YAETT

Yet another ‘earlier than thought’, another invention that went to sleep for 50 years before it was officially “invented”.

We think pushbutton shifting was developed by Chrysler and Packard in 1956, then spread to Mercury and Edsel and Rambler for a few years.

Nope. Pushbutton shifting was developed in 1913.

Center of steering wheel, repeated in 1958 by Edsel.

Similar to Packard’s 1956 buttons.

The innards:

This was made by Cutler-Hammer, not an obscure startup, and installed on Winton and Haynes, both relatively popular brands. (Winton also had the FIRST self-starter before Cadillac officially “invented” the self-starter.)

This was a preselector, not a true automatic. The buttons activated a complex set of relays and solenoids, moving the selected gear into mesh when you hit the clutch.

A preselector can’t work with a simple ‘crashbox’; it needs some way of synchronizing the gears. This was AFTER the 1905 FIRST forgotten synchromesh by Great Smith, and BEFORE the 1929 remembered SECOND synchromesh by Cadillac. So instead of synchromesh, Cutler-Hammer used free-wheeling to decouple and stop both sets of gears before moving into mesh. Free-wheeling, of course, was later SECOND invented in 1930 by Chrysler in answer to Caddy’s SECOND invention of synchromesh.

History is written by the big armies and the fashionable corporations. When GM or Chrysler or Apple invents a device, it is the FIRST by definition. Earlier versions are memoryholed.

Sing: Winton starts good like a motorcar should! Winton shifts good like a (click click) motorcar should!