The Hy-Drive was a
Chrysler Corporation 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 t ...
introduced in 1953 in US-market
Plymouths. It was a hybrid
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 system, where gear change ...
equipped with a
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 ...
, 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
Dynaflow was the trademarked name for a type of automatic transmission developed and built by General Motors Buick Motor Division from late 1947 to mid-1963. The Dynaflow, which was introduced for the 1948 model year only as an option on Roadma ...
'', 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
Pontiac Pontiac may refer to:
*Pontiac (automobile), a car brand
*Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief
Places and jurisdictions Canada
*Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality
** Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...
s that year.) Chrysler had previously offered a
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 torq ...
fluid coupling (not a torque converter, as it did not multiply the torque) on their manual transmissions, and the ''Hy-Drive'' was an evolution of this. It was sold by Plymouth for the entire 1953 model year, and into April of the 1954 model year, when the fully automatic
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 P ...
became
available.
About 75,000 cars came equipped with this transmission.
Trivia
* The ''Hy-Drive'' was so large it required a complete reengineering of the engine compartment and transmission tunnel.
* Export Plymouth-based Dodges and DeSotos could be ordered with ''Hy-Drive''.
* ''Hy-Drive'' transmissions shared the engine's lubricating oil, requiring 11 quarts (10.4 L) for an oil change.
See also
*
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); a ...
References
*
*Flory, J. "Kelly", Jr. ''American Cars 1946-1959''. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Coy, 2008.
Notes
{{reflist
Chrysler transmissions