Out of gear!

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

The Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) is one of the most ingenious Dutch inventions of the 20th century. What started with a simple sketch drawn by Hub van Doorne, founder of the DAF company, developed into the legendary Variomatic, nicknamed ‘the smart gear stick’. It was a continuously variable transmission with rubber drive belts that was used in all DAF cars. A long and challenging development finally yielded the robust and compact steel pushbelt CVT that was used worldwide in millions of cars of various makers.

Out of gear! takes the reader to ‘CVT Valley’: from ‘the smart gear stick’ made at Eindhoven, by way of the high-tech pushbelts developed at Deurne and Tilburg, to the complete Continuously Variable Transmissions produced in the Belgian town of Sint-Truiden. A fascinating story about resourcefulness, conflict and perseverance. Based on the stories of people who were involved from the start.

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 plant’.