The 1960’s and Beyond!

By the late 1960s most of the fluid-coupling four-speeds and two-speed transmissions had disappeared in favor of three-speed units with torque converters. By this time too you would also be able to take advantage of an automatic car rental with automatics now common place in the fleets of Avis and Hertz.

The Early Days

The first mass produced vehicles with a fully automatic gearbox was Oldsmobile’s 1940 models. This was called the Hyrda-matic and was exclusive to Oldsmobile and provided four speeds and reverse.