Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

Question: How did the electric clutch work with a manual transmission on a 1950 Packard? Did Packard develop it?

Packard developed their version for the 41 cars but there was at least one other. Hudson also had a couple of versions they developed. Not sure when Hudson introduced theirs but the operation of the basic clutch part was similar in one version. Hudson carried it a bit farther in a different version and actually integrated the operation so the car also shifted gears by vacuum.

You might be interested in reading the instructions on the early Packard version provided in a service letter for their mechanics. It goes into the mechanical part but has the best operator description. The first or prewar version was very complicated relying on several switches and relays to operate solenoid valves as well as a throttle position valve and switch to modify vacuum supply and control the speed of engagement.https://www.packardinfo.com/xoops/html/downloads/SC/SL-VOL15NO2.pdf There is also a training manual that gets deeper into the repair.

The postwar version on your car is considerably different mechanically than prewar. Operation as far as the operator was concerned was virtually identical but the electrical part was much simpler. It had only one solenoid valve and a couple of switches to turn the vacuum totally on or off. All the control functions with actual application and speed of clutch engagement was controlled by a mechanical valve which was synchronized with throttle position. If you want to read up on that one, the service training manual has the description of how it works and repair but does not go into the operator specific part very much.https://www.packardinfo.com/xoops/html/downloads/ClutchTrainingManual.pdf

Less well-known is Packard's earlier flirtation with an automatic clutch, offered in 1932 and apparently available across the line but most often seen on the Light Eight model. As far as I know it was not continued for the 1933 models.

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Thank you. Very good information.