The DAF 66 (Volvo) Is a Small Car with Quirky Engineering 

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The one amazing thing about the transmission is it can go just as fast in reverse, as it does going forward,that's the magic of a CVT.

I can see him working as a presenter for a tv car show.... Very professional and well put together presentation

The daf was a great little car the 33 and 44 were air cooled two cylinder engines, my old mum god bless her had all four models over the years lovely memories

I don't normally watch car videos, but I used to own a Volvo 66 and couldn't resist! Brought back memories...

Quite ironic, hill descent function on a Dutch car! 😝😂😂😂

I remember those. You don't see a lot of them around anymore, even not here in the Netherlands. Some of them were wrecked in a crazy car race that involved cars driving in reverse the whole course called achteruitracen. They were popular because the CVT allowed the cars to reach the same top speed in reverse as it would in forward gear

As a Dutch guy...love this.

You've done the legacy of DAF justice...by driving a Volvo. Job well done!

My dad used the engine brake button quite a bit. He was helping to restore a steam locomotive at Grosmont on the NYMR (he did his apprenticeship in the 50s in an engine shed) He was going three times a week down very steep hills in to the Esk Valley up from Whitby. The DAF died on the way to work in Middlesbrough when one of the belts broke.

The 66 and it's Daf predecessors were brilliant little cars. Great for round town or short distance. Would drive at motorway speeds but noisy for long periods. Daf used to say about the models Forward to go forward, back to go back.

I had a DAF 66. I drove it from the UK to Hungary. Brilliant in the snow

Well that certainly brought back some memories! As a family, we had DAFs from about 1970 to about 1990, starting with a 46, then a 55 estate, a 66 saloon and finally a Volvo 66GL estate. One of the reasons you don’t see many preserved is because they just used to disintegrate! Rust control wasn’t what it is today but they were fantastic little cars while they lasted. Since you didn’t have to take the power off to change gear, they could easily out-accelerate a BMW … up to about 30mph … when the cones started to swap over to high ratio. (Above that, acceleration was ‘basic’.) I was never a ‘boy racer’ but there were one or two occasions when I remember seeing astonishment on the face of other drivers who all too often associated them (incorrectly) with ‘little old ladies driving to church at 15mph’. That was because the 2-stroke DAF 33s tended to be used for that. The Renault engines gave them ‘pocket rocket’ performance though, strangely, the performance of the DAF 55 & 66 (1100) seemed far better than the Volvo 66 (1300). I never could work out why. One thing that did let them down a bit (apart from the rust!) was the vacuum diaphragm in the primary units of the transmission. They always seemed to tear and spring a leak relatively quickly (within a couple of years of being fitted) and, as there were two primary units, it always seemed to be in the garage getting one or the other replaced - and it wasn’t a small job, as I recall. Also, as they were so unlike anything else on the road, mechanics (other than DAF-trained ones) were largely clueless, never having had to deal with switchable vacuum valves, diaphragms and variable cone adjustments to deal with in transmissions, so tended to steer clear of them or ask stupid amounts of money to make you go and find some other mug to get the work done! (Luckily for us, there was a former DAF service station only a couple of miles away which kept looking after ours for years after DAF had been taken over by Volvo.) If you’d been standing where you were in this video about 30 -40 years ago (a clever trick, in your case!), you might well have seen one of our DAFs in that very car park, as we often used to head along the M57 and East Lancs for a trip out to Makro for the business.

I Bought my Daff from an elderly lady, she had one arm and a knob on the steering wheel.. The engine was like a sewing machine. 1300 version, thick bodywork and 3000 miles. It was amazing to drive .. Built your character up too , because the piss taking was something else ! I roared around London, Bath and Cornwall in the mid eighties, Rugby kit bag and all my tools.. Some great stories as well.. It came into its own on the m5/m4, smooth acceleration and cruised beautifully at 90. With your foot lifting off the throttle and the speedometer still rising, it took a bit of thinking about !! One time, zooming past Taunton, ladders on top, kit loaded on the back seat and vacuum strapped in on the passenger side, I passed the salesman's choice of the era , a cavalier, at 90+ The driver, clearly bruised, sat up, dropped a cog and just had to get me back.. What a hoot.. I eventually moved onto a BMW 2000 Touring, that's another story...

