The is a 1974 DAF 66 YA. A little DAF history...
DAF was a Dutch truck manufacturing company founded in 1928. DAF stands for vanDoorne's Aanhangwagen Fabriek, which means vanDoorne's Trailer Factory. The first car they introduced was the 600 in 1959. It had an aircooled two cylinder engine and was rear wheel drive. What made this car special though, was it's transmission. It was called the Variomatic and was the worlds first production CVT. (Subaru later used a CVT, but it didn't sell well. Audi offers one in their A4 and BMW puts them in Minis. They're supposedly fun to drive. I have yet to have the pleasure.) Probably the car DAF is best known for, at least here in the US, where it was briefly sold, was the Daffodil. In 1975 Volvo acquired DAF and eventually the brand disappeared. The DAF truck line still exists and, after having been part of International Harvester and later Leyland, is now a division of US truck manufacturer, PACCAR (Kenworth, Peterbuilt).
This car is a Dutch military vehicle. It's based on the DAF 66, a passenger vehicle. The main differences between the two are an upgraded suspension and a "military" body with no roof. (Which never made much sense to me. This vehicle, the original Jeep, the military Land Rover, all small military vehicles, have convertible tops. Wouldn't you want a steel roof to stop - or at least slow down - bullets, shrapnel, etc.?) The 66 did not use a 2 cylinder air-cooled engine like some of its predecessors, but had the ubiquitous Renault 1108cc 4 in it. Its rear suspension was leaf springs with a De Dion tube and not swing axles like earlier DAFs.
This car has the Variomatic CVT transmission. These were not durable transmissions and I suspect getting parts for them isn't easy. The interior is typical military austere. It looks to be in good shape. The body is a tough call. It looks to have some ripples in it, but that could be the way the picture was taken or minor dents. However, it could also be Bondo covered rust, so it would be worth checking it out in person. There are mismatched - awful looking - wheel covers on it, which should be replaced immediately. As much as I'm a big fan of originality, I'd paint this car another color. I'm thinking that British Racing Green or a deep maroon would look great.I really don't know what else to say about this car. The only reason to own it is for it's uniqueness. As the seller (a dealer whose slogan is "We covet the rare and unusual, whether pedigreed or proletarian".) writes, "Be welcome at the Volvo meet and the French Car Club as well as he Spring Daffodil festival. You will definitely be the only one on your block." Most likely you'll be the only one in your time zone to own one.
Located in Seattle WA, click here to see the eBay listing.The DAF Owners Club (UK) has a lot of great pictures and info about all DAFs. You can find it here.
