Tim wrote:
On Dec 12, 3:58 pm, HK wrote:

I think my mothers 53 Desoto had pushbuttons in the steering wheel.
I recall the buttons first appearing in the 57' DeSoto.

Didn't the '53 (like most Chrysler products) have a "cluthflite"
transmission, where you could use it as an automatic OR push a clutch
pedal to disengage it?



The 1948 Chrysler product on which I took my Connecticut driver's
license test had something like that, but I don't recall what you are
mentioning on my father's 1953 Dodge. It was a fully automatic. I have
no memory of a "standard shift" Chrysler product from those days.

I do remember a buddy's father getting a shiny new '57 DeSoto and on it
was the first push button shifter I had ever seen.

"HK" wrote in message
...
Tim wrote:
On Dec 12, 3:58 pm, HK wrote:

I think my mothers 53 Desoto had pushbuttons in the steering wheel.
I recall the buttons first appearing in the 57' DeSoto.

Didn't the '53 (like most Chrysler products) have a "cluthflite"
transmission, where you could use it as an automatic OR push a clutch
pedal to disengage it?



The 1948 Chrysler product on which I took my Connecticut driver's license
test had something like that, but I don't recall what you are mentioning
on my father's 1953 Dodge. It was a fully automatic. I have no memory of a
"standard shift" Chrysler product from those days.


Chrysler had a "semi automatic" transmission in 1941. It had a clutch, but
you used it only to select a range, High, Low or Reverse. Once you put the
shifter in High, you released the clutch while keeping your foot on the
brake. When you wanted to go, you pressed on the gas pedal and the car
would start moving. If you then lifted your foot slightly, it would shift
into a higher gear. Two forward gears only plus reverse.

Eisboch

On Wed, 12 Dec 2007 20:17:26 -0800, Tim wrote:


His book, "Unsafe at any Speed"....

As they were linked so closely, it's surprising that only *one* chapter
in the book was about the Corvair.

On Dec 12, 11:24 am, wrote:
On Dec 12, 9:16 am, wrote:





On Dec 12, 9:02 am, wrote:

On Dec 11, 10:58 pm, wrote:

On Dec 10, 5:24 pm, "Reginald P. Smithers III"

wrote:
Eisboch wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Dec 10, 2:42 pm, "Calif Bill" wrote:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLEIumBf2Rg&NR
There is a sweet 1970 Malibu for sale out near the stables. Maroon,
looks like a stock, garaged car, soooooooo pretty...

Not to be a party pooper, but I've never understood the fascination with
these cars.
First of all, they are a dime a dozen. As a collectible, they really aren't
worth much.
Second, having driven several, they handle like crap, ride like crap and are
not particularly "fast".

To each their own, I suppose.

Eisboch

There is a car for everyone. Look at this Auto Group.

http://www.corvair.org/

Check out some of those beautieshttp://images.google.com/images?q=corvair&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&ie=...-

- Show quoted text -

Me dear auntie 'ad one of those Corvairs, had push button shifter on
the dash iirc...- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I may be mistaken but I think the shifter you are thinking about was a
lever on the dash. Had a friend that had a Corvair Spider, the high
performance one!!!! Hell, I think it went 75 miles an hour or so, if
you could hold it on the road! That thing was horrible. You'd go down
the road 55 miles an our or so and it was all you could do to keep it
in your lane!- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Maybe it was a comet.. .which one did Nader screw with, that was it I
think.. hey, I was probably 6-7 yo when I rode in that car but it was
push button, on the dash, that I remember clearly..- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Nadar screwed with the Corvair. He should have, it was a piece of
crap! A lot of Dodge/Chrysler products had the push buttons. I've
owned to Valiants with slant sixes and push button trannys in my life.
Bullet proof cars! I had a "63 that when I bought it was clapped out,
but I ran that thing all over the place, always full tilt!- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Plymouth Valiant!!! That's it!! She had a Valiant. I can still
remember running up and down the hills of West Gloucester Island in
that old thing...

On Dec 13, 7:45 am, "Eisboch" wrote:
"HK" wrote in message

...





Tim wrote:
On Dec 12, 3:58 pm, HK wrote:

I think my mothers 53 Desoto had pushbuttons in the steering wheel.
I recall the buttons first appearing in the 57' DeSoto.

Didn't the '53 (like most Chrysler products) have a "cluthflite"
transmission, where you could use it as an automatic OR push a clutch
pedal to disengage it?

