1955 Cadillac update

[rickr]

Wayupnorth

1965,(PRNDL) when they came out with the Turbohydramatic. Prior to 1965 most GM cars had "REVERSE" at the bottom. The "PARK" position was added to the Hydramatic in 1956, when the redesigned Jetaway Hydramatic was introduced. 1955 on down do have a locking "PARK" although there is no detent position for it. One simply places the shift lever into "REVERSE" when the engine is not running, and the transmission is locked in "PARK"

 

[wayupnorth]

Thanks Rick, I always wondered when GM changed that. The rest of my family always drove Fords with the PRNDL sequence, since my great uncle owned the local Ford dealership. I got my drivers licence in 1969 and my first car, a worn out '63 Rambler had had the P R N D2 D1 L.

 

[ea56]

Our 63’ Impala had PRNDL and so did the 61 Chevy Nomad that I got my DL in, and our 55 Chevrolet BelAir with Powerglide had Park on the quadrant, but R was at the lower right end, and if my memory serves me correctly the 51’ BelAir we had before the 55” had the same shift pattern as the 55’, and my Dad’s 57’ Olds 88 had Park on the quadrant too, again with R at the lower right end. GM retained the R on the lower right until I believe 59’.

Eddie[this post was last edited: 12/25/2019-00:02]

 

[tolivac]

COOL CAR!!!!!Really like the colors.Drive it in good health!!!!

 

[foraloysius]

That's a beautiful car! You can certainly be seen in it.

My grandfather had a 1955 Pontiac Starchief in two tone. There are only a few pictures of it, and most of them only a few details on those that were taken on the day of my parent's wedding. It was replaced by a 1960 Chevrolet Impala Sport Sedan, the only car he had that I can remember from own memories.

Americans were very popular among my relatives, more so than Mercedes and BMW's. But it ended in the late 60's. The last American car was a 1967 Chevelle, that was owned by an uncle.

 

[swestoyz]

Glad to see the '55 is still in the stable, and that it's gotten some much deserved TLC treatment! The new leather looks amazing!

Ben

 

[rickr]

Thanks Louis! My older brother had a 1955 Pontiac as his first car in 1968. It was a 4 door sedan, Chieftain. Nothing special, but I loved it! It was two toned, mint green and black.

Thanks Ben! I was wondering, if you still had that 1959 Cadillac? Or perhaps it was Cory's car. I saw it when you guys drove it to Greg's house in 2006.

 

[kevin313]

A real beauty!!

You have done a wonderful job with it - just stunning! Come spring, get her out on the road and enjoy!

 

[cornutt]

From what I've read, the Powerglide and the Dynaflow were the two GM transmissions that used the PNDLR sequence. The Dynaflow wasn't truly an automatic; it was a slushbox that relied entirely on the torque converter. It never shifted to low gear unless you moved the lever to L. My parents had a '61 Le Sabre with the Dynaflow. There were hills that it would not go up unless it was shifted to L.

 

[ea56]

Originally, GM placed the “L” and the “R” at the end of the shift quadrant to facilitate “rocking” your car out of snow, mud and sand by quickly moving between reverse and low. I’ve seen some Jam Dandy films on You Tube that demonstrate this, and I recall reading about this maneuver in old GM owners manuals.

When I was in HS, in 1966 the neighbors up the road from us had a 57’ Buick Station Wagon and also a 63’ Rambler Classic 4 dr. The Rambler had the PRNDL set up, while the Buick had PNDLR. Once, Diane, the middle daughter was following the school bus up a very step grade, and the bus driver Mrs. Denton always had to come to a complete stop at a certain very steep spot and shift into 1st gear. Well Diane, was used to driving the Rambler, and forgot that reverse was at the end of the quadrant in the Buick and slammed the shift lever of the Buick into reverse by mistake, thinking she was shifting to low and dropped the transmission right on the spot, with all of us laughing at her bad luck. Fortunately, her Dad had a tow truck too, and was able to tow the Buick back up the grade.

Eddie

 

[swestoyz]

Cadillacs....

Yes, Cory and I made the trek to Omaha in '05 in his then just recently resurrected from the dead '59 coupe deVille. He still has the old girl but last I heard the Hydramatic is slipping a bit.

