OT Missing my hire car :-(

It does mean that you don't notice how peaky a modern 2.0TDI is - whilst delivering better MPG than the manual version of the same car.

Honda managed with just two for quite a while.

Go carts have just one

We had a 2 speed Civic for a short time (it was my grandfather's car - my dad inherited it) - but it was soon traded in (along with my dad's Avenger GLS) for a 3 speed Accord.

Not quite sure what you do mean then?

I suppose you could make an auto with no 'gears' at all - just relying on the torque convertor. Many three speeders will happily start in second gear and go well over the speed limit in that gear too. Vauxhall once fitted a two speed auto to a 1600cc Victor (or whatever). Not a pleasant driving experience, though. Or good for the wallet.

More like an old-school overdrive on a manual box in the '70s.

Switchable-innable-outable on 2nd and 3rd, so "kinda" 5 ratios.

Looking at affordability, economy, reliability, performance, how does a second hand Jaguar XF stack up? I've given up thinking about fitting bikes into my car. ;-)

Tim

The original Powerglide box was single speed. The Powerglide also sapped the least power of the available range of auto boxes right through till it was discontinued in the early 70's (although it remains popular in the 2 speed variety for drag racing)

I'm pretty sure that's not right. But happy to be proven incorrect.

Think you'll find the original Powerglide was two speed - it's the one Vauxhall used in the '60s. It may have been ok in the US with large lazy engines and a 55mph speed limit - but pretty useless in the UK. Even on the larger engined Vauxhalls - but really silly in the smaller ones.

Kind of right and wrong, according to this:

IIRC it had "drive" , "Low" and "reverse", you could only manually select low (no kick down), later on they introduced automatic change from low to high.

Personally I'd not call that an auto. Semi-auto would be more correct. Surely an auto must be able of moving off on the steepest hill it's capable of and carrying on to its top speed - purely by pressing the accelerator pedal?

Right. Seems strange given that automatic operating overdrives were around in the late '50s - ie they would only engage above a certain speed or load and could be 'kicked down' out of it.

The 4HP could in some ways be described as a 3 speed with an added overdrive as that's sort of how it's constructed internally. But the hydraulic controls make it appear as a simple four speed.

The auto bit must have referred to the torque converter ? The bizarrest bit was they went to auto change between low and drive just a bit later, then made manual selection with no auto change a cheaper option near the end of the units run.

Our US cousins seem to call anything with a torque convertor an auto and anything without a manual. So when they first arrived, the DSG or SMG type boxes (automated synchromesh boxes with dry clutch, but servo operated) were referred to as manual. Even those with a full auto mode. ;-)

As far as I know, the only true single gear petrol engined car sold was by Rolls Royce at the beginning of the last century. Only one gear in each direction and a torque convertor. It was not a success. ;-)

Rover made their own 'auto' in the late '50s. A two speed plus reverse manual with an automatic overdrive which worked in both gears and a torque convertor. So you had two gears in low range and two in high. Fitted to a P4 - the 105R, R being for Rovermatic. Not sure why they didn't simply fit a B-W 3 speed - they were well established by then.

Hillman had the Smith's Easidrive with the magnetic coupling in the late

The Easidrive was merely a conventional manual box with a servo clutch. Centrifugal to start off from rest, and a vacuum servo to operate it at other times - controlled by a switch inside the gear knob. Put your hand on the gear knob and the clutch disengaged. I'd guess it would still need some skill to change gear smoothly. BMC offered the system too - but I've never actually seen one.