Presto-Matic
   HOME
*





Presto-Matic
The M6 Presto-Matic was a Chrysler Corporation semi-automatic transmission produced from 1946–1953. It was a special manual transmission with a fluid coupling. Although it had just two forward gears, an electric overdrive unit was attached and useful in either gear for a total of four forward speeds. The driver would use the clutch pedal any time when selecting low, high, or reverse gear. Once underway, the accelerator could be eased and the car would engage the overdrive. With the Fluid Drive coupling, the car could be brought to a halt in gear without releasing the clutch and would creep like an automatic. The Presto-Matic name was only used on Chrysler-brand cars. DeSoto called the transmission the Tip-Toe Shift, while Dodge used Gyro-Matic, Fluid-Matic, Fluidtorque, or Gyro-Torque. Chrysler and DeSoto sold the unit from 1946–1953, while Dodge did not introduce it until 1948. Plymouth introduced their ''Hy-Drive'' semi-automatic in 1953, but all were replaced by the ''Pow ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Fluid Drive
Fluid Drive is the trademarked name that Chrysler Corporation assigned to a transmission driveline combination which replaced the flywheel with a hydraulic coupling and performed the same function as a modern torque converter, only without torque multiplication. A conventional clutch and three- or four-speed manual transmission was installed behind the fluid coupling. Fluid drive was used in many military vehicles produced for the US Armed Forces during the Second World War. It was offered for civilian use from 1939 through 1953 in Chryslers, 1940 through 1953 in DeSotos, and from 1941 through 1954 in Dodge models; a semi-automatic system was optional from Chrysler and Desoto from 1941, and for Dodge from 1949. History The fluid coupling and torque converter was invented by the German engineer Foettinger in the early 1900s. For non-marine applications he licensed the development of the fluid coupling to the British engineer Harold Sinclair and his Fluidrive Engineering Co Ltd (n ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


PowerFlite
PowerFlite is a two-speed automatic transmission engineered and produced by the Chrysler Corporation and used in their passenger cars from 1954 to 1961. Production began in late 1953 and the simple and durable PowerFlite remained available on Plymouths and Dodges through the 1961 model year. Background Chrysler was the last of Detroit's Big Three automobile manufacturers, Big Three automakers to introduce a fully automatic transmission, some 14 years after General Motors Corporation, General Motors had introduced Oldsmobile's Hydramatic automatic transmission and nearly three years after Ford Motor Company, Ford's Ford-O-Matic. Packard's Ultramatic debuted in 1949, and Studebaker's Automatic Drive was introduced in 1950. The PowerFlite was lighter and simple in its construction and operation, with fewer parts than competing transmissions. It was also durable, being used behind every Chrysler Corporation engine from the Plymouth automobile, Plymouth Six to the Imperial (automob ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Semi-automatic Transmission
A semi-automatic transmission is a "theoretical" multiple-speed transmission where part of its operation is automated (typically the actuation of the clutch), but the driver's input would be required to launch the vehicle from a standstill and to manually change gears. Semi-automatic transmissions were exclusively used in motorcycles and are based on conventional manual transmissions or sequential manual transmissions, but use an automatic clutch system. But some semi-automatic transmissions have also been based on standard hydraulic automatic transmissions with torque converters and planetary gearsets. Names for specific types of semi-automatic transmissions include ''clutchless manual'', ''auto-manual'', ''auto-clutch manual'', and ''paddle-shift'' transmissions. These systems facilitate gear shifts for the driver by operating the clutch system automatically, usually via switches that trigger an actuator or servo, while still requiring the driver to manually shift gears. This ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


