Not too many folks under fifty have memories of automatic transmissions with pushbutton controls in lieu of a shift lever. The pushbuttons became somewhat of a fad in the mid to late 1950s, and were offered by virtually every automaker other than GM. Chrysler was the most stubborn adherent, using pushbuttons almost exclusively through the 1964 model year.
Now, we learn that Lincoln is whispering about future vehicles with several advanced features, including – wait for it – pushbutton transmissions. Admittedly, the Lincoln version promises to be quite a bit more advanced than the simple mechanical Chrysler unit or the more trouble-prone electro-mechanical units of other manufacturers.
I, for one, have owned a couple of pushbutton cars. After a little learning curve (mainly involving which hand to use in shifting gears) I came to like them. I can see Lincoln’s point here. In today’s world, is there really a need for that big, clunky lever and its linkages in order to send a signal to an electronic controller? I just hope that the buttons control a tranny with a cool name. Maybe Lincoln could resurrect the LiquiMatic name from its ill-fated 1942 semi-automatic.
So what about you? Could you see yourself driving a modern car with a pushbutton transmission?
There was a discussion about pushbutton transmissions a few months ago. It was under an Edsel article, I believe.
Anyway, yes, I would totally love to have a car with a pushbutton tranny.
So then the becomes where to locate the buttons on this new concept. Oh and then what safety features would have to be installed to prevent someone from messing with it while you drive.
The obvious answer is the one Chrysler used most of the time — put the buttons to the driver’s left (right in an RHD car) so they are out of the passenger’s reach. Electronic lockouts can prevent you fron engaging reverse when the wheels are turning forward and vice versa.
Nar I drive a manual trans coz thats what I like.
My Dads 56 Plymouth (charcoal grey and pink two tone) had the Selectronic Pushbutton Transmission and it was on of the few features on the car I didn’t screw up.
Space being a premium in today’s vehicles it makes total sense to eliminate the shift lever.
More room for storage, coffee cup holders or even some dashboard electronics. Great place to incorporate an Ipad or other tablet computer.
In fact I’ve actually thought about replacing the little toggle lever in my 2010 Prius with buttons elsewhere, since the lever is in the perfect spot for my smartphone.
Funny thing, that area is where the manual shift lever should “fall readily to hand”, but in a car without that, it’s the phone I want at hand.
PS: I don’t use the smartphone in my Miata. That wonderful shift lever is the whole point!
Pushbuttons make a lot more sense than those awkward levers poking out of the instrument panels of many new jellybean cars.
i’ve never owned a pushbutton-equipped car but always thought they were cool, especially the Teletouch Edsels.
My automatic euphoria was a ’73 GS455 with the awesome stirrup shifter.
Now were talking…..
My parents’ ’68 Impala SS had that stirrup shifter as well.
I had a ’68 Impala SS too with that shifter…bought for $700 in 1977 and junked a year later. 307/PG and lotsa bondo. My ’70 Monte Carlo also had that shifter. Car’s frame rusted out in 1988. I still have the console.
Trying now to figure if I have the budget for a TKO-500 for my ’68 Chevy C-10 project…there’s been too many automatics in this family for far too long.
Speaking of console automatic shifters, ever wonder why they’re all backwards? You pull the lever back to go forward, push it part-way forward to back up and all the way forward to stop.
What car had the very first console-shifted automatic?
This was probably the rationale of the original Hydra-Matic of 1940. Reverse was all the way down, then the lever got moved up to go forward to drive. Translated to a floor shifter, all the way backwards to go backwards.
Right, same arm motion on the console as the column shift. Extend arm for Park, retract arm for Drive.
What about RHD cars??? Do the column shift (PRNDL on the left side, correct?) and the console shift (on the left) end up with opposite arm motions?
Surely The 1953 Corvette was one of the first automatics to have a floor-mounted shifter, if not the absolute first.
My guess is this will be built into MyFordTouch, or MyLincolnTouch, or whatever it’s called…I think there would have to be a lockout system to prevent someone from reaching over to change radio stations, or MP3s, or whatever, and changing gears–but there’s no technical reason not to do this. How many cars already use the shift lever to control an electronically-shifted transmission? It’s an illusion that you’re actually moving anything with the lever, in that case.
There is one operation that is probably still done mechanically with the shift lever: engaging the parking pawl, which stops the car from rolling away. This is essentially what differentiates Park from Neutral.
