I think I read somewhere that Jay Leno’s daily driver, the car he drives to work, is a Model T.
Jay works?(just kidding) wouldn’t surprise me in the least,He has been known to tool around in a jet powered motorcycle-Kevin
Leno’s daily driver is his Roadmaster. It’s a restored with a crate engine and Corvette suspension. Why would he drive a stinkin’ old car when he can afford to make his beautiful Roadmaster into a Real Car?
George Corliss patented a steam engine that used variable valve timing to throttle the engine back in 1849.
Answer to #5: the first real automatic transmission, with a torque converter, was the GM Hydramatic, first used in Oldsmobiles in 1940 (my old '47 Olds Dynamic Cruiser “78” sedan had one, coupled to a straight-8 engine). After the Hydramatic tranny was proven in the Oldsmobiles (GM’s experimental division), Cadillacs started using it. Buicks at the time were using a fluid-drive transmission, which did not use a real torque converter, but a fluid coupling. Chevrolet continued to use only manual transmissions until the mid-1950s.
@Drifter62–Actually the original GM Hydramatic did not have a torque converter, but had a fluid coupling. The difference is subtle, but a fluid coupling does not multiply the torque. The Buick Dynaflow, introduced in the 1948 Roadmaster model, did have a torque converter. This took the place of gears. If you wanted faster take off in the Buick Dynaflow, you had to select Low range. Chevrolet introduced and automatic transmission similar to the Buick automatic in 1950 and it was called PowerGlide. The PowerGlide had a torque converter.
In 1961, a different GM Hydramatic was available on the lower line Pontiac and Oldsmobile models. It had only 3 speeds as compared to 4 speeds on the original Hydramatic and it replaced the fluid coupling with a torque converter. This new Hydramatic was lighter than the original and called the “slim jim”.
GeorgeSanJose,
I had something better for drive-in movies. My obviously naïve parents gave me their 1960 Rambler Custom they had purchased new. They considered it a very sensible car for a 16 year old. Reliable, with great fuel mileage, and seemed to have missed the “lay down Rambler seats” with a push button automatic. There was not even a column shift to get in the way! The front seat back folded all the way down creating a full size bed. My parents never questioned why I installed the supports for the seat backs and never removed them. I’m also glad they never asked me what the drive-in movies were about. I would have not had a clue!
I agree. Todays automobiles have better drive-ability. They start easier in all weather conditions, warm up quicker, cool down quicker (AC), and clear condensation and frost quicker. They have more power with better fuel mileage. The only thing I miss is instant throttle response. My 2010 KIA Forte SX has a very aggressive acceleration throttle. It still has the mandatory deceleration valve which foils matching rpms for a downshift. I would not want a 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, or even 80s car for a daily driver. I have never owned a 1920s car ( just driven one) but have owned the rest of them.
Ya know I am thinking of a golf cart for my next means of transportation. I mean really if you have to get from point a to point b 5 miles on city streets in my case, and there is no public transportation you have to drop the ego and go minimalistic. Basic golf cart, 1940?
@sgtrock21: I’m not sure what a “mandatory deceleration valve” is.
I had a 1980 New Yorker (big boat) for a daily driver (in the 1990s) It was a carbureted vehicle. I had very little trouble with it ever. I would not want to go back to a carbureted engine again, but the car always started on the first try regardless of the weather, and the power delivery was smooth and responsive. Same with my 1970 Chevelle, though it was occasionally a bit temperamental at starting when it was hot–vapor lock I think. On the other side of the coin, I had a 1985 Ford LTD with throttle-body fuel injection. The car was weak, and it liked to surge at low speeds in a way that was incredibly annoying. I spent a lot of time and energy trying to debug the system and never got it running perfect. That and the possessed electrical system on the car made me give it up early. It did ride very well though.
Barkydog 12:08AM edited 12:09AM Ya know I am thinking of a golf cart for my next means of transportation. I mean really if you have to get from point a to point b 5 miles on city streets in my case, and there is no public transportation you have to drop the ego and go minimalistic. Basic golf cart, 1940?
Electric car technology dates back to the horseless carriage era. Baker made electric cars and not having to crank the engine to start it was a major selling point.
Baker was in business from 1899 to 1914.
I have a brother-in-law who lives in a fairly new development. And they have trails build for people with golf carts. There are a couple of stores and strip-malls that you can drive to.
Actually, Reo beat GM by a few years when it came to automatic transmissions. The Reo self-shifter was introduced for the 1934 model year:
And, even if they sold few, if any, cars, the Sturtevant brothers of Boston invented some sort of “automatic” transmission about 3 decades prior to the Reo Self-Shifter:
Did you mean the decade the item was either standard or a popular option on more than 50% of the cars or the first time it appeared on a popular car? For example , Jaguar had disc brakes in the 50s but I have seen a 1909 Stanly Steamer with disc brakes. But I think it was the 70s before more than 50%of the cars were equipped with them. -
Yea, exactly. I want to make a little table of when these features were mainstream on 50% of cars. Not when the first one was prototyped.
I am not comparing new to old, and I know these techs have evolved.
I just want to know when the basic original template for these systems was mainstream.
Ok, so far we have:
Disk brakes: 1950s
Alternators: 1960s (But when were batteries/generators/fan belts commonplace?)
Auto Tranny: 1940s
Engine: 1900
Starter motors: 1930s
Please keep em coming!
Starter motor was in use much earlier than the 1930s - Kettering invented it shortly after 1910, makers installed in cars beginning in 1912,
The first automatic shifting transmission dated back to 1904. Not sure but I think it used a clutch to get started, but it may have been a centrifugal clutch. The Model T used planetary gears like todays automatics use, but the gears were selected by pressing down on the correct pedal and holding it there.
I wouldn’t tag the 1940’s for auto trannys. I’d move that to the 50’s since the war pretty much stopped development and production. The 50’s to the 60’s saw a growth in auto-boxes taking over from manuals which became rare in the 70’s - 80’s and almost gone in the 90’s. Fuel injection on Euro cars got traction in the 70’s but the American and Japanese cars didn’t adopt it wholesale until the 80’s. Carbs were just about gone by 1992 or 93.
7 Suspensions with bushings, control arms and ball joints; the late 1950’s, all but gone by 1963
#8 Struts, appeared in mainstream smaller cars by the late 60’s and adopted in larger ones in the 80’s. Started to return to #7 by the late 90’s into the 2000’s for more premium or sporty cars.
The first automatic transmission I ever saw was in a 1949 Oldsmobile. It was called Hydramatic and performed leasurely.