The history of the Overdrive
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Summary
The term "overdrive" is often used in connection with cars from the sixties. Technologically, this achievement was superseded by the five-speed gearbox. Around 50 years ago, however, the overdrive was at the height of its fame. This report goes back to the beginnings and describes successes, but also difficulties.
This article contains the following chapters
- The overdrive boom began in the thirties
- The Laycock overdrive becomes a bestseller
- De Normanville - journalist and inventor
- Further development with difficulties
- The overdrive is "out", the 5-speed gearbox is coming
- For countries with highways and high-speed routes
Estimated reading time: 8min
Preview (beginning of the article)
The term "overdrive" is often used in connection with cars from the sixties. Technologically, this achievement was superseded by the five-speed gearbox. Around 50 years ago, however, the overdrive was at the height of its fame. In 1960, for example, you could order the AC, Austin, Ford, Hillman, Humber, Jaguar, MG, Morris, Rover, Singer, Standard, Sunbeam or Vauxhall with a factory-fitted Laycock/de-Normanville overdrive. In 1961, Volvo offered its P 1800 and 122 S models with overdrive as an option. Even Ferrari offered its 250 and 330 GT with an overdrive. Overdrives mainly gained a foothold in countries with a well-developed highway network, where existing and mainly older cars over-revved their engines at high speeds. Car manufacturers initially found it appropriate to stick to their concept of three- and four-speed gearboxes, even though a fifth gear would have been an urgent necessity. This forced them to leave the final drive ratio unchanged, because a reduction in the gear ratio meant a reduction in torque and therefore a reduction in performance when starting off under full load in first gear on a hill.
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