I enjoy very much your movies, your enthusiasm and love for cars of this era shows through. I grew up with these cars and every one of your posts is very nostalgic. I particularly like that you look at the everyday cars of the period and not just the super cars like some TV shows. Keep up the good work look forward to seeing you on your own TV show one day.

Splendid review of a neat little car. Thanks very much for posting this video.

Lovely to see this, my grandad had a Daff 66, as kids we thought it was great, thanks for reliving some good memories, your channel goes from strength to strength, keep it up 👍🏻👍🏻

I love quirky cars & you can't get much quirkier than that little gem! Thanks for a great history & tour.

My mother used to have a bright yellow DAF 66. Great little car, especially in Amsterdam where we lived, it was fast and nimble. I drove it several times and loved it.❤️

My Mum had one of these in the early 1980s. I recall it being fun to drive. Great video. Thanks for sharing.

Great presentation. Brings back fond memories of my Daf 44 given to me by my Dad. Always amazed me that they could go as fast in reverse as they could forward. A combine harvester mechanic was our go to guy as they used a similar belt drive system. Many converted the Air cooled 44's to a Renault 4 engine.

Having watched your channel since the beginning Ed, ( thanks Hubnut and the RU-vid algorithm) I've enjoyed your development and seeing you get more and more confident as much as the actual content. Today's video is fantastic. A very niche car, superb information brilliantly presented. I really, really enjoyed it 😊

I remember this car from my childhood. My mother bought a Volvo DAF 66 DL back in the middle of the 80´s, and can confirm that it only had 2 lights in the front. It was in a red colour, sadly she sold it due to gearbox issues. Made my day to see this car again :)

Ed - your reviews just get better and better. I’m glued to the whole thing. Great and varied camera work, just the right balance of info and entertainment. Top work sir.

My neighbours in the 80s used to have a Volvo 66. I still like the looks of it today. Nice to learn more about it.

What a stunning video. Sharp editing and continuity, magnificent delivery and a superb script/set of facts... Backed up with onscreen enthusiasm for the car herself and therefore the whole 'car thing'.

Great test of a very rare and interesting car. A beautiful example as well. Thanks Ed.

Watching your video has remembered me of my grand-mother's cars, which have been 2 DAFs, 33 and 55, plus one same as yours, a Volvo 66 1.1 Litre. I drove this one, and it was very special :-) As I remember, these cars had no differential, which made one of the tyres scratch the ground in curves, especially in winter, as she used spikes tyres. Astonishing... As I watched your video, I recognized the commands and lights (hill descent function, for instance). No radio, it was sort of a four-wheeled umbrella with an engine, quite rustic, but efficient. My grand-mother drove about 300'000 km in 20 years and had no problem with them. Have fun with yours, and thank you for this good work :-)

Another great video. I love your appreciation for the cars I grew up with. Thank you so much!

PROFESSIONAL, makings of something special here. well researched and accurate

My Mother had a hatchback version back in late 80's. Very quick up to 35mph, then a brick wall. My father and I replaced the centrifugal clutch shoes as the car struggled up hills, with the clutch slipping. Turned out one of the shoes ( there was 3 of them ) had seized on its pivot, so there was a loss of power transmission.

Very, very impressive vid. Answered all the questions I was asking myself as I watched. I'm obliged to have a nose through the rest of the archive. So many presenters could watch and learn, brilliant stuff!

Great review. In the early 80s i had a granada 3.0 ghia which i crashed and it was on 3rd party insurance. While i saved up to have it repaired i drove a daf 66 coupe. It was great fun. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

I remember seeing the 'Variomatic' badge on one of these and pondering what it might mean...I asked my dad and he said it was about the transmission. I had no idea what that meant but it shut me up! Loved this review - a really novel car that deserves a higher profile.

Great video. Really enjoy the presentation style and the well researched information.

A great presentation, thanks. I drove one of these frequently although never owned one ( I had a 55) nice to drive, comfortable, and a smooth drive. Liked it a lot

My grandmother had one, she was iconic for it and a bit laughed at... Noone laughes now and finds it super cool to have.

That was a great video. Well presented and informative. This a car I saw about quite a lot way back when but never deemed it interesting enough to warrant me finding anything out about it. Now I actually know more about it (and I'm older and wiser) I really like it; quirky and full of character.

