The Optional Transmission

[TC Chris]

For the older folks among us, we remember when automatic transmissions were an option, a sort of luxury item. Manuals were "standard." They were what you got on basic models.

My brother, hearing my whines about not being able to get a manual transmission truck, sent an article about the two remaining options. Toyota offers manuals, and Jeep. (I grinned when I read the first online comment: The Toyota will outlast you, and the Jeep will be dead before Christmas). They are extra-cost options now. You get the automatic for free or you can pay more for a manual.

Me, I've had one new car in my life, and will probably check around to see what the used Toyota market is like. I already know that they come at premium prices because they are Toyotas, but there's probably an extra premium for the manual.

Earlier he sent me an article about an electric car (Kia, I think) that offers a fake gearshift system, complete with fake audio to make it sound like you're working through the gears. You gotta be kidding.... I'll wear a toupee or ride an e-bike first. Don't hold your breath.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

I drove a truck for years. I enjoyed shifting gears, thought it was part of being a truck driver. You had to be able to back up a trailer, you had to know how to "bump" your tires, check your oil, be able to listen to the truck run and be able to tell when something didn't sound right. When I learned to shift an 18-speed transmission, I thought I was the best truck driver on the planet. Guess what? Now truck drivers wear shorts and flip flops instead of jeans and boots. They don't "look" like truck drivers. Companies will hire you if you can fog a mirror. They don't take you on a test drive and make sure you don't miss any gears. Why is that, you ask. Silly automatic transmissions in diesel over-the-road trucks. 13 speed automatics. You have a choice of three gears. F,N,R. Forward, Neutral, Reverse. There are paddles on the steering wheel where you can shift up or down manually. No gear shift, no jammin' gears, no clutch. So, I feel your pain. No way would I drive an automatic transmission heavy duty truck. It would offend my sensibilities, as driving an automatic Toyota offends yours. Toyotas of today are not the Toyotas of old. They now have their warts. I don't know what I'd buy if I had to have a new car.

Yep, Mack charges extra for a 12-speed manual.

[Firedome]

Yes, you do pay a premium for a Toyota, but you get what you pay for.
#1 on my list if we ever get a newer car, I don't need car hassles any more.
They perhaps don't live up to the '80s and '90s models now but they're still better than anyone else.
And at my age with creaky knees a manual trans is no longer in the picture, but at least the m/c is easy to foot shift.

[electra225]

I will NEVER own a Toyota or a Honda. Just won't. I made myself that promise in the 1970's. Since GM doesn't build cars anymore, probably a Bimmer or a Genesis would be high on the list if I had to buy another car. Yeah, they are horrible to get serviced, but how they run, drive and handle makes up for a temporary increase in blood pressure at the service desk.

[TC Chris]

You high-end guys all have high standards. Me, I was sailing tonight on my "Chevrolet" sailboat. It was built to a price for the mass market, functional and without frills. She's just a sweet little boat, pretty and well-mannered under sail. I'm happy with Chevys and Fords. Love my old Ranger. Consumer Reports objected that it "rides like a truck." Well yes, but it is a truck. And besides, I don't like driving a mattress. I drove somebody's '90s Mercury once and it had that downy cushioned velour upholstery and floated like a boat. My truck tells me where the bumps are. I did have one "foreign" car, a 1980 Datsun 510 station wagon that really did come over on a boat from Japan. It was a delightful vehicle, efficient (mid-30s gas mileage over its whole lifetime), roomy for a little car (I could carry a washing machine with the hatch closed), fun to drive and (maybe the two most important qualities) RED and MANUALLY SHIFTED. German cars always seem boring and overpriced. BMWs seem to be the province of young bankers, people with few skills or interests. As a kid from a community that depended on GM car plants, I was a committed domestic car guy until the pollution control rules came along. The Japanese viewed them as a problem to solve, while all we heard from Detroit was whining about how it could not be done. And each side proved its claims, as it turned out. Detroit produced cars that wouldn't run and Japan made ones that did.

My brother has driven Toyotas since his brand-new '76 Plymouth Volare needed a transmission rebuild at 25K miles. The guy in the shop guessed: "It must have about 25K on it, right? " My brother said yeah, how did you know? "That's when they all fail." He soldiered on awhile until the alternator and the wiring harness all burned up. When that was fixed he sold it and bought a Toyota. He hoped the buyer didn't notice the rust spots on the tailgate.

Chris Campbell

[Conelrad]

Yep, pops taught me to stir the gears when I learned to drive our '55 Plymouth Plaza wagon in the 60's. 3 on the tree, it was.

He did have a '62 Falcon with the 2-speed auto in it, and said he couldn't understand how it lasted so long...

I still have a '90 Ford F350 7.3 with a factory 5-speed OD box. Rare breed.

Dennis

[Ken Doyle]

In the mid-1960s, I believe Rambler had the most transmission choices.

"Standard" 3 speed on the column

3 speed on the column with overdrive

"Twin Stick" which had two sticks on the floor, one for the 3-speed, and one for overdrive. The transmission had different gear ratios than the standard gearbox, and gave 5 speeds foward.

"E-Stick" was a 3-speed manual, with or without overdrive, but had an automatic clutch and no clutch pedal.

"Flash-O-Matic" 3 speed automatic on the column -- P--R--N--D2--D1--L

"Shift Command" 3 speed automatic on the floor -- P--R--N--D--2--1


All the transmissions, both manual and automatic, were Borg Warner units. AMC went to Chrysler automatics in 1972.

I had about 8 Ramblers over the years, and found them to be very durable cars.

[electra225]

My wife drove a '63 Falcon with the 144 six and Ford-O-Matic when we got married. Perhaps the slowest accelerating car ever built. Zero to 60 in that car was not possible. It wouldn't run 60 miles an hour with two adults and a kid in it. You couldn't kill that thing, it ran for years. Rust finally claimed it. My aunt bought a '63 Rambler with an aluminum engine. I don't remember much about it except that she had to take it to "the city" to have it worked on.

[Ken Doyle]

The aluminum version of the Rambler OHV 195.6 engine was built for only a few years, and the regular cast-iron version was a no cost option. Chrysler had an aluminum version of the slant-six during the same time period. I believe that both engines suffered from the lack of aluminum friendly coolant being available in those days.

[electra225]

Buick's aluminum V-8 suffered from stripped spark plug hole threads. Guys would "moose" on the spark plugs and take the threads out of the heads. They didn't have the cavitation issues Chrysler had. There is a guy here locally who has a Valiant (I think) with the aluminum slant 6. He painted the tin, such as valve covers and oil pan, then left the aluminum bare with a clear coat. Quite the impressive engine compartment when done like that. Odd that the Chrysler aluminum engine and the Rambler aluminum engine were the same displacement, 196 cid.

[Ken Doyle]

I believe all the aluminum slant-sixes were 225 cu in, and all the 170 and 198 slant-sixes were cast-iron.

I just read this interesting page a few minutes ago (slow day at work):
https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/mopp- ... slant-six/

[electra225]

Interesting reading, Ken. Thanks for sharing that. So the local guy has a 225 in his Valiant? I was mistaken about the 196 cid part, apparently. The intake, valve cover and pan are painted red like in the pictures in the article you posted.