On the contrary, one of the reasons for the early success in selling the Fords would have been that they were easy to drive compared to a conventional clutch and crash gearbox - remember most of the buyers had never driven any sort of a car before. And they were really very easy to drive. Start engine with the handbrake on, to start off, depress the LH pedal, releasing the handbrake as the engine loads up, also opening the throttle slightly, accelerate to about 10mph, and release the pedal. Low was only needed for slow manoeuvring and steep hills, thanks to the light weight and very flexible engine. No synchronising engine and road speeds to change gears as with a conventional box.
Planetary gearboxes were not uncommon in the Edwardian period, but most manufacturers had changed to conventional boxes by about 1914 due to the cost and complexity once you go to more than two speeds. Ford kept the two speeds.
However, as an example, Lanchester retained planetary gearboxes until the end of production in the fifties, later ones being fitted with a proprietary (Wilson, I think) preselector box, also used on numerous luxury and semi-luxury cars, although often as an alternative to a conventional box. I can't think of any other manufacturer who was so single minded, retaining the planetary box from about 1890 into the 1950s.
John
John
JDNSW
1986 110 County 3.9 diesel
1970 2a 109 2.25 petrol
You won't find me on: faceplant; Scipe; Infragam; LumpedIn; ShapCnat or Twitting. I'm just not that interesting.
Yes, it was used on heavy vehicles by a variety of manufacturers apart from the ones you mention, including Leyland. But we were talking of cars, and it was used on Daimler cars, Armstrong Siddley, Lanchester, that come to mind immediately, and there were others.
John
John
JDNSW
1986 110 County 3.9 diesel
1970 2a 109 2.25 petrol
I don't know what you are all complaining about.
What is the worst that can happen? The wipers come on instead of the indicators. That is not exactly a big deal.
You should try a quick squirt in a confined area on an old British motorbike when you are accustomed to Japanese bikes.
I can tell you that pressing harder on the lever under your right foot on an old Matchless doesn't slow you down much. I believe that British manufacturers have now fallen into step with the rest of the world and put the gear change on the left.
If you can cope with that, then try an old Harley Davidson with no rear suspension. Instead of having a hand clutch lever like modern motorcycles and a foot operated gear lever, the clutch pedal is under your foot on the running board and gear changes are done by taking a hand off the handlebars to operate the hand gear lever. Thankfully when I was attempting to come to grips with all that it was on the wide open spaces of the clay pans just outside Narrabri.
1973 Series III LWB 1983 - 2006
1998 300 Tdi Defender Trayback 2006 - often fitted with a Trayon slide-on camper.
You won't find me on: faceplant; Scipe; Infragam; LumpedIn; ShapCnat or Twitting. I'm just not that interesting.
Yes
See my old post
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/projects-t...-vehicles.html
'95 110 300TDI, F&R ARB Lockers, Twine Shower, Aux Sill Tank, Snorkel, Cargo barrier, 9 seats, swingaway wheel carrier, MadMan EMS2
'85 110 Isuzu NA 4BE1 3.6l Diesel, 0.996 LT-95, Rear Maxi (SOLD)
'76 SIII 109" Nissan ED33 5-SP Nissan GBox (SOLD)
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