The Chrysler push-button gear selector didn’t have a Park button, only Neutral. The driver had to move a lever beside the gear selector to engage Park.
Presumably a new trans with pushbutton controls would use a solenoid to engage the parking pawl. Of course, if that failed….
Aren’t all of the parking pawls engaged via some sort of solenoid now? There is a cheap-feeling lever protruding from the center stack of my Kia minivan that I do not believe is connected to a single thing but an electrical switch. I would love for the lever to go away.
I always thought that the biggest problem with the Chrysler pushbuttons was their left-hand placement. I am not a lefty, so the left-handed shifting took some getting used to. Then, whenever I got into my mother’s car, I would reflexively stick my fingers into the a/c vent on the left side of the dash. Right-handed buttons would be quite natural. Actually, I suppose there would be no reason that you couldn’t have a set of buttons on each side, or the ability to program one side for the tranny and the other for auxiliary functions. Even better, maybe a row of buttons along the bottom edge of the steering wheel hub – Teletouch Lives!
I would drive a pushbutton car in a heartbeat.
A lot of the shift levers are still connected to the transmission and parking pawl. Many still engage reverse and forward mechanically. However mechanically most don’t do anything different inside the trans between OD, D, 3,3,2,1 H or L that is just moving the switch. Some switches are mounted on the transmission and some on the lever.
The 2013 Fusion and other Ford products have a push button e-brake. When you do activate it, there is the sound of something happening, maybe the caliper engaging/disengaging. I’m not enitirely sure.
The early PowerFlite and iron-cased (A-488) TorqueFlite didn’t have a parking pawl — the lever next to the selector was introduced with the aluminum-cased TF. Prior to that, Chrysler had the parking brake operating on the transmission output shaft, so they figured the pawl was a needless added expense.
I knew that, but I didn’t want to type it all out using the thumb keyboard on my phone. 🙂
I practically do drive a pushbutton transmission already, the 2010 Toyota Prius. The little spring loaded lever is obviously not connected to anything mechanical. And Park really is a button.
I’d be a little surprised to see push buttons return on a luxury car, and not an econobox. Buttons are cheaper!
BMW does the same thing. It’s cheaper.
We have a Prius also. The first time I drove it it struck me as odd that you move the lever to “shift” gears, such as they are but use a button for Park, compared with our neighbor’s old Dodge Lancer, which I drove a few times before they replaced it with an LTD, that was the opposite.
I kinda like the the electronic toggle style column shfter they were using on the 7 series and S-class for a while, though looking at the picture, the Lincoln still has a large center console, with more storage yes, but I would like to see them add wider more comfortable seats and less massive consoles.
Liked the idea before thinking or better seats. Like it even more now. And, it should save a little manufacturing cost too. Hope it becomes commonplace.
I’m down with the idea. The lever used to be necessary, and it became the idiom. Idioms can change. Witness the keyless car, started by pressing a Start button, which works as long as the keyfob is stuck in the dash or, in some cases, is somewhere inside the car. People got used to that in a hurry. They’d get used to alternative transmission user interfaces too.
Interestingly, I think this line of thinking breaks down when it comes to the pedals — even though it’s all drive by wire now and there’s nothing physically sacrosanct about pedals anymore, I’d sure hate to borrow somebody’s car with an alternative stop/go system, need to make a panic stop, and reflexively jab at a nonexistent brake pedal.
I like the keyfob-in-dash system, but the proximity key system I find to be a pain, at least in the couple of rental cars I’ve had with this feature. Why? Because I naturally approach the car with keys in hand, unlock the car, and then stick the “puck” into the dash and hit the Start button (this in my wife’s MINI). With the proximity key, I unlock the car, then have to either put the key back in my pocket or have it rattling around the interior while I drive. The dash is, if nothing else, a convenient place to hang one’s keyring while driving!
I agree on the pedal system–if we ever get away from the paradigm of stepping on the brake to stop the car, I will be one confused driver, and one whose insurance rates will be through the roof from a couple of rear-end accidents.
After you live with the proximity system for a while, you never take the key out of your pocket and use the pad on the door to unlock it, then sit down, put your foot on the brake pedal and press “Start.”
When there’s snow on the ground (as there currently is outside of my window) and you are wearing a long coat or parka that covers your pockets, AND heavy gloves, a smart key is your best friend.