List Of Chrysler Transmissions
Chrysler produces a number of automobile transmissions in-house. Semi-automatic * 1941–1942 M4 Vacamatic — 4-speed (2-range manual control with automatic 2-speed shift vacuum operated) with clutch and fluid coupling (Fluid Drive); also known as Simplimatic, Powermatic * 1946–1953 M5/M6 Presto-Matic — 4-speed (2 gear manual with electric overdrive) with clutch and fluid coupling (Fluid Drive) or torque converter (Fluid Torque Drive); also known as Tip-Toe Shift, Gyro-Matic, Fluid-Matic, Gyro-Torque * 1953–1954 Hy-Drive — 3-speed manual transmission behind a torque converter Automatic * 1954–1961 PowerFlite — 2-speed automatic * 1956–2007 TorqueFlite ** 1956–1961 A466 — 3-speed automatic ** 1962–1994 A727 (36RH/37RH) — 3-speed automatic ** 1960–2002 A904 (30RH) — 3-speed automatic ** A998 (31RH) — 3-speed automatic ** A999 (32RH) — 3-speed automatic ** 1988–2004 A500 (4 ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Vacamatic
The 1941 M4 Vacamatic transmission by Chrysler was, historically, the first semi-automatic transmission which was marketed by a major manufacturer. It was an attempt to compete against rivals' hydraulic automatic transmissions, though it still had a clutch, primarily to change range. In normal driving, the clutch is not used. The transmission itself was a fully-synchronized manual transmission, with four forward gears, one reverse; where the shifting was done 'automatically' by either vacuum cylinders (early, M4), or hydraulic cylinders (late, M6, Presto-Matic). The main difference was the addition of a fluid coupling between engine and clutch, and the shifting mechanism. Operation The range selector (looked like a column shift) had three positions: Low, High, and Reverse. Low consisted of what would be a first and second gear with an ordinary four-speed; High was third and fourth. The reverse was a single ratio. Driving one was/is quite different: Upon starting, one would disenga ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Hy-Drive
The Hy-Drive was a Chrysler Corporation semi-automatic transmission introduced in 1953 in US-market Plymouths. It was a hybrid manual transmission equipped with a torque converter, like an automatic. Although ''Hy-Drive'' cars had a clutch pedal like a traditional manual transmission, it was only used to put the car in gear. Once underway, the driver could upshift and downshift using the gear shift without using the clutch or even lifting off the accelerator. The industry was caught by surprise by the advent of the automatic transmission in the early-to-late-1940s. General Motors' ''Dynaflow'', introduced by Buick in 1948,Flory, p. 1017. was a smash hit with the public, very soon being fitted in over 80% of new Buicks. (GM's fully automatic Hydramatic, which debuted in 1939, was in 70% of Pontiacs that year.) Chrysler had previously offered a Fluid Drive fluid coupling (not a torque converter, as it did not multiply the torque) on their manual transmissions, and the ''Hy-Drive'' wa ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Chrysler Corporation
Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automotive company Stellantis. In addition to the Chrysler brand, Stellantis North America sells vehicles worldwide under the Dodge, Jeep, and Ram nameplates. It also includes Mopar, its automotive parts and accessories division, and SRT, its performance automobile division. The original Chrysler Corporation was founded in 1925 by Walter Chrysler from the remains of the Maxwell Motor Company. It was acquired by Daimler-Benz, which in 1998 renamed itself DaimlerChrysler. After Daimler divested Chrysler in 2007, the company operated as Chrysler LLC (2007–2009) and Chrysler Group LLC (2009–2014) before being acquired by Fiat S.p.A. and becoming a subsidiary of the newly formed Fiat Chrysler Automobiles ("FCA") in 2014. Chrysler in 2021 is a ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Manual Transmission
A manual transmission (MT), also known as manual gearbox, standard transmission (in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States), or stick shift (in the United States), is a multi-speed motor vehicle transmission (mechanics), transmission system, where gear changes require the driver to manually select the gears by operating a gear stick and clutch (which is usually a foot pedal for cars or a hand lever for motorcycles). Early automobiles used ''sliding-mesh'' manual transmissions with up to three forward gear ratios. Since the 1950s, ''constant-mesh'' manual transmissions have become increasingly commonplace and the number of forward ratios has increased to 5-speed and 6-speed manual transmissions for current vehicles. The alternative to a manual transmission is an automatic transmission; common types of automatic transmissions are the Automatic transmission#Hydraulic automatic transmissions, hydraulic automatic transmission (AT), and the continuously variable transmissio ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Overdrive (mechanics)
Overdrive is the operation of an automobile cruising at sustained speed with reduced engine revolutions per minute (RPM), leading to better fuel consumption, lower noise, and lower wear. The term is ambiguous. The most fundamental meaning is that of an overall gear ratio between engine and wheels, such that the car is ''over-geared'', and cannot reach its potential top speed, i.e. the car could travel faster if it were in a lower gear, with the engine turning at higher RPM. The power produced by an engine increases with the engine's RPM to a maximum, then falls away. The point of maximum power is somewhat lower than the absolute maximum RPM to which the engine is limited, the " redline" RPM. A car's speed is limited by the power required to drive it against air resistance, which increases with speed. At the maximum possible speed, the engine is running at its point of maximum power, or ''power peak'', and the car is traveling at the speed where air resistance equals that max ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Torque Converter
A torque converter is a type of fluid coupling that transfers rotating power from a prime mover, like an internal combustion engine, to a rotating driven load. In a vehicle with an automatic transmission, the torque converter connects the power source to the load. It is usually located between the engine's flexplate and the transmission. The equivalent location in a manual transmission would be the mechanical clutch. The main characteristic of a torque converter is its ability to increase torque when the output rotational speed is so low that it allows the fluid coming off the curved vanes of the turbine to be deflected off the stator while it is locked against its one-way clutch, thus providing the equivalent of a reduction gear. This is a feature beyond that of the simple fluid coupling, which can match rotational speed but does not multiply torque and thus reduces power. Hydraulic systems By far the most common form of torque converter in automobile transmissions is the hydr ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Chrysler
Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automotive company Stellantis. In addition to the Chrysler brand, Stellantis North America sells vehicles worldwide under the Dodge, Jeep, and Ram nameplates. It also includes Mopar, its automotive parts and accessories division, and SRT, its performance automobile division. The original Chrysler Corporation was founded in 1925 by Walter Chrysler from the remains of the Maxwell Motor Company. It was acquired by Daimler-Benz, which in 1998 renamed itself DaimlerChrysler. After Daimler divested Chrysler in 2007, the company operated as Chrysler LLC (2007–2009) and Chrysler Group LLC (2009–2014) before being acquired by Fiat S.p.A. and becoming a subsidiary of the newly formed Fiat Chrysler Automobiles ("FCA") in 2014. Chrysler in 2021 is a ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

DeSoto (automobile)
DeSoto (sometimes De Soto) was an American automobile marque that was manufactured and marketed by the DeSoto division of Chrysler Corporation from 1928 to the 1961 model year. More than two million passenger cars and trucks bore the DeSoto brand in North American markets during its existence. History Predecessors In Auburn, Indiana, the de Soto Motor Car Company was created by L.M. Field, Hayes Fry and Glenn Fry of Iowa City, Iowa, and V.H. Van Sickle and H.J. Clark of Des Moines, Iowa in November 1912, and was a subsidiary of the Zimmerman Manufacturing Company of Auburn who had previously started in 1908 until 1915 at 440 North Indiana Avenue. The Zimmerman Manufacturing Company was founded in 1886 as a manufacturer of horse buggies in Auburn, Indiana. It entered automobile production in 1908 with a line of high wheel automobiles and 1912-1916 with light high wheel trucks, but switched to conventional cars and trucks around the time it was bought by the Auburn Automobi ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]