Re: Gear Start Ultramatic Question

Posted by BH On 2012/1/5 18:20:52

In composing the 54 RPO chart, know that I only had one Trade Letter to go by. It was published in '53 and specifically noted as "effective with the first shipment of 54th Series cars".

Of course, the Gear Start was not available at that point, but I decided to include an entry for it in my chart, anyway (and foootnoted as needing documentation). I based the model availabilty on parts book applications, which appears to be one-to-one with the previous Ultramatic (AT) equipment. I've never seen any documentation as to exactly when that equipment was introduced, but it seems to be generally acepted that it was very late.

My gut feeling is that the Gear Start completely replaced the original Ultramatic in regular production, but there's always a chance of an exception to any rule, by approved special request.

If anyone can provide BigKev with additional Trade Letters, I'll be more than happy to update the chart(s).