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The surprising story of the Continuously Variable Transmission from ‘CVT Valley’

The Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) is one of the most ingenious Dutch inventions of the twentieth century. What began as a simple sketch by DAF founder Hub van Doorne grew into the legendary Variomatic, nicknamed ‘the clever little gear lever’: a stepless, automatic gearbox with rubber belts, used in all DAF passenger cars. After a long and arduous development process, a robust and compact successor emerged: the steel push-belt CVT, which would go on to power millions of cars from various brands around the world.

Uitgeschakeld! takes readers to ‘CVT Valley’: from ‘the clever little gear lever’ in Eindhoven, via the high-tech push belts from Deurne and Tilburg, to the complete Continuously Variable Transmission from Sint-Truiden, Belgium. A fascinating account of ingenuity, division and perseverance, brought to life through the stories of the people who were there from the very beginning.

Bert Tip is the author of the books ‘Philips in the Netherlands’, ‘Philips Best, from hidden gem to crown jewel’ and ‘From DAF and Volvo to VDL Nedcar, the eventful history of a Dutch car factory’.