In recent years, modern cars have shifted from the all-too-familiar manual gears to an automatic transmission. You can find used cars in Abu Dhabi with both types of transmissions. But then of course, every once in a while an automaker goes out of their way to come up with something unique. Here are some cars that had unusual ways to change gears.
Ford Model T
This vehicle features a floor-mounted pedal with which you change gears. The lever on the flank had to be pushed forward while the driver pushed another pedal to keep the car moving. By releasing the left pedal, you made the car enter the high-speed cruise control mode. Ford Motors’ Model T has no transmission and it was considered three-speed. However, since one of the three speeds was actually reverse, it would be billed as two-speed in today’s terms.
To go in reverse, the driver had to push a pedal on the floor. The steering wheel featured a lever to control the throttle. Needless to say, the idea wasn’t really a hit.
Abarth 695 BiPosto
While nearly all road cars feature a synchromesh gearbox, a good chunk of race cars gets a dog-ring gearbox. The Abarth 695 BiPosto has one too. To change gears, you will have to slide various gears up and down shafts. This method enables different combinations and churn out different gear ratios. A dog-ring gearbox has no synchromesh to equalize the difference in speed between different gears.
Synchromesh gears usually have a cone or collar which performs like a clutch and when the two gears inch closer, the friction between the collars cause them to rotate at the same speed. The dog teeth subsequently work to lock both the tears together. This system isn’t exactly ideal for a road car. However, if you fancy a stock production vehicle with a race car gearbox, this is your sole option.
Cord 912
Electric Hand was the name of the automatic-shifting system by Bendix and was developed in the mid-1930s. It was seen on cars such as Hudson, Tucker, and of course Cord. Basically, it was a pre-selector you could operate with your fingers by moving a tiny lever on the dashboard. The actual shifting only happened when the clutch was dipped. So, it kind of was an early preview of the automatic transmission, if we may say so. Such a system was often referred to as ‘preselector’ transmission since you first had to select the gear and then engage the clutch.
Oldsmobile Hurst/Olds
Hurst introduced the Lightning Rods, which was a three-level system. Each lever could be used for a gear change. There was a standard PRND selector and two manual shifters.
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