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Did '54 Packards have the older style Ultramatic, as opposed to the Twin Ultra? Did the older type avoid the well known TU issues of the 55 & 56s?

1954 started out with the traditional Ultramatic and towards the end of the model run the "Gear-Start" Ultramatic was introduced which was an early form of the Twin Ultramatic. Thus 1954 cars could be had with either.

Ultramatic was a very reliable transmission when properly cared for behind the straight eights; I've always held that the poorer track record behind the V8s was more a matter of more torque than it was designed for, coupled with some driver abuse and later incompetent (un-available) service and neglect.

It's worth keeping in mind that the wonderful feature of the first Ultramatics was that they did not shift gears at all. This had been the dream of engineers and drivers for years, to make a car with no gearshifting that drove as smoothly as a steam or electric car.

With the invention of the torque converter this dream seemed within reach. A torque converter has the unusual property that it slips and allows the engine to idle without stalling, then picks up the torque as you pull away and actually multiplies it like a gear ratio. As the car speeds up the torque converter tightens up to a near 1:1 ratio. Packard even included a lock up clutch to eliminate slippage once you got up to speed.

This was practically a transmission in itself. All they had to add was a reverse gear for backing up and a low gear for emergencies such as starting on a steep hill or pulling through heavy sand, snow or mud.

Only later did it seem like a good idea to add more gears under the demand for more performance. The gear start 2 speed was the first step in this direction, in the end they would no doubt have gone to a 3 speed torque converter trans as Chrysler did in 1957 and GM in 1964. Today you can get 4, 5 and even 6 speed transmissions. Such transmissions would have been considered a hopeless failure to the engineers of the 40s.

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They're a hopeless failure to the mechanics today, just ask 'em!

I heard about an 8 spd auto on some car - hate to work on that one!

Is there a way to ID a Gear start '54 from the older type? I met an older fellow in VT at the Stowe car show who owns a 54 Clipper and wondered how it differed from 55/56 TU and how to tell them apart.

I believe (never seen one though) that you can ID a 54 gear-start from the conventional Ultramatic by the extra indicator points on the indicator quadrant (on the steering column).

EDIT: PN'H'LR vs. PNHLR

Also the dip-stick that comes up into the engine compartment neat the steering column is a sure sign of a Gear Start. (see pic)

The Gear Start operates like the 55/56 Twin, as opposed to the normal Ultramatic. Gear Starts were only used on very late '54 production models. It's "like" a prototype Twin transmission that was fitted to the Straight Eight for in field testing before the production on the V8s began.

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Did the '54 Gear Start used 'H' like O_D suggested, or 'D' like the '55 & '56 Twin. What did the '56 Push Button use? Easy questions, but I do not know the answers. Thanks

(o{I}o)

It has a D. So PN'DLR. Not a great photo, but you can see it in this picture.

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1956 TU pushbutton selector layout:

N L H
P R D

P-N-R are grouped together on a common buss bar only so they can be cut-out at speeds above 5-8 MPH, all at once, by a governor oil pressure switch.

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1956 TU manual selector quadrant:

PNHDLR

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1955 TU manual selector quadrant:

PN'D'LR

Take note that 'D' is actually comprised of two postions:

- the triangle (') to the left of the D is the same as H on '56 models (starts out in High Range)

- the triangle (') to the right is the same as D on '56 models (starts out in Low Range and automatically shifts to High Range)