Cars with push button transmission shifters

kfisher494

I am trying to remember a make of car I used to play in, nearly 50 years ago. The car was a two door coupe convertible, with push button shift. The thing is the buttons - as I remember - were on a console between the front seats. Does that sound familiar to anyone?

texases

Late 50s-early 60s Chrysler products had push button automatics, but the buttons were typically to the left of the steering wheel. Maybe some had them where you describe.

mark9207

The only pushbutton shifters I can think of were on the early '60s Chrysler vehicles, but they were on the dashboard to the left of the steering wheel.

Triedaq

The following U.S. cars had pushbutton automatic transmissions:
AMC Rambler & Ambassador (except American) 1958-1962
All Chrysler Products 1956-1964
Edsel 1958 (upper line Corsair and Citation only)
The Rambler and Chrysler products had the pushbuttons to the left of the steering column. The Edsel had the pushbuttons in the steering wheel hub.

twotone

Plymouths and Dodges from the 1960's.

VDCdriver

"Plymouths and Dodges from the 1960's. "

While Plymouths and Dodges (and of course, Chryslers) of that era had push-button shifter selectors, those buttons were definitely on the left-hand side of the instrument panel, not on a console.

What Triedag has detailed above is a correct and comprehensive list of vehicles that utilized push-buttons for shift selection.

The OP's recollection is inaccurate.

Triedaq

Fifty years ago, bucket seats with a console between them were't all that common. The Ford Thunderbird had a 2 door convertible around this time and the switches for the power windows may have been on the console. Could you have mistaken the window switches for the pushbuttons for the transmission?

jtsanders

Could it have been an import? I don't know what brand it might have been. I'm just brainstorming.

VDCdriver

I suppose that it could have been an import, but--50 years ago, did imports have a console in the middle? Please note that I am not referring to something like an Aston-Martin, a Jaguar, or a Ferrari. Those models may have had a console of sorts, but they most certainly would NOT have had a push button controlled automatic transmission!

The imported sedans that I recall from 50 years ago (Renault Dauphine, VW Beetle, various Fiats, Opels, and Austins) were very small, and although they had a shift lever and an e-brake lever between the seats, there would not have been room for a console!

On a side note, Renault offered a push button controlled automatic transmission on one of their models that succeeded the disasterous Dauphine. This slightly larger, squared-off model (The Renault 10??) used solenoids and servos to shift its manual gearbox, and the driver used push buttons (to the left of the steering wheel!!) to select gears. Like most other Renault innovations of that era, it was extremely prone to breakdown and was short-lived.

Triedaq

One vehicle that I thought about was the Chrysler 300 letter series (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, K, L) that was produced from 1955 to 1965. A convertible model was introduced in 1957. Some of these models were equipped with an automatic transmission. However, I still think that the pushbuttons were to the left of the steering column. I'm not certain about this however. Furthermore, there were very few Chrysler 300 letter series sold, particularly convertibles, so this would be a rare possibility.

the same mountainbike

A highschool buddy of mine in the late '60s had a Dodge Dart with a pushbutton tranny.