The Hy-Drive was a
Chrysler Corporation
FCA US, LLC, doing business as Stellantis North America and known historically as Chrysler ( ), is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of ...
semi-automatic transmission
A semi-automatic transmission is a multiple-speed Transmission (mechanics), transmission where part of its operation is Automation, automated (typically the actuation of the clutch), but the driver's input is still required to launch the vehicle f ...
introduced in 1953 in US-market
Plymouth
Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...
s. It was a hybrid
manual transmission
A manual transmission (MT), also known as manual gearbox, standard transmission (in Canadian English, Canada, British English, the United Kingdom and American English, the United States), or stick shift (in the United States), is a multi-speed ...
equipped with a
torque converter
A torque converter is a device, usually implemented as 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 ...
, 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
General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...
' ''
Dynaflow'', introduced by
Buick
Buick () is a division (business), division of the Automotive industry in the United States, American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American automobil ...
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
Hydramatic (also known as Hydra-Matic) is an automatic transmission developed by General Motors Corporation's Oldsmobile Division, the ''Hydramatic'' was the first mass-produced fully automatic transmission developed for passenger automobile u ...
, which debuted in 1939, was only used in Oldsmobile in 1940. Cadillac got it in 1941 and Pontiac got it in 1948.) Chrysler had previously offered a
Fluid Drive 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 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
References
*
*Flory, J. "Kelly", Jr. ''American Cars 1946-1959''. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Coy, 2008.
Notes
{{reflist
Chrysler transmissions