The 1948 Chrysler product on which I took my Connecticut driver's license
test had something like that, but I don't recall what you are mentioning
on my father's 1953 Dodge. It was a fully automatic. I have no memory of a
"standard shift" Chrysler product from those days.

Chrysler had a "semi automatic" transmission in 1941. It had a clutch, but
you used it only to select a range, High, Low or Reverse. Once you put the
shifter in High, you released the clutch while keeping your foot on the
brake. When you wanted to go, you pressed on the gas pedal and the car
would start moving. If you then lifted your foot slightly, it would shift
into a higher gear. Two forward gears only plus reverse.

Eisboch- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I think my bud had a Beetle that had sort of semi auto transmission...
I had a neat car, It was a lime green bug that came stock from the
factory with a black box and ornimental wind up key on the rear deck.
Got a lot of laughs at the campsites and bluegrass festivals. One time
I pulled into Preston and had half the field of drunks chasing my car
around the lot, after I had about twenty of them running after me, I
hit the brakes..Frekin' beer all over my car...

On Dec 13, 8:15 am, wrote:
On Dec 12, 11:24 am, wrote:





On Dec 12, 9:16 am, wrote:

On Dec 12, 9:02 am, wrote:

On Dec 11, 10:58 pm, wrote:

On Dec 10, 5:24 pm, "Reginald P. Smithers III"

wrote:
Eisboch wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Dec 10, 2:42 pm, "Calif Bill" wrote:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLEIumBf2Rg&NR
There is a sweet 1970 Malibu for sale out near the stables. Maroon,
looks like a stock, garaged car, soooooooo pretty...

Not to be a party pooper, but I've never understood the fascination with
these cars.
First of all, they are a dime a dozen. As a collectible, they really aren't
worth much.
Second, having driven several, they handle like crap, ride like crap and are
not particularly "fast".

To each their own, I suppose.

Eisboch

There is a car for everyone. Look at this Auto Group.

http://www.corvair.org/

Check out some of those beautieshttp://images.google.com/images?q=corvair&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&ie=...

- Show quoted text -

Me dear auntie 'ad one of those Corvairs, had push button shifter on
the dash iirc...- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I may be mistaken but I think the shifter you are thinking about was a
lever on the dash. Had a friend that had a Corvair Spider, the high
performance one!!!! Hell, I think it went 75 miles an hour or so, if
you could hold it on the road! That thing was horrible. You'd go down
the road 55 miles an our or so and it was all you could do to keep it
in your lane!- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Maybe it was a comet.. .which one did Nader screw with, that was it I
think.. hey, I was probably 6-7 yo when I rode in that car but it was
push button, on the dash, that I remember clearly..- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Nadar screwed with the Corvair. He should have, it was a piece of
crap! A lot of Dodge/Chrysler products had the push buttons. I've
owned to Valiants with slant sixes and push button trannys in my life.
Bullet proof cars! I had a "63 that when I bought it was clapped out,
but I ran that thing all over the place, always full tilt!- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Plymouth Valiant!!! That's it!! She had a Valiant. I can still
remember running up and down the hills of West Gloucester Island in
that old thing...- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Yep, quite the car, they were. The '63 was a gem! It was so rusted
that the back floorboard would get snow in it!

On Dec 13, 8:20 am, wrote:
On Dec 13, 7:45 am, "Eisboch" wrote:





"HK" wrote in message

...

Tim wrote:
On Dec 12, 3:58 pm, HK wrote:

I think my mothers 53 Desoto had pushbuttons in the steering wheel.
I recall the buttons first appearing in the 57' DeSoto.

Didn't the '53 (like most Chrysler products) have a "cluthflite"
transmission, where you could use it as an automatic OR push a clutch
pedal to disengage it?

The 1948 Chrysler product on which I took my Connecticut driver's license
test had something like that, but I don't recall what you are mentioning
on my father's 1953 Dodge. It was a fully automatic. I have no memory of a
"standard shift" Chrysler product from those days.

Chrysler had a "semi automatic" transmission in 1941. It had a clutch, but
you used it only to select a range, High, Low or Reverse. Once you put the
shifter in High, you released the clutch while keeping your foot on the
brake. When you wanted to go, you pressed on the gas pedal and the car
would start moving. If you then lifted your foot slightly, it would shift
into a higher gear. Two forward gears only plus reverse.

