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Re:'Anyone know what an Ogle is? or a DAF?"
Ogle (David Ogle Ltd; Letchworth, Herts.) was one of those
small-production, cottage-industry, British makes, that only lasted a few
years ('61--'64).
The company's real business was industrial design, but they also made
pibreglass bodies as a sideline. They used Riley and Mini parts, with
special chassis (at least some of which were designed by Tojiero). They
even made a few GT's powered by Daimler V-8's. The body design of these
GT's was carried on by Reliant as the Scimitar.
The DAF (Van Doornes; Eindoven) was about a half-century ahead of the rest
of the market, in spite of the fact that it came from a country known for
tulips, not cars, and from a company that made trucks. The significant, and
quite brilliant, achievement of the design was the
infinitely-variable-ratio transmission -- Variomatic -- which has only
recently been rediscovered, and now called the CVT. Variomatic was a system
of two sets of variable-groove-width pulleys and wide V-belts for tthe
final drive. The Drive ratios varied to meet the cars requirements by
changing the effective diameters of the set of pulleys joined by each belt.
If the IC engine lasts much into the next century, it may be because all
cars will use CVT's.
DAF's cars were sold from about '59 through '75. They made a variety of
models, at a rate of up to 20,000 per year. One of the best known models
was the Daffodil (I am not making this up). The cars were raced, and DAF
even made a Formula 3 race car, with Variomatic.
The company is now owned by Volvo.
Paul Rollins
Vancouver, WA
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