Comments on: Whatever Happened to: Pushbutton Transmissions

By: Kris

Kris — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 17:02:03 +0000

Forget about 1950s and 60s. I rented a 2006 Taurus that had sun shades that obscured the rearview mirror and when you turned the steering wheel, you couldn’t possibly see the gear display as it was totally obscured by the steering wheel. Came in handy when parking…..

And the previous generation of Citroen C5, circa 2006, had a handbrake operating FRONT wheels, handy in emergencies…..

By: Art

Art — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 04:31:57 +0000

BigBoyBC said, on April 20th, 2009 at 7:23 pm

“I don’t know much about cars, I was wondering that with computers in cars and modern transmission technology. Is there still a need for manual transmissions?”

Real men drive stick shifts (MANuals), girlie men drive automatics (said in my best Arnold voice). Show me an automatic that can downshift automatically to power thru a turn. Show me an automatic that doesn’t downshift when you accelerate slightly to get in the left lane on the freeway, revving the engine, thereby giving the guy in the middle lane, that you just swung around, the idea that you want to race. I could go on and on …

In my car, as in my office, I am in charge, not the computer!

By: wrench

wrench — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 01:11:16 +0000

My first car, a 56 Plymouth had a pushbutton transmission. One wild night out drinking with the boys, I found out what happened when I put it into reverse at 60mph. Sort of miss that old car.

By: Luc

Luc — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 00:03:38 +0000

What the hell is “an emergency move for the horn”? I only know emergency moves for the brake and on the steering wheel. Morans who go for the horn instead of the brake deserve to die. Too bad they usually take someone else with them.

By: alphanumeric

alphanumeric — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 21:40:59 +0000

Actually they’re making a comeback through the big rig industry.

All new big rigs are going automatic and they’re all push button.

And like back in the day they are still pieces of crap.

By: howzitjoe

howzitjoe — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 18:08:10 +0000

I actually took driver’s ed with a push-button Valiant. Our family car was a 57 Chevy Bel-Air 283 which you could lay rubber with if you revved the engine then dropped it into low with the automatic. Of course I never told dad…
I ended up buying a 65 Rambler Classic who’s one redeeming valve was that the front seats reclined all the way back turning it into a bed.

By: SVT_Wruby

SVT_Wruby — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:56:10 +0000

the new Jag XF essentially has a PB Trans.

Dubbed the “JaguarDriveTM Selector”, its a cool knob that rises out of the console when you start the car.

Also the MB 7 Speed Trans has an odd lever on the steering column of some models that is essentually a selector switch.

Along with the increasing use of electric parking brakes, the push button transmission is here!

By: moss

moss — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 16:06:09 +0000

Dodge and DeSoto and Chrysler introduced their version the same time as Packard. Packard’s was driven by an electric motor – Chrysler Corp used mechanical pushrods.

The standard demo for the Desoto – since they’d come out the with DeSoto Automatic model in ’54 – was to floor the car in reverse in a parking lot aimed for a wall, then, punch it [or shift it] into drive about 20 feet before you hit the wall and burn rubber till you changed direction to forward.

Not with your own car, of course.

By: MotoMan

MotoMan — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:22:49 +0000

For the last couple of model years, the Yamaha FJR1300 motorcycle has had an electric shift option. I’ve no idea how well they’re selling.

By: Paddy-O

Paddy-O — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 13:45:02 +0000

# 21 BubbaRay said, “In those days, hiding gas caps was a complete art. Behind license plates”

When I was about 12 I worked at a station. I hated the ones behind the lic plates because it would slosh back and sometimes shoot out the filler hole.

By: Thomas

Thomas — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 10:49:38 +0000

Now we have this site to push our buttons.

By: BubbaRay

BubbaRay — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 10:23:25 +0000

#19, Uncle Patso, I used to work at my grandfather’s gas station as a “fillup guy” and I remember those well. In those days, hiding gas caps was a complete art. Behind license plates, under taillights, etc.

By: PeterR

PeterR — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 09:31:28 +0000

#15: Personally, I am surprised that no one has managed to work out an efficient and functional infinitely variable speed transmission yet.

The Dutch car maker DAF (eventually sold off to Volvo) used to make excellent little cars with continuously variable transmission, called Variomatic (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variomatic). I’ve driven several and it was a neat system, once you got used to the engine revs increasing as the car’s speed decreased. The transmission is now used on some other cars (see the Wiki article).

By: Uncle Patso

Uncle Patso — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 09:10:51 +0000

My mother had a 1953 Dodge with the first V-8 engine Dodge offered. It was nearly impossible to stall that car. The radio weighed about 40 – 50 pounds and had 8 or 10 tubes in it.

Remember the ’54 – ’56 (I think it was) Cadillac that had the gas tank filler cap under one of the tail lights? I always thought that was such a cool gadget! See it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_Coupe_de_Ville

and scroll down to “Gallery of 1954 Cadillac Coupe deVille”. You would press that red button between the red and clear portions of the tail “finlight” and the red part would open upward revealing the filler cap underneath. (Except I think it was on the left light.)

By: brendal

brendal — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 07:24:41 +0000

Easy!

One answer: toddlers