My aunt and uncle had a new Studebaker with the foot starter. When my cousin was around ten years old, he kept pushing the starter with the car in gear. He made it about a block down the street before the battery died.

Now can we determine make of truck? I am going to say 50 Chevy 3100.

Foot clutch, foot operated starter, three speed hand shift on the column transmission, no power steering and no power brakes, with no possible way for the operator to use a cell phone in traffic..

That's the kind of car we need today.

quote:

Originally posted by GWbiker:
Foot clutch, foot operated starter, three speed hand shift on the column transmission, no power steering and no power brakes, with no possible way for the operator to use a cell phone in traffic..

That's the kind of car we need today.

Not to mention great theft deterrents.

It's amazing to me the number of people these days that can't drive a manual transmission. Throw the three on the tree at the ones who can and 3/4 of those that can handle an manual are lost.

quote:

Originally posted by IntrepidTraveler:
My first car was a 1963 Oldsmobile 98. It had two switches on the floor like that. One was dimmer. The other was an automatic station tune switch. You pressed it with your foot and the radio would tune to the next station it could find.

Wonderbar radio, My 54 Olds 98 had that, Grandfather gave it to me for my 16th, and it had the floor mount dimmer switch,

I also had the automatic trans with no provision for P, labeled N D S Lo R,
when you parked you had to apply the aptly named parking brake lest you wish to roll off.

3 on the tree, and on the advice of my grandfather be careful starting and dimming. The truck was so old and the floorpan so rusted you might push either through the floor. I remember watching the road whizzing by through the floor in spots.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
How about push button transmission controls?

I had those.
Used to restore and daily drive these
56 Chrysler 300B
57 300C
And worked on more into the 60s

Do you remember the middle dash joy stick shifters in 1955. Had one of those too.

quote:

Originally posted by wcb6092:

1956 before they went to Torqueflite

quote:

Originally posted by beltfed21:
First vehicle I got to drive was my Dad’s 1954 Chevy 3/4 ton pickup. It had all of those pedals! It also had the “4 on the floor”, which meant granny low. You could put it in first, let out the clutch, climb out, and walk beside it.

When I was a kid we had a 1955 Dodge PU (remember gullwing hood?) Dad and I replaced the engine with one from a 1955 C300 Dual 4 carb bolted to the original granny gear trans. And the engine had a radical cam (3/4 race I think) and had been bored from 331 to 354. That PU would go!

Later on we replaced that with a normal single 4bbl 392 hemi and Torqueflite with push buttons. Good old days.

quote:

Originally posted by GWbiker:
Foot clutch, foot operated starter, three speed hand shift on the column transmission, no power steering and no power brakes, with no possible way for the operator to use a cell phone in traffic..

Ha. Amateur. Mom's old '53 Chevy POS: Marlboro and Budweiser in left hand, right arm around girlfriend coping a feel. She shifted. At least I didn't spill my beer dimming the lights...

First car was a '29 'A'roadster (circa 1959).

So, yeah -- I know what all those objects are!

quote:

Originally posted by RANGER20:
Sweet I'm old. I'll take 1950's to 1969 car or truck any day over the current stuff. Manual Transmission.

I have a 1966 Mustang as my "fun car"--it has the floor dimmer switch, but it does have an automatic transmission. I know how to drive a manual, but with my bum leg the auto is better for me.

flashguy

quote:

Originally posted by jigray3:
...be careful starting and dimming. The truck was so old and the floorpan so rusted you might push either through the floor....

My elder brother's car had the floor dimmer mounted in a short plank for just that reason.

The guy could break about anything. He broke the horn ring in his '68 Plymouth by getting a little angry at another driver. I also saw him punch the chrome "Chevrolet" word off the back of a car once.

Kicking the dimmer switch through the floor pan didn't even require much rust-preparation.

My 1979 Plymouth Volare had the dimmer switch on the floor.

That switch had more metal in it than most modern day interiors do..

The M151 Jeep I drove around Clark Air Base in the Philippines had a floor mounted starter switch. Below is a picture of me and “my” Jeep in in front of the NCO Club back in 1984.

quote:

Originally posted by cne32507:

Ha. Amateur. Mom's old '53 Chevy POS: Marlboro and Budweiser in left hand, right arm around girlfriend coping a feel. She shifted. At least I didn't spill my beer dimming the lights...

Okay. That's like hero status in my book


Very familiar with the dimmer switch on the floor.

However, the starter on the floor was understood by elimination.

Drive a '97 Dodge Cummins 2500 with NV4500 5-speed, everyday, 72 miles round trip through de-Troit to Troy and back.

Love working a manual transmission

quote:

Originally posted by Jimbo54:
Yep, dimmer switch. I had one on my first 3 cars.

Heck, I’ve got floor dimmer switches on 2 of the cars I drive, 72 Corvette and 62 ragtop bug (which I put the engine in on Saturday

On my 1969 series 2A Land Rover the dimmer switch went out, it's getting harder and harder to find the floor mounted.
It also had a hand crank for the crankshaft, with a generator instead of an alternator, even with a minimal battery you could get it started.
The final part I liked was the non synchromesh transmission.
It you didn't know how to double clutch, you weren't going far.
Yeah I'm getting old.

quote:

Originally posted by cne32507:

Ha. Amateur. Mom's old '53 Chevy POS: Marlboro and Budweiser in left hand, right arm around girlfriend coping a feel. She shifted. At least I didn't spill my beer dimming the lights...

Ah, the good old days eh?

Every vehicle I had until the mid 90s had the floor dimmer. I miss them and wish they'd bring them back. The dimmer on the blinker arm is a pain in the ass.