The logical, and thus least likely option, would be a setup based on the Allison truck transmissions which have a box with a couple of buttons and an LED gear display. If I have a slushbox, I’m not picky about whether it uses buttons, floorshift, column shift, or paddle shift. It’s still a slushbox. OTOH manual transmissions need a stick.
Not sure they need a stick, or at least not much of one. The Cord preselector shifter was a pretty clever device considering it was mid 30’s technology.
I think the electronic touch transmission in the MKZ is cool. Unlike the Prius it cleans up the area and makes it elegant and flowing.
BTW the MKZ Handling Package with the summer tires (that out slaloms an M5) IS officially on the option list. Go Lincoln! A reviewer took umbrage that he had been duped by a ringer MKZ, when in fact he, as a journalist, missed the story altogether.
Most of the reviews have been bent on destroying and burying Lincoln, not reviewing the car.
If I had the $$$ I’d buy one……..with the Panorama Roof.
City buses use push button transmission and they don’t have Park, only Neutral setting.
Yes but they have spring brakes. MD and HD automatics do not have a parking pawl because they can get bound up due to the force created by the high weight.
As a lockout feature, the transmission buttons could be right beside the right side of the steering wheel on LHD cars.
Bimmer is right. City buses for years have used push buttons for gear selection. My ’60 Plymouth had a pushbutton Torqflite and the ’64 Dodge taxis I worked on had push buttons. It was logical to have the buttons on the left side of the steering wheel since no one but the driver could screw with the buttons. On the taxis we removed the 1 and 2 buttons and installed block off plates to keep would be Andrettis from overreving the engines.
What’s stupid is the setup in my 2012 Impreza with the CVT transmission. It’s got a conventional console-mounted shift lever which allows fully automatic operation or a paddle shift option. The paddle shift position simulates a six speed transmission. Six speed simulation on a box with an infinite number of ratios? At least the paddle shift option allows tranny braking which my wife took advantage of on Sherman Hill (6% grade for nine miles) just east of Laramie.
My next-door neighbor’s (later my brother’s) ’62 Rambler Classic Cross-Country (last one before the pivotal ’63 redesign) had push-button “Flash-O-Matic” tranny controls as well, and Park was a lever underneath the dash where the parking brake release might otherwise be (it was mounted a little lower). It also had Weather Eye air conditioning and that famous Nash seat. I remember it being a pretty substantial car for its size, no doubt due to its unit construction.
Jaguar has a knob that rises out of the console when you start the car. BMW removed the floor shifter from 7-series cars at least a generation ago. I wonder, though, if regulations, Nader or both had anything to do with the sudden turn to levers for automatic transmissions. Pushbuttons seemed to disappear all at once in the mid-’60’s.
I recall diving into this awhile ago. Nader was making noise (in Unsafe at Any Speed) about how dangerous it was for everyone to be using different shift quadrants, particularly GM (reverse at bottom) and almost everyone else (reverse near the top). I believe I found that governmental purchasing specs were issued around 1964 or 65 that required any car purchased by the Federal Govt to use a shift quadrant of PRNDL. GM’s cars were all PRNDL by 1964 or 1965, and Chrysler’s pushbuttons disappeared after 64 (although the lever on early MoPars simply operated the same cable that the buttons had used).
So, buttons were not outlawed, but keeping them would have shut Chrysler out of government fleet sales, which was of course not a desirable outcome.
The regs must have been well enough publicized that the change was accomplished pretty quickly and uniformly. With some effort, I could find the thread that we discussed this on once before, because I believe that I found reference to the regs themselves.
We had a thread on the ’59 Dodge Coronet but even then I don’t think we quite got to the bottom of it.
What law wanted to standardize was design that would have a “neutral” between forward and reverse movement of the car, which is why you go through N-neutral between reverse and drive, in the old GM automatics with reverse on the bottom (PNDLR) you have to go through several “forward” (D,2,L)gears before you get to reverse and the push buttons couldn’t meet that need that since you can go from D to N to L to R to 2 in any combo you wanted.
The best I was eventually able to figure out was that it wasn’t exactly a federal safety regulation per se, but a decision by the Government Accounting Office (effective in ’65, as I recall) that the feds would no longer purchase fleet vehicles that did not have a standardized PRNDL shift pattern.
Also, Nader was mostly echoing the sentiments of inventor Oscar Banker, who had been complaining for years that the lack of standardization in shift patterns was a safety hazard. (Banker, it should be noted, said in his memoir that he was not at all happy to be associated with Nader or Nader’s campaign.)
