toma@tekchips.UUCP (Tom Almy) (03/04/85)
Well that Yugoslavian car won't be the first import with a continuously variable transmission! My mother had a 1963 DAF (Dutch car) with a CVT. The car was imported for several years. The company that made them was taken over by Volvo, and DAFs are currently sold in Europe as Volvos. FYI, the car had a 2 cylinder, air cooled, 750cc engine in the front, and a rear mounted CVT transaxle in the back. Each rear wheel had its own variable ratio V-belt (ie separate transmissions for each wheel!) so there was no differential. That way it had "Positraction" and could get around on the snow better than a VW beetle. Lots of interior and trunk space, too, and it was about the cheapest car on the road (base price was about $1200). Performance was terrible -- much worse (!) than our family VW microbus; top speed was about 60 mph.