This is the first video I have seen from you, and I have subscribed because of the well-researched, knowledgeable presentation by a fellow young EDM classic enthusiast. Will have to watch some more of your stuff.

My older cousin and his wife had one of these in sporty red. I remember sitting in the back seat as they took me on a scenic drive in Friesland. 👍

Thank you for a fantastic trip into my past . I had a Daf 66 it was bright yellow with a webasto roof . Mine had a problem with the gear selector solenoid, where I could start it even when in gear .and it would launch itself into things ,that's how I wrote it off . And back in the 1980's I worked for a Volvo dealer ,and I remember changing the belts on the vairomatic ,every 20.000 miles , where you used a Volvo special tool which was an over sized G-clamp ,and a long feeler gauge . The only thing with the vairomatic ,was that you never started it when the gear selector was in the park position,or else you would burn the clutch out ! Thank you for the video !

new watcher and subscriber. great video and superb coverage. really enjoyed it, thank you

What a lovely example. 😍 Growing up in the 1980s, a neighbour owned a white 66 estate. I think it had the black side stripes too. An unusual car compared to the rusty rammel parked along the same road.

My grandmother used to pick me and my brother up from school. First in a DAF badged one and later in a Volvo. She also used to floor the accelerator, because she was awesome! And so was the car!

My second car at 18 was a DAF 66 with a blown head gasket bought off my Mum's hairdresser for £10. After fixing it I had to test out the comment I'd heard that these things went as fast backwards as they did forwards. They may do if you have the bottle but what I hadn't thought about was that there were drum brakes on the rear wheels and discs on the front. I came within inches of hitting a very new and shiny Jag... It was great fun to drive and thanks for bringing the memories back!

Brilliant! I actually thought these were all rear engine 😁 great vid Ed, in your usual smooth, easy listening style

Your videos are getting better and better - brill!

Great memories, thank you for bringing the past back to life. I'm not too old but definitely part of my childhood 👍

I really like this guy's style, thank you

Great Ed...well done. You did your homework on the history. She looks fab. Also known as the Little 'Noddy' car, 'the flying brick' and the 'custard cream'. Thanks for reviewing my car, it was a pleasure to meet you.

Great research, content and presentation. You knowledge of cars really helps with the content. The reference to the Dolomite was spot on. Going to Sub and this is the first video of yours I have watched.

We had one of these for a couple of years. I remember bouncing around on the back seat with brother and a couple of neighbours kids to go to school reach day in rural Lincolnshire. It was even this colour!

Well done. My family had two of these little gems, not the 66 model, but the 44 estate. A two cylinder air cooled 844 cc engine. It was the only car you could leave unlocked at night. You needed to be an expert in choke procedure to get them started and keep running until warmed up. So nice to see an old Daf on your channel. Thank you, you brought back many lovely memories to an old 70s teenager

Well done Ed. Another great video of a great car.

This is rather nostalgic for me as my late mum had 2 Daf 44's and 2 Volvo 66's. Great cars and underestimated. Shame there are not many of them left. Great review, so thanks very much :-)

Brilliant! A family friend had one when I was a kid. They kept it at the caravan site we used to regularly visit in Essex and towed their speed boat to and from the boat ramp. The owner used to let me drive it under supervision around the site, despite my tender years at the time. Needless to say, I wasn't towing at the time.

Practical and nice car all in all with the continuously variable automatic transmission did its job. Nice video that recalls how the daf 66 was, it was also on Ruoteclassiche. Keep it up, thanks!

Great video Twin-Cam, I've never seen one of these on the road, great info on it, best wishes from us.

I remember these cars very well,i used to work for a Volvo dealer in the '70's when the 66 came along,to start off they were generally bought by elderly women!! but when they brought out the 1300cc engine it had a twin choke carb & was actually quite quick from stand still,we used to have a lot of fun doing traffic light races with other cars,the process was switch on the low ratio hold,pulled the choke a bit,set the revs so the centrifugal clutch was just on it's biting point wait for the green light & blast off,could guarantee the 66 would beat any other car up to about 40mph,the 66 was tremendous fun,happy days

I had a 66 DAF while in stationed in the UK, tiny 2 cylinder engine, what amounted to a rubber band transmission, got fantastic MPG, fun to drive, thanks for posting, thanks for the memories.

What an adorable little car! It would do the job for around town and looks like it has good headroom at that.

