The History Of The Gearbox

Welcome back my fellow learners, today’s blogs is for all my fellow gearheads out there.

Today we are going to look at the gear box or in some parts of the world also referred to as the transmission.

The manual gearbox or transmission has been around for eons, however, the latest buzz is that the death knoll is tolling for this sadly overlooked but necessary car part. We have all heard about the legendary Lamborghini, gossips is that this car companies customers are choosing the e-gear semi-automatic transmission, over its sister the standard triple pedal model. However, this particular transmission is known not to be the best in the business. So it begs the question of, “why would one of the most expensive cars in the world, use a substandard gearbox”? Anyone with answers to that particular question feel free to add a comment.

Ok, back on course. There is an ongoing quiet argument on who exactly created the world’s first ever operational automatic transmission. This arguments dates back as far as the 1890’s.

Some say that GM Hydramatic, which was first seen in 1939 was the first mass produced automatic in the car industry.

Back then things were much simpler compared to today’s technology. The standard transmission had 4 gears, plus a reverse. Back then there was no park position, people driving these vehicles first had to switch off their engines, then put the car in reverse, thus ensuring their vehicles stability.

Although the GM was a 4 speed gearbox, subsequent models came with a 2 and 3 speed, over the years various other speeds were introduced, such as the overdrive setting to make for better efficiency when driven correctly.

While basic transmission permitted a driver to choose and hold a lower gear when going up and down steep hills, their most defining character is that drivers no longer have the option of running through the gears. Some people like this as it not only saves on fuel consumption, but they no longer have to run through all the gears.

However, if you are anything like me, who loves to go through all the gears, a manual while being a safe and kind of eco-friendly car, is just too boring, no matter what car it is in. My fellow gear heads will know what I mean when I say that stomping on the gas pedal and hearing that engine scream when overtaking people is the best sound ever.