The first passenger car, the DAF 600, was presented to the public in February 1958. It featured unitary steel construction, with a front mounted, air cooled two cylinder boxer engine driving the rear wheels through a centrifugal clutch and the Variomatic CVT transmission. The way this was constructed eliminated the need for a differential, with the drivebelts taking up the difference of speed in turns.

This acted as a limited slip differential. The car had independent suspension all round, with MacPherson struts and a transverse leaf spring at the front, and a coil sprung semi trailing arm design at the rear. The first 600s rolled off the production line in the following year. The next model was the 750, featuring a larger 749 cc (45.7 cu in) twin.