OK, so in spite of the OT aspersions cast at today's (very useful IMHO) traction and stability controls, it appears that the Packard had the direct-drive clutch automatic transmission all to itself from 1949 until B-W made its unit starting 1956. It apparently then fell out of favor until Chrysler "invented" it again in the late '70s" (not with the greatest of results, at first).
Further...
Quote:
55PackardGuy (me) wrote:
As I recall, the "Twin" Ultramatic (TU) gave you two Drive positions, with an arrow on either side of the "D". On one of the arrows, you started out in 2nd (like the Ford mentioned) on the other arrow (the one on the right, next to the "L") you dropped into the "gear start" mode for a quicker takeoff...
Quote:
Tim Cole wrote;
No that's not correct... The later BW three speed simply made Low the breakaway gear, but retained the optional second gear start (D2). So with Packard there were two options - slush and super slush.
"...with Packard" seems to be equating both the Ultramatic and TWIN Ultramatic I was referring to:
"[Twin Ultramatic] had a "D" range ... with two positions. In the first, the transmission operated as usual, starting out in 1:1 ratio plus torque converter, locking into direct drive when the vehicle came up to speed.
In the second "D" range, the unit started in low, later shifted to 1:1 and still later locked into direct [drive]..." Does that sound like "slush" to "super slush"? It sounds to me like two shifts, the second one into direct drive. Maybe the "later" B-W offered something different, but the original B-W unit of 1956 was more comparable to the original Ultramatic of 1949-54, not the Twin Ultramatic of 1955-56.
Quote from of
Packard a History of the Motor Car and the Company, Beverly Rae Kimes, Editor, Copyright 1978, Automobile Quarterly (page 588). Italics added.
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