I had a '61 driver condition deVille a few years back that was a blast but has since moved on. Recently a beautiful '54 Series 62 showed up in the right color and I almost bit the bullet (wife approved, too!). Thankfully my sanity came through in time, LOL.

https://barnfinds.com/beautiful-with-low-mileage-1954-cadillac-series-62/

 

[rickr]

I owned a 1961 Coupe in the early 1980's. It was nicknamed "The Batmobile" for obvious reasons. I like the green on this 54. Transmission most likely needs overhauled. If it does not move, a band tightening is not going to do it.....

 

[swestoyz]

band tightening is not going to do it.....

Yeah, a Unimatic is a piece of cake compared to a Hydramatic...

 

[kenwashesmonday]

ea56 wrote:

"and also a '63 Rambler Classic 4 dr.  the Rambler had the PRNDL setup,"

 

Ramblers of that era used Borg Warner 3-speed automatics.  The shit quadrant was

P R N D2 D1 L  

In D2, it started in 2nd and continued to 3rd.  In D1, it used all 3 speeds.

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[ea56]

Ken, I was only trying to make the point that the 63’ Rambler had “L”in the location on the quadrant that we are now used to, rather than “R” being at the lower end. The D1 and D2 designations were located where “D” is now commonly the location we’ve all been used to for years. Thanks for the clarification re: the 63’ Ramblers D1 and D2 designations.

The real point I was trying to convey was that there was originally a reason for L and R to be located at the lower end next to each other, and that drivers that weren’t paying attention could and did cause major damage by shifting into reverse when they actually meant to shift into low.

Eddie

 

[wayupnorth]

1963 was the first year for column shift automatics in Ramblers. 1962 and earlier had push buttons on the dash. My first car was a 1963 Rambler Classic 660 wagon and did have P R N D2 D1 L. You could fold both the rear and front seats for a completely flat carpeted bed. It also had the dual master cylinder braking system, introduced years before most other brands caught up.

 

[ea56]

Tim,

My Grandpa had a 62’ Rambler American Station Wagon that I drove him around in frequently and it had the automatic shift lever on the column. I think the push buttons for the pre 63’ Rambler auto trans were for the higher end models from the mid 50’s until 63’ when the went back to the column.

Nash and Rambler both had since the 40’s offered the convenience of folding the front seat backs all the way down to meet the rear seat cushions thereby creating a bed. Nash and Rambler both offered many features before other manufactures did, like “weatherized” heating that used fresh air circulation when the heater/defroster was on. And they always made a point of their high MPG and gas economy.

When I took Drivers Education, the classroom portion in 1965 textbook had information on all the various different transmissions that people still had in their cars then, from three on the tree to Fluid Drive, Overdrive, vacuum clutches and all the different Auto Transmissions that were still in use, so students would have a clue how to drive any one of these cars should the need arise.

Eddie

 

[wayupnorth]

Eddie, you are right about the American always having column shift Automatic but Classic and Ambassador finally did get it '63.

 

[vacerator]

AMC

used the Chrysler torque flight automatics. Chrysler also moved to column shift in 1965 over push buttons, at least on full sized cars.
The tooling for the first 4 speed Hydramatic was obsolete soon after the fire at the Livonia plant inm 1953. Then the Powetglide went into production. Buick retained it's Flight Pitch, and the other divisions save Chevrolet continued their versions of the Superturbine 300, slim jim, etc. until the turbo350 and 400 debuted by 1969 accross all 5 divisions.

 

[appliguy]

1963 was the 1st year for column shift automatics in Rambler

All Hydra-Matic equipped Ramblers made between 1954 and 1957 used a column gear shift lever with Nash's famous Selectro-Lift Starter. Selectro-Lift was a feature where you turned the ignition switch on and then pulled the gearshift lever toward you to activate the starter. That changed in 1958 when Rambler started using the Borg Warner Flight-O-Matic 3 speed push button automatic. Also if I am reading your last post right Mike you got the timeline a little mixed up. Powerglide appeared in 1950, the Livonia Hydra-Matic plant fire was in August 1953. Turbo Hydra-Matic came out in 1963 on the higher end Cadillac's and was available on big block Chevy's starting mid year 1965 coinciding with dropping of the 409 V8 and the introduction of the 396 V8. Powerglide remained in production until 1973 and was last offered on the Vega, and 6 cylinder and small block V8 Camaro's and Nova's as well as the 6 cylinder and small block V8 Chevelle's thru 1972. Also all 1965 Chrysler products with an automatic transmission had either a floor mounted or steering column mounted gear selector lever. PATRICK COFFEY