Evolution systems for differential equations with variable time lags

We consider nonautonomous retarded functional differential equations under hypotheses which are designed for the application to equations with variable time lags, which may be unbounded, and construct an evolution system of solution operators which are continuously differentiable. These operators are defined on manifolds of continuously differentiable functions. The results apply to pantograph equations and to nonlinear Volterra integro-differential equations, for example. For linear equations we also provide a simpler evolution system with solution operators on a Banach space of continuous functions.