Had a Daf 66 estate years ago. Great in the snow. Remember passing a lot of cars on a snow covered hill. I also fitted a switch to stop it changing down to soon. It was a bit like an overdrive.

Ed, hats off to you. Well researched, natural delivery, interesting content. Well done, spot on video. I bought a new 340GL back in the day, wish I'd kept it. Look forward to the next video.

Great to see the Volvo 66. My first car was a second half 1972 Daf 44. which I bought from an elderly lady in 1976. It was Yellow with black vinyl interior. The gear lever was a 7 shaped handle and had Forward, Reverse and Neutral. No Park. You had to remember to put on the handbrake!!! That car broke my heart, I couldn’t wait to get rid of it.

This is the best series on British market historical cars I have yet to see. Bravo.

Ed, a big, big well done. Love your delivery style, information, and research. And in this video, somethings happened ... and it’s good. Really good. Like you’ve really settled into the role. Agree with someone else’s comment about coming across as very professional in this one.. and yeah, I’ll second that! It’s really Hubnut, Harry, Jonny and you, that I look forward to. Seriously. Take a bow, man. And to do all of that with a Volvo-Daf 66! Brilliant. As a young feller, I remember clearly reading about these in Autocar, Car, and Motor. We didn’t get Daf in Ireland, until Volvo took over. Think a few 66s may have come in, but it was the 340 that sold in any kind of numbers. The early ones with the CVT were a real novelty here! Yes, Would also like to hit the DAF museum too. Intriguing little company. Fingers crossed, that’ll happen when things have settled a bit with virus front. All best, man. Looking forward to your next vid ! Thank you, and again, Well done! 👍🏻

Another knowledgeable explanation

Nice one Ed, Really cool to see you driving the car you’re been talking about, even if it’s in a car park!

Great video again , I always thought it was a great car with a fantastic transmission , and your presentation is becoming.great , thanks 👍👍👍

A car very ahead of it's time. CVT gearboxes have become far more common in the lsat decade or so but the DAF was pretty much unique in the seventies. The strange way the engine revved when driving put a lot of people off. It was so very different from the old slush box autos we were used to. Shame, they were a nice car and much better built than most other manufacturers offerings at the time. Good to see one again. Thanks

I never thought for even a moment that this would be the car in this video. Genuinely cannot remember the last time I saw a Volvo/DAF 66 on the road. I used to have a Nissan Micra K11 with a CVT transmission. Really rather liked it. I wish I could give this video a double thumbs up. This is my most favourite of your car reviews. I really like rare and unusual cars that are not some fragile exotic sports car. I really hope you have more of cars like this to come.

I recently bought one as my first car. 1973 DAF 66. Still gives me joy every time I drive it. Funny enough it does go quite fast driving away from traffic lights. Hopefully I will never have to get rid of it. Thank you for the video!

Love the Daf in its many guises. I've had a couple of cars with CVT and consider it to be very underrated. One of my 'fleet' of 3 cars was made at the Nedcar factory, it's a Smart ForFour. Keep up the good work, great video.

These really seem like the perfect car for their era. This transmission design seems so much simpler and better than anything else that was available then. Really wish we had gotten these in the USA-I would love to have one.

Great fun! My grandad had one new, eventually writing it off in an accident with his boat..

Nice. A friend had a Daf badged one in that colour way back in the day.

Very nice lil car and very nice review and very professionalmemte done.

Interesting video, never knew that DAF was making (designing) small passenger cars.

My grandma had one of those Daf originals, I have fond childhood memories of those. You could do 200-300km trips in them provided you were ok with driving at 70 km/h.

Another Great video Ed , mates mum had a 1977 metalic blue example brings a few childhood memories back , keep up the good work

I had one of these, amazing on snowy hills!

When I was an apprentice in Kingston in 1981 I worked with a guy who had a little orange DAF. It had been converted to run on propane and had a large gas cylinder in the "boot" space.

Terrific! A great score, to get this cat to use. You’ve out-hubnutted the HubNut! Your writing and presentation has become very professional now, and this was a very tidy production. Well done.

My parents had two 55`s when I was a child. My father stil smiles whenwe talk about them. He realy liked them.

Very popular car in their time mate and adorable little thing too. Great video buddy

One of my teachers had a DAF 55, I believe, in the early seventies. One day on our way to school on the bus, we saw her having been pulled over by the police, having been caught in a speed trap. How we laughed. Never thought it could go fast.

