Netherlands · Presented at the Amsterdam Motor Show in February 1958; series production began in Eindhoven in March 1959; 600 line continued to 1963

DAF 600

A tiny Dutch family car that changed ratio with moving pulleys and rubber belts instead of ordinary gears.

Small family cars

Cover exterior · Photo shows exact-year-model. Clear full-car side/front view of a documented 1959 DAF 600; minimal occlusion and strong silhouette recognition.
1959 Netherlands DAF 600 · Alf van Beem · CC0 1.0

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A matching completed auction sale has not been verified for this exact year, body, trim, engine, transmission and market.

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A place in vehicle history

More than a set of wheels.

DAF showed its first passenger car, the 600, at Amsterdam in February 1958 and began production in Eindhoven in 1959. Its 590 cc flat-twin was modest, but the Variomatic transmission was radical: centrifugal weights, engine vacuum and adjustable pulleys kept changing the ratio without stepped gears. Two belts drove the rear wheels independently, so no conventional differential was needed. The easy-to-use system made the 600 one of the earliest successful mass-produced CVT cars and set the pattern for DAF passenger cars that followed.

Look a little closer.

Because the reversing gear sat ahead of the belt system, the same range of Variomatic ratios was available backwards in theory—one reason old DAFs later became famous in Dutch reverse-racing events.

Photos show an example of the model or generation. The pictured vehicle’s year, equipment, or modifications can differ from the specification described here.

The differential disappeared into two belts

A normal rear axle needs gears that let the inside and outside wheels turn at different speeds in a corner. The 600 instead gave each rear wheel its own belt and variable pulleys. Small differences in belt position let the wheels find different speeds, combining ratio change and differential action in one unusually simple layout.

A 1958 debut became a 1959 production car

The two dates describe different milestones. DAF revealed the 600 at the Amsterdam show in February 1958, while a Dutch National Archives photograph records the first production passenger car leaving the Eindhoven line on 23 March 1959. For a catalogue year, 1959 is the precise production-launch choice.

Source: Nationaal Archief / Anefo · first production DAF passenger car, 23 March 1959 ↗

Where these facts come from

Selected facts checked for this edition. Some source pages link to broader model families. Last reviewed October 1, 2026.

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