Eisboch- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I think my bud had a Beetle that had sort of semi auto transmission...
I had a neat car, It was a lime green bug that came stock from the
factory with a black box and ornimental wind up key on the rear deck.
Got a lot of laughs at the campsites and bluegrass festivals. One time
I pulled into Preston and had half the field of drunks chasing my car
around the lot, after I had about twenty of them running after me, I
hit the brakes..Frekin' beer all over my car...- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I remember the kind-of-automatic that VW had. My brother had a sedan
looking VW with that tranny in it. They called it the Autostick if I
remember correctly.

On Dec 12, 8:20 pm, "Calif Bill" wrote:
"HK" wrote in message

...

Calif Bill wrote:
wrote in message
. ..
On Wed, 12 Dec 2007 06:16:03 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

Maybe it was a comet.. .which one did Nader screw with, that was it I
think.. hey, I was probably 6-7 yo when I rode in that car but it was
push button, on the dash, that I remember clearly..
The push button trans were Chrysler TorqFlites and the Edsel (in the
steering wheel hub), as I recall.

I think my mothers 53 Desoto had pushbuttons in the steering wheel.
I recall the buttons first appearing in the 57' DeSoto.

Maybe. Just seem to remember them on her car. By the time I got to drive
her car was a 1959 Chevy Impala bat mobile.

My brother had a 59 Impala convertible! He hit a huge oak tree with
that thing head on, he was going about 60, then braked some, so don't
know what speed he ended up at, but it hit hard, I flew from the back
seat to the front! Didn't even get to the radiator, we just backed up
and drove off.

wrote in message
...
On Dec 13, 8:20 am, wrote:
On Dec 13, 7:45 am, "Eisboch" wrote:





"HK" wrote in message

...

Tim wrote:
On Dec 12, 3:58 pm, HK wrote:

I think my mothers 53 Desoto had pushbuttons in the steering
wheel.
I recall the buttons first appearing in the 57' DeSoto.

Didn't the '53 (like most Chrysler products) have a "cluthflite"
transmission, where you could use it as an automatic OR push a
clutch
pedal to disengage it?

The 1948 Chrysler product on which I took my Connecticut driver's
license
test had something like that, but I don't recall what you are
mentioning
on my father's 1953 Dodge. It was a fully automatic. I have no memory
of a
"standard shift" Chrysler product from those days.

Chrysler had a "semi automatic" transmission in 1941. It had a clutch,
but
you used it only to select a range, High, Low or Reverse. Once you put
the
shifter in High, you released the clutch while keeping your foot on the
brake. When you wanted to go, you pressed on the gas pedal and the car
would start moving. If you then lifted your foot slightly, it would
shift
into a higher gear. Two forward gears only plus reverse.

Eisboch- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I think my bud had a Beetle that had sort of semi auto transmission...
I had a neat car, It was a lime green bug that came stock from the
factory with a black box and ornimental wind up key on the rear deck.
Got a lot of laughs at the campsites and bluegrass festivals. One time
I pulled into Preston and had half the field of drunks chasing my car
around the lot, after I had about twenty of them running after me, I
hit the brakes..Frekin' beer all over my car...- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I remember the kind-of-automatic that VW had. My brother had a sedan
looking VW with that tranny in it. They called it the Autostick if I
remember correctly.

They may have come out in 1973 or later. (model years with pizza pie rear
taillights)
Don't believe the auto was available when I purchased a brand new 1972 Super
Beetle in December 1971.
This was my first new car and I was darn proud of it.... but 5 years of
traveling on salt saturated roads in the winter had it starting to look a
bit rough.
Those light duty running boards were the first to rot out, and the darn
heater control cables froze up every night. The gas heater took care of the
interior but drove many mornings into the sun with a frost caked windshield.

On Thu, 13 Dec 2007 11:55:56 -0400, "Don White"
wrote:


Those light duty running boards were the first to rot out, and the darn
heater control cables froze up every night. The gas heater took care of the
interior but drove many mornings into the sun with a frost caked windshield.

I put 4" fiberglass batt insulation on the floors of my '64 bug,
replacing it every winter for a few years. It really helped retain
enough heat to keep from shivering. Still had to scrape ice off
the inside of the windshield as I drove.
The gas heater worked well in my '67 Squareback, but it really sucked
gas, and I was always waiting for it to explode and incinerate me.
The '64 rotted out. The '67 steel held up well.

--Vic