, typically resulting in better fuel economy in gasoline applications. This contr ...

(CVT) system - the innovative DAF ''

Variomatic Variomatic is the continuously variable transmission (CVT) of the Netherlands, Dutch car manufacturer DAF Trucks, DAF, originally developed by Hub van Doorne. It is a stepless, fully-automatic transmission, consisting of a V-shaped drive-belt, ...

''. The DAF Variomatic employs engine speed, via centrifugal weights, to shift the transmission and is enhanced by an engine

manifold vacuum Manifold vacuum, or engine vacuum in a petrol engine is the difference in air pressure between the engine's intake manifold and Earth's atmosphere. Manifold vacuum is an effect of a piston's movement on the induction stroke and the airflow thr ...

. It is the only car ever produced which went faster by the simple expedient of gently and gradually releasing the accelerator once top speed had been reached – this increased manifold vacuum which helped the variable pulleys shift to an even higher ratio so even though the engine speed stays the same, the transmission increases the car's speed, in the case of the DAF 600, from to nearly given enough time and level road. The Variomatic also permitted increased engine braking by operating a switch on the dashboard which reversed the action of the vacuum on the pulley's diaphragm, seeking a lower ratio with increased manifold vacuum.

Gallery

File:DAF img 2284.jpg File:DAF img 2286.jpg File:1959 DAF 600 2cylinder Boxer engine 4stroke 590cc air cooled.JPG

Notes

External links

* {{DAF

600 __NOTOC__ Year 600 ( DC) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 600 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for ...

Rear-wheel-drive vehicles Vehicles with CVT transmission Sedans 1960s cars Cars introduced in 1958