Go or go! Towing and towing vehicles with automatic transmission
06/25/2017
In the 1950s, but especially in the 1960s, cars with automatic gearboxes became increasingly popular. Many drivers did not want to miss out on the convenience of being able to change gears themselves. However, modern torque converter transmissions also gave rise to new problems, for example when the car would no longer start or had to be towed away. The vehicle could easily be damaged if handled incorrectly.
In January 1957 , Automobil Revue therefore published an article entitled "Abschlepp-O-Matic - Über das An- und Abschlepp von Wagen mit automatischem Getriebe".
In addition to general advice - use a long tow rope, place the vehicles with the drive wheels on a dolly for long journeys, tie down the steering wheel, etc. - there were also practical tips for different types of vehicles. In principle, all the documented vehicles could be towed and also towed away, but the vehicle should not be expected to travel at more than 40 to 50 km/h on the rope.
However, we would like to provide our readers with two or three examples of towing:
- Borg-Warner automatic drive (Studebaker, Austin, Aston Martin, Jaguar):
Ignition on, on Studebaker switch on automatic choke by depressing the accelerator pedal once, set selector lever to "N". Bring the car up to 40-50 km/h and set the selector lever to "D" or "L" - Mercedes-Benz 300 c:
Ignition on, set selector lever to "0" and move to position "3" at 40 km/h - PowerFlite (Chrysler, De Soto, Dodge, Plymouth):
Ignition on, switch to position "N". Bring the speed up to approx. 25 km/h, press down the "L" button and depress the accelerator pedal halfway
All the instructions can be found in the 3/1957 issue of Automobil Revue .
