Then, there were the ubiquitous three speed manuals, either with or without overdrive.Īll finished? Not quite. Chrysler, of course, offered a variety of old-school semi-automatics mated either to a torque converter or a straight fluid coupling.
![1950 buick super 8 1950 buick super 8](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/G2Cwnldvgbc/sddefault.jpg)
Or, you could skip the complexity and just have a two speed automatic (Chevy Powerglide). The Stude even added a lockup torque converter. Some three speed automatics also used torque converters, and even acted like two speeds in normal operation (Ford, Mercury, Studebaker). The four-gear HydraMatic was probably the market leader, but there were also torque converter automatics like the Buick Dynaflow, or torque converters that locked up for a “high gear” (Packard UltraMatic). Transmission? Automatics were becoming all the rage, but again, there were several kinds. There was even the unique Willys F head ( here). Prefer a 6? Another choice to be had between an overhead valve (Chevrolet) and the venerable flathead (including the Hudson Hornet’s monster of a mill). If you prefer an inline 8, you again have a choice of flathead (Pontiac, Packard) or overhead valve (Buick). But that period within a few years either side of 1952 gave us some of the widest choices available in a generation.Įngine? You could get a modern, high performance V8 (Cadillac, Olds, Chrysler, Studebaker, Lincoln) or an old-school flathead V8 (Ford, Mercury). Speaking from a mechanical standpoint, there was not all that much variation in the final years before the Second World War, and the sameness would reassert itself by the late 1950s. Well, perhaps we should rethink this “conventional wisdom.”
![1950 buick super 8 1950 buick super 8](https://c8.alamy.com/comp/2H1JPBD/paaren-im-glien-germany-october-03-2020-full-size-car-buick-super-8-1950-die-oldtimer-show-2020-2H1JPBD.jpg)
Everyone made cars that were the same shapes, with the same kinds of engines and transmissions and suspensions, and there just was not much variety there. This attitude bleeds through to American cars of those years. ( first posted ) The early 1950s is commonly considered to be an era of dull conformity.