Depending on which transmission you had in the 57 Buick, the quadrants could be different. Motor Trend commented at the time on how dangerous this could be. Nader, et al were right to criticize the madness of 50’s/60’s transmission selectors/quadrants, though as a car nut kid, I thought it was kind of cool. If you bought a new MoPar product in 54-55-56 you had a different selector mechanism each year.
The automatic transmission lever in my G37 is neither big nor clunky and I like it. And you can use it for manual shifting – not sure that would work as well for me with pushbuttons.
As for the new Lincoln, to steal and paraphrase from Chrysler’s advertising agency back in the day – “Suddenly it’s 1956!”
I think the big problem with the Buick quadrants (and Chevrolet, which also had two different automatics) was not so much the different pattern but the fact that a lot of customers were not terribly clear on what the Gr position did. On Flight-Pitch/Triple Turbine or Turboglide cars, the Gr position was placed on the quadrant in a manner similar to Lo on a Dynaflow or Powerglide, but it didn’t work at all like Low gear. (The Grade Retarder, as it was generally called, was designed to mimic engine brake when going down a steep hill, but didn’t actually do anything to the transmission’s ratios.)
Congress passed a law in 1964 that gave the person in charge of ordering thousands of items for Congress, and all the government offices, the right to set standards. It covered more the cars and trucks.
Memory serves, once the bill was passed, this person had a year to set all the standards to paper. When all the standards were completed, the list was published and distributed to all suppliers.
The new standards were to become official about six months after the list had been approved and printed.
You might question why all the delays. but all suppliers needed to know what was being changed and by what date they would be effective. Thus this law that began all changes in 1964 did not become effective until 1967. It also helped companies like Chrysler that needed time to do some reengineering.
The highway safety act and all attached rules and regulations went through a similar growth. The acts were signed into law in 1965, but their regulations did not become binding until 1967-69.
The GSA standards for cars purchased by the government took effect for the 1966 models. What reengineering do you have in mind that Chrysler had to do, over and above what the rest of the automakers had to do?
We had the push buttons in our ’62 Rambler Ambassador. I remember the buttons were very hard to push. My dad always used his thumbs.
Wow, I thought only Mopars and the Edsel had pushbutton shifting. Ramblers too, cool! Better be careful with those Rambler seats folded down, a wayward toe could send you rolling.
Nice photo from a nice article here on a ’59 Rambler.
And Mercury for like 2 years on the high end models, but oddly, not Lincoln.
Don’t forget Packard!
WOW that is beautiful! What year Packard is it from?
1956. We did a 56 Packard Patrician that did not have the pushbuttons, which were optional. However, the piece contained an ad that showed them in a pod that stuck out on the right side of the steering column. I don’t believe anyone else approached the button placement that way, but it would be an easy swap between buttons and a lever.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-1956-packard-patrician-man-the-lifeboats/
The earlier pushbutton Chrysler products didn’t have the “Park” lever that was on some of the later cars. I don’t think my 1958 Imperial even had one, and I know that the 57 New Yorker and the 57 and 58 Plymouths didn’t. You just used the emergency brake to hold the car.
I believe that it was 1961 or 62 when the park lever appeared. My 59 Fury had no park. Why do you need a parking pawl when you have that big old-fashioned K.T. Keller-style drum brake on the driveshaft? 🙂
http://www.imperialclub.com/Articles/63MotorTrend/page03.jpg
My 1962 LeBaron did not have the lever. ’63 was the first year to use the parking pawl, at least on the Imperial, according to Motor Trend.
(about halfway down the page)
The smaller version of the TorqueFlite used in the Valiant (A-904?) had the park lever from the beginning, but the bigger cars didn’t get it until the arrival of the aluminum-cased A-727 in 1962.
I’m not sure why everyone is so concerned about having a “lock-out” feature of some sort. There is no lock out on the shifter sticking out of the column or console now. Plus on current electronically controlled transmissions when you push that OD off button, or move the existing lever to say 3, 2, 1, or L the only thing you are doing is sending a “request” to the PCM for that gear and then IT decides if that is appropriate at that point in time. Heck even some of the old fully mechanical transmissions had similar features that would force an up shift, prevent a down shift, or reverse being engaged when it could damage the engine or transmission.
