Fred Thomas wrote:
>
> The O/D was also a option on much of the U.S. iron and likewise was not
> accepted, the U.S. version was a joke, you had to let your foot off the gas,
> push the O/D lever in and then press the gas again, once in O/D it stayed in
> until you stopped and pulled it out at a stand still, and then you started
> over again,
They weren't all the same then, as I drove a friend's 1962 Chevy for
awhile with "3 on the tree" and OD, it would shift out of OD while
moving. Yes, you had to move a lever, let off the gas, and match engine
speed, but it was easy to do, little worse than shifting the main
transmission (which did not have synchro-mesh on 1st).
IMO, the biggest problem was that the Chevy was not particularly
overpowered to begin with (235ci straight-6), and the rear axle ratio
was such that with the OD engaged, it didn't have enough power to climb
hills, even the gentle hills of north-central Indiana.
Plus, gasoline prices had just recently risen above $0.30/gallon, no one
felt the extra 10-15% gas mileage was worth the original price of the
OD. And, people didn't drive as much then; 5,000 miles/year was a
well-used car, many were driven less than that.
As others have said, Americans were moving towards "push button" cars,
anything that added complexity to driving was unpopular with many
people. Although this wouldn't apply to sports car buyers, I think the
mentality did apply to the dealers. And most US buyers bought what the
dealers had, custom ordering a car was a relative rarity (still is
today).
Last, I think many sports car buyers could just barely afford the car,
and the OD was an expense they could do without. I don't have the
numbers handy, but ISTR the OD was a significant portion of the purchase
price.
Randall
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