Cord Pre-Selector Transmission

[Slowhand]

For your daily dose of car geekdom:

[71chevellejohn]

That is too cool!

[Pooter]

Thats cool as shit! All that in '36.

[Geor!]

That is fucking weird as shit. Would take me a month to get used to that, then probably another month going back to a standard 5/6 speed.

[Geor!]

More about that specific type of transmission. I have never heard of that before. Pretty freakin' awesome.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-selector_gearbox

[Slowhand]

Thats cool as shit! All that in '36.

Cord is a pretty classic example of being ahead of your time. Flip up headlamps, crazy transmissions, FWD...they were 30 years early, as least. Beautiful cars, too.

[slowyellow]

Wow, I can't believe that was OE. Crazy. I could get used to the upshifting, but quick downshifting would fuck me up for a while I think. Pretty neat though.

[4EyedTurd]

Takes the fun outta bangin gears tho

[YALE]

Thats cool as shit! All that in '36.

Duesenberg had absolutely zero fuck around in their game.

[CJ]

mind blown.

[Frank]

I'm guessing its a non-synchro trans from the sound of it.

[onemeangixxer7502]

pretty wicked , that car would be a drunk fucking nightmare though!

[Ratt]

That's pretty neat, but seems unnecessary.

[46Tbird]

That's pretty neat, but seems unnecessary.

...and requires constant adjustment. There are cables in the pre-shifter that stretch, hang, or break. They're a bitch to deal with. But that's part of the fun of dealing with car that in most ways is 50 years ahead of its time.

I love this kind of stuff!! There has been a lot of cool technology that came and went with cars.

Cadillac, Olds, and Buick used hydraulic power windows. They were fast, silent, and powerful when they worked... but made a helluva mess when they didn't. So did the seat heating system they used that routed heater hoses into the passenger compartment and through the seat frame.

Before automatics used a torque converter, Mopar had a self-shifting transmission that used a clutch for engagement. You had to put it into first gear, let out the clutch, and then it would shift itself to second and third. Then when you came to a stop you'd have to put it in neutral or ride the clutch like a stick.

Packard used a complicated system of electric motors in tandem with four-wheel torsion bars to create a suspension that automatically levelled itself, both in turns, and with a heavy load in the trunk. It worked amazingly well, and nearly saved the company.

And some stuff sucked. Mopar had a "Southwind" heater system that burned gasoline for quicker and hotter heat. It would also burn your car to the ground if the hoses had cracks or leaks. What could go wrong??

[CJ]

...and requires constant adjustment. There are cables in the pre-shifter that stretch, hang, or break. They're a bitch to deal with. But that's part of the fun of dealing with car that in most ways is 50 years ahead of its time.

I love this kind of stuff!! There has been a lot of cool technology that came and went with cars.

Cadillac, Olds, and Buick used hydraulic power windows. They were fast, silent, and powerful when they worked... but made a helluva mess when they didn't. So did the seat heating system they used that routed heater hoses into the passenger compartment and through the seat frame.

Before automatics used a torque converter, Mopar had a self-shifting transmission that used a clutch for engagement. You had to put it into first gear, let out the clutch, and then it would shift itself to second and third. Then when you came to a stop you'd have to put it in neutral or ride the clutch like a stick.

Packard used a complicated system of electric motors in tandem with four-wheel torsion bars to create a suspension that automatically levelled itself, both in turns, and with a heavy load in the trunk. It worked amazingly well, and nearly saved the company.

And some stuff sucked. Mopar had a "Southwind" heater system that burned gasoline for quicker and hotter heat. It would also burn your car to the ground if the hoses had cracks or leaks. What could go wrong??

I agree, the way I look at it, "I don't give a shit, make it work." I would pay the bills and put the time in to keep it running the way it was intended. I thoroughly enjoy reading and researching early attempts at commonly accepted designs. Usually you find the most interesting and genius designs before a general standard was adopted. In early automobiles you had tillers, timing adjustment handles, push button gear changes, all these kinds of unique solutions to a problem.