I believe my Aunt's early 60's Plymouth Valiant had push button
transmission in the middle of the steering column. The other strange one I
recall but never drove was the early Honda Hondamatic transmission.
Charlie
On Fri, Aug 23, 2019 at 3:09 PM <christrask@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> And then there was the push-button transmission. I think that was on
> a Desoto. No shift lever, just a vertical series of buttons on the
> dashboard to select the gear. The buttons operated a series of solenoids
> that in turn operated the transmission. I've only ever seen one of those
> in first person.
>
> And in the 1930s there was a car (Chrysler?) where they combined the
> starter and generator as a single unit. If the engine stalled it would
> restart itself.
>
> >
> >Going further back in time, right after WWII, Chrysler offered "Fluid
> >Drive", with a high and low range on the shift lever, a fluid coupling,
> >and two speeds in each drive range. In normal drive range, you started
> >off, reached about 15mph, and lifted your foot off the accelerator to
> >shift into high range. My first driving was done in one of these.
> >
> >
> >> 'Way back in the days of yore, Volkswagen had an "automatic stick
> >>shift", which was basically a manual transmission without a clutch. It
> >>was not popular and only survived a year or so in production.
> >>
> >>> When you reach my age, automatic transmissions can be helpful in some
> >>> cases, and cause problems in others. Most of my driving is within the
> >>> city limits, seldom above 45mph. Much of it on streets marked 30mph.
> >>> When I had problems with sensor fouling on my 2007 Volvo V70, I talked
> >>> with an old-time Volvo specialist, who is no longer with us. I learned
> >>> about fouling from low rpm cruise speeds. My friend showed me how to
> >>> take advantage of the manual shifting side of the transmission
> >>> selector. If I'm feeling sharp, I cruise around town in 3rd gear
> rather
> >>> than 4th as selected by the automatic shift. This raises the rpm to
> >>> just above 2000, and the sensors stay clean. If I'm not at the top of
> >>> my game, I leave it in automatic.
> >>>
> >>
> >
>
>
> Chris
>
> When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro
> - Hunter S. Thompson
>
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