DAF 44 History

Shown in September 1966 and the first car assembled at DAF's new factory in Born, Limburg, the 44 was a deliberate move upmarket from the Daffodil series. Giovanni Michelotti styled the body — cleaner and more European-looking than its predecessor — while the familiar Variomatic CVT carried over, now mated to a larger 844 cc air-cooled flat-twin producing around 34 hp (up from 28 hp in the 33).

Like the 33, the 44 was available as a two-door saloon, estate (Combi), and panel van. The Variomatic's mechanical symmetry meant the estate in particular was valued by tradespeople and small businesses: it could reverse at full speed without a separate reverse gear ratio, and the absence of a clutch made low-speed manoeuvring straightforward.

Production ran until November 1974, by which point 167,902 units had been built. Its successor — the Renault-engined DAF 55 — had already been on sale since 1968, and the 44's air-cooled twin survived briefly in the parallel DAF 46 (which grafted 66-series rear suspension onto the 44 body) before the Volvo takeover ended the DAF car programme entirely.