Great video Edd I remember these from when I was young and always thought they sounded strange. Joseph Lloyd drove my jazz last weekend and thought the CVT is very smooth, I think they are great just so long as you can avoid using full throttle. Did I spy GSi wheel trims , my favourite from the metro range with the proper rover logo.

Thank you so much for this presentation. Nerdy, geeky, anorak-y, but quite fun and delivered in a spritely tone. Sitting on the macadam while detailing the details? That's a move I haven't seen before. . .

This car is simply amazing. You got still some of these running around in the Netherlands by the real lovers.🇳🇱🇬🇧🇸🇪

So happy to see the DAF 66 in a review. I used to get a lift to work in a DAF and came to appreciate the DAF for the amazing car that it is. These cars do the same speed in reverse that they do in forward, I know this for sure from experience! The earlier cars had no fuel gauge only three lights, so it’s no surprise to see a lack of temp gauge in favour of a warning light. The earlier cars are air cooled and more interesting to me, but the 66 Couple would be irresistible to me if if I ever found one. The Variomatic transmission was superb, it’s mechanical simplicity and reliability are legendary. Those belts need regular adjustment, but it’s an easy job. I guess modern belts may last even longer.

If you look closer, you will see the transmission is actually two transmissions, one for each wheel. That means there is no differential and the function of differential is done by the transmission changing ratios as you go round the corner. And as a side effect, it acts like a sort of a diff lock all the time :)

Cracking Video. My first car was a 73 DAF 66 Marathon Coupe. And being 18, I imagined it was a DAF 555 rally car, and drove it hard. It was also the first car that I got a ticket in! For its time it was quite expensive compared to other small cars. I loved the variomatic transmission. The secret was to accelerate up to the speed you wanted, and then back off the gas so the revs dropped but the CVT pulleys stayed in the equivalent of a high gear. That low ratio hold button was also handy for a quick getaway at the lights. The transmission used centrifugal bob weights and engine vacuum to alter the pulleys. The switch switches off the vacuum valve, keeping in the equivalent of low box. I miss my DAF!

I had the estate version. When I bought it, the transmission needed a bit of work, a mate who is a mechanic fixed it, with parts from a local scrap car yard from a Daff 66. I had a radio in mine, but you couldn't really hear it, because the car was quite noisy with the transmission. Made the mistake of going on a long trip. Ended up feeling really nauseated with a terrible headache! Ended up installing some sound deadening material which helped a bit. Great around town on short trips though. That button I knew as the low ratio hold for the hills. All in all I found the 66 quite a querky little car. Thanks for a great video on this car.

That Rev counter has been fitted by a previous owner. I remember when they sold those at Halfords.

My parents had a DAF 55 in the early-70’s (LLG647L, bought new from Howarth Motors in Warrington which at the time was an Audi, NSU and DAF franchise). It towed a caravan down to Spain and back, no doubt the hill descent button was used! Replaced in January 1974 by a new Audi 80 (XMA506M) from the same dealership.

What a cool little machine! Just found your channel, subbed straight away. Please keep this up, your knowledge and presentation are excellent!

This is one of your best ever productions. I truly enjoyed it. -I am intrigued by the rev counter fitted in a vehicle with CV transmission.

This is a real treat of a video put well together and if I am not wrong the first one in which Ed drives. Being from Holland I have some memories of this car that was quite a normal sight on the roads. First of all when I grew up, DAF (van Doorn's Automobiel Fabriek) cars where hated among many young (boys/males) because they where your aunties car and I was guilty as charged. Add to this that because of the Variomatic and the absence of nanny state wokeness the DAF could go backwards as fast as forwards, they where very popular in a Dutch variant of demolition derby aka reverse racing. That is literally how many DAFs met their end. The rubber belts would break eventually if you would not replace them in time. But it was not an expensive fix and the car can drive with one belt which results in a one wheel drive car and it pulling very hard to the left or right depending on the belt that was broken.

DAF being slow? The variomatic (first ever CVT) transmission was the reason why it won against Porsche's off of the line. I know because my grandfather did a lot of pulls against them. :p Naturally it couldn't keep up at higher speeds but the acceleration was unmatched.

My parents had the 66 estate. top of the range. I loved it and it was pretty quick for the time.