The 2013 Ram pickups have a rotary, dash-mounted transmission control, which you can see a picture of here:
http://wot.motortrend.com/revised-2013-ram-1500-outdoorsman-returns-with-available-eight-speed-auto-243795.html/2013-ram-1500-eight-speed-transmission-gear-selector-dial/#axzz2GNi7fIAC
It’s touted as offering easier operation when you’re wearing gloves, but at least one review has said it’s harder to use at such times than a traditional column shift.
I have to say, Jim, I’m crazy about that first picture. Man, what style.
That is the cover of the 1957 Chrysler-Plymouth sales brochure.
Fiat will have electronic pushbutton shifting on the 500e.
Have you seen? The new 2013 Ram trucks with the 8-speed electronically controlled automatic transmission shift with a KNOB.
I can’t find the PRNDL buttons in that Lincoln photo, where are they?
Here’s a horrifying thought…transmission pushbuttons could easily be put on a remote.
Its the strip of buttons closest to the driver, cascading down the left side of the HVAC panel.
Ah! Now I see it. Nice big buttons, totally makes sense. I wish my Prius had those buttons. I do wonder if there’s some obsolete regulation in the way. This photo implies that Ford’s looking into it.
They have already done it, this on the new MKZ available now. Aston Martin has had one for the past few years on automatic cars too.
FYI: I’m not sure about other dealers, but we’re not getting the new MKZ until late January. Kind of frustrating since all of us want to get familiar with it asap.
First off I can’t see myself driving a “modern” car.
Although I can say I’m probably the only one here who has driven a “push button” vehicle lately. And a modern one at that. Most of you think I sit behind a parts counter but the truth to be known is that I pulled a short stint for a couple of years as an OTR truck driver. You think you have “mad” skills driving a car? Hey get your class A CDL and than we’ll see who has the skill. Anyway the last two trucks I had were both UltraShift equipped Class8 trucks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrKnEFMSJIQ
One a ’10 Freightliner Cascadia and the one before that was a International 9000 series. In all fairness I have to point out that the U/S wasn’t a true automatic but a manual non-synchro’d transmission with an air actuated clutch. A PCM controlled the clutch and shifting through a series of air actuated and electric solenoids. The idea was that with a set of 2.56 gears(or what ever ratio you wanted) in the twin screws you could gain some extra MPG if you could eliminate all the waste of a normal double clutch shift.Over revving,missed shifts,etc. All I know was that it made me a lazy driver which is another story. It was always kind of fun watching the gear indicator count up through the gears. It was also a PITA when you got a unit with some miles on it and the clutch over heated. Or it wouldn’t downshift and leave you sitting at a light stuck in high gear.
I wouldn’t mind a P/B shifter. But I’d rather have one on the steering wheel rim or with reach of my opposable thumbs. Kind of like todays paddles or an old fashion column shifter.
In addition to buses, pushbutton transmissions are also common on modern fire trucks. (with no Park)
My uncle had a 63 plain Newport 4 dr sedan with the push buttons. Also, had matching buttons for the heater, etc. I only drove the car a couple of times; I recall the steering was the lightest, and the brakes the touchiest I ever drove back then. But I was used to driving a 64 Biscayne with no power anything, 6 cyl with 3 on the tree.
Didn’t really like the 63-64 Chryslers. My 68 Fury was the best.
GM has had a push button trans shifter on the dash of the of larger trucks with Allison transmissions. The earliest I can think of seeing on was on a 2006 Topkick. I haven’t had to dig into one for any repairs as of yet but it seems to be pretty bulletproof.
I’ve thought for some that the push button actuated automatic transmission would some day make a comeback. I learned to drive in 1970 on my mom’s 1963 Dodge Custom 880 which had it. I seem to recall her 1961 Valiant had it, too. My first car, a 1963 Chrysler 300 (non-letter) 2-door, purchased at the beginning of my senior year, also had it. So, I have fond memories of it.
It is rather surprising to me how many vehicles now have a floor mounted, console shifter. Aside from imparting a sense of sportiness, it is just a colossal waste of space. Seems to me it’s time for all automakers to discontinue floor mounted shifters, except for the rare 3 pedal cars. Interior design and packaging can then be improved.
Waking up this topic again I hope… My new Fiat 500e daily driver has a good old-fashioned push button transmission. Totally logical in an electric car. I unexpectedly found it a bit strange at first, but soon got used to it. These are big buttons with strong springs so I use my thumb to push them.
Even combustion cars have electronically controlled automatics, so push buttons are actually the functional way to go. (Except of course when there’s a manual stick.) How common are they nowadays, five years after JPC’s article?