MEMORIES OF THREE ON THE TREE, or The Gear Shift is Wherever You can find it.

Story by K. Peddlar Bridges, AKA The Rod Poet. all photos by Peddlar. _________________

With every invention comes the need for another invention. With the invention of the table radio, came the invention of the table. With the invention of the Lamp, came the invention of the lamp stand. With the invention of the computer, came the invention of the computer desk. Even the humble TV Dinner created the need for the invention of the TV tray. Who knows, perhaps one day Scientists and Sociologists will discover that humankind first invented the roof, then needed a place to put it on, so, they invented the house to go under it. Now this may seem like backward logic? But, there is a point in case here, the gear shifter. For the most part, today we have two forms of shift levers, the common ... The floor shifter and the very rare ... column shift. Now, we still have floors in cars with column shifts and we still have columns in cars with floor shifts, but I'm not really sure why? Unless, it is in case, we ever decide to change them over to the other type shifter ? Now, I know what you're thinking; we already had floor boards, that is where we keep the floor peddles, i/e, brake, clutch, accelerator, etc. and we already had a steering column, that is where we put the steering wheel. But, that is using the same logic that names rivers, for where they end and not where they start. Now, the floor peddles are always on the floor (or there-abouts,) and the steering wheel is always on the steering column, but the gear shifter has not always been in the same place. There has always been the issue of just where to put the gear shifter?

It is also very hard to pin down the reason for this issue? Again, it is much like the river, we know we need a bridge to cross the river, but, where does the real issue lie? Is the problem, that we want to cross the river? And, why there? Or does the problem lie with the river, that insists on passing there? Or is it more cosmic than that, with the real problem being gravity that causes the river to flow downward. Or is it even more philosophic than even that, meaning, Who or what created gravity in the first place? Gear Shift levers can cause so many problems and issues. This issue and problem is most likely much older than one may at first believe. Perhaps, it began with the first motor vehicle, or perhaps, the first set of gears. if you have two gears, how do you get from gear one to gear two and where do you put the gear shift lever? According to Google, Ford was trying to patent answers to these questions as far back as 1901. For the most part, the Auto World settled into the nice respectable answer of, "Let's put the gear shifter on the floor ... right here!" Thus, forming a direct line between the driver and the transmission gears. A no frills answer as they say. Then came the Thirties, with it the Depression, and every-one had to hustle to make a sale. This was a great Era for Auto Designers, they had to push the envelope of design for a sale. Auto-body designs became sleak ... air streamed, Cords and Auburns had front wheeled drive. Lincolns and Caddys were available with 12 cylinder engines, there even a few 16 cylinder auto engines that were produced circa (1932 -1937) and design innovations were in. And one of these innovations was the steering column gear shift lever i/e the column shift. So, the 1930's were the great years of the transmission's transition from 1930 when almost every auto had a floor shift to 1939 when almost every auto manufactured that year had a column shift, Ford being one of the last to transfer over in 1940. But, there was also a transmission design free for all that was beginning to take place.

By the Mid-Thirties, Auto Engineers were not only trying to move the gear shift from the floor to the column, but were also trying to come up with a whole new transmission design as well i/e a self shifting auto-matic. Before the Thirties, there were many false hopes and false starts toward the automatic transmission. In 1934, the Reo came out with what it called a self-shifter, really two tranys in series. In 1937, Buick and Oldsmobile came out with an automatic transmission, but again it still had a clutch. In 1937, Chrysler came up with the Fluid Drive transmission, but again this was still not a true Hydromatic transmission as we know them today, with their drop them in gear and go, but a fluid coupling instead of a conventional clutch. Even with a War to contend with, Detriot produced many tansmission innovations and improvements during the Forties. In 1941, Chrysler introduced the Fluid Drive to the public. Somewhere along the way, Chevy came out with a Vaccum-Assisted Shifter. When new, these Vaccum -Assisted Shifters, shifted as smooth as silk. Once they were older, at times they would refuse to shift, other times they would bounce themselves out of gear and then try to grind themselves back in. They would also, at times, shift themselves into the wrong gear, they were like trying to stir a pot of Mulligan Stew with a live alligator's tail. And you had to figure out just where the jaws really were. They were even known, when left in neutral and running to be worked on, to have bounced themselves into gear, and then try to run you over. A car that runs its own driver over, who came up with that innovation? Freddie Kruger? In 1948, Buick and Olds would produce the Hydraulic Torque Converter transmission i/e the Dynaflow, much like the transmission as we know it today. In 1950, Chevy would follow with the Powerglide, Ford with the Fordomatic, and Mercury with the Merc-O-Matic. Chrysler would frolic with the Fluid Drive Tranny for several more years.

Now, you would think by reading this that once the calendar turned January First, 1951, we would have had it all settled, once and for all. We had two kinds of transmissions, Automatic and Standard, and we had most of the shifters on the column and a few on the floor ... now that's settled, let's move on. But the 1950's and early 60's became an era of let's move the gear shift around and around, and let's see how many different ways we can hang it. Nash placed the Shift lever half into the dash and used a ball and cup socket coupling to connect it to the linkage inside the dash, a nice shifter, except when the socket wore out. It was about 35 cents for the parts and about three days worth of labor to have it fixed. Chevys ran the shift rod almost to the top of the steering column, and Fords ran the top of the shifting rod right out of sight below the steering wheel. Every car felt different when you shifted it. When they got older, every shifter had its own intrinsic set of problems. By the Mid-Fifties, folks were still not satisfied, Chrysler, Dodge, Plymouth and the like for the most part did away with the shift lever and put push buttons on the dash. In the late 50's, Ford, not to be out done, came out with the Edsel and used push buttons and put them right in the middle of the steering wheel, and ran the cables right down through the middle of the steering column. But, the 61? 62? Pontiac Le Manns out topped them all by placing the gear shift lever right in the dash, and you had to open the trunk to check the transmission Fluid! Now, out top that. Over the years, thousands of floor-shift conversion kits have been sold to car enthusiasts to take the shift lever off the Steering Column and place it back on the floor. In today's World, Detroit and Euro-Asia have surrendered, and now place the gear shifter back on the floor where it took so many years of mechanical evolution to move it from.

But, if you are not happy with your floor shifter, there are companies such as IDIDIT that will sell you a kit to place it back on the steering column again, and there are many fine shops such as Chop-Shop Customs that can do the job for you and do it right. Now, let's move on to another 1950's Auto Industry game called, "Let's hide the gas cap and filler, in the tail-light." Happy April Fools ... Peddlar!

THE SHIFTER POEM ... by K. Peddlar Bridges Above here is a Picture of a Shifter on the floor where some folks feel it belongs Above here is a picture of a Shifter on the Column Where some folks feel it should be But, I wish I had a Picture of a Shifter on the dash or in the center of the wheel To show that some folks just don't know how they really feel!

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