The DAF 46 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 2011, the C- ...

that was manufactured by the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

company

DAF Daf ( fa, دف) also known as Dâyere and Riq is a Middle Eastern (mainly Iranian) frame drum musical instrument, used in popular and classical music in South and Central Asia. It is also used in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Iran, Uzbe ...

. It was introduced in November 1974 to replace the 44, although at the time it was announced that the two cars would be sold "alongside" one another, suggesting that there were still substantial stocks of the earlier model awaiting customers. In February 1976, at the relaunch of the

Volvo 66 The Volvo 66 sprang directly from the DAF 66, which was originally styled by Giovanni Michelotti. The compact car was introduced in August 1975, almost exactly a year after Volvo bought DAF, and before production of the Volvo 300 Series began. ...

(formerly the

DAF 66 The DAF 66 is a small family car produced by the Dutch company DAF from September 1972 to 1976. It was the successor of the DAF 55 and was itself superseded by the reworked Volvo 66. The DAF 66 was the last four-cylinder car to feature the DAF na ...

), it was announced that the DAF 46 would be phased out during 1976, after which 'special measures' would ensure adequate parts and service backup despite the disappearance of the DAF brand from passenger car show rooms. The DAF 46 was carpeted throughout and equipped with cloth covered reclining seats. It also had a redesigned gear lever and additional dash mounted warning lights. Out of sight of the driver was a de Dion rear axle, which DAF had fitted two years earlier to their more powerful model when replacing the 55 with the

: the car retained its defining

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

transmission, but this was now coupled with a conventional differential which was said to improve noise levels and extend drive-belt life. Reports suggest that the DAF 46 had safer handling than its predecessor, but acceleration was nonetheless considerably slower, at a time when most European manufacturers were improving top speed and acceleration when they introduced model upgrades. A total of 32,353 DAF 46s were produced.

Notes

46 Cars powered by boxer engines VDL Nedcar vehicles {{Classicpow-auto-stub de:DAF 46