Transmissions

When my father and mother started driving automobiles, there were no automatic transmission. In fact, some of the transmissions were not even synchronized. This meant in order to shift from gear to gear, you had to “double clutch.” In other words, you depressed the clutch and moved the gear shift into neutral; then you released the clutch and “zoomed” the motor to get all the gears spinning at the same speed; next, you depressed the clutch again and repositioned the gear shift to the next desired position; lastly, you released the clutch and preceded on your way. All this needed to be done in a matter of seconds!

During WWII, my mother was in the Army Air Corps (Air Force) in the motor pool division. This meant she drove an Army Jeep. She was a petite blond; about 5’3” and weighing about 100 pounds. I have a picture of her in her Jeep with an officer sitting stoically beside her. She must have made quite a scene flying across base, shifting from gear to gear while bouncing out of the driver’s seat.

Although I have driven farm trucks without synchronized gears, by the time I received my driver’s license, transmissions were usually synchronized. The Driver’s Ed car was a “three-on-the-tree” – three gears forward with the shift lever on the steering column. Mom’s car was a Triumph sports car with “4 on the floor” – the shift lever was directly above the transmission on the floor with four forward gears. These were just two of the transmissions available when I started driving and I have operated many of the alternatives over the years.

Today almost all vehicles have automatic transmissions. This even included many large tractor trailer trucks. In fact, it has been reported thieves often bypass vehicles with standard transmissions because of the inability to drive them. As for me, I am not sure I could even start some of the new models with keyless ignitions and touch-screen selections!