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available on full sized cars in the late 60's/early 70's? This is something I have not thought of
when i saw a 1971 Plymouth Fury Gran Sedan with a 3 speed manual tranny column shifter parked in a bus station in 1980, i though to myself "WEIRD".
did that car have a V8 engine or a 225 6? I don't know how a Gran Sedan was available with a manual tranny back then (unless someone went outside of the manufacturers offerings and put a 3 speed manual in the car)
i think the only other full sized car i remember was my first grade teacher's 1968 Chevy Biscayne that had a 3 speed manual on the column, and i often wondered if it was a V8 or a 6
could you imagine an LTD or Caprice with a 3 speed manual?
I think 3 speed manual transmissions (with column shift) were standard on low-end series like the Chevrolet Biscayne in the '60s, but the optional automatic was probably opted for by 99% of the buyers. They were no longer offered from the early '70s.
Higher trim level cars such as the Caprice and LTD, plus higher-end marques like Oldsmobile/Buick/Mercury had automatic as standard.
I think the situation was similar for 6 cylinder engines. You could get them in lower priced trim levels till the mid-70s.
If I recall there were 2 slant 6's the 225 was the smaller one. And most cars could be had with a staright 6 with choices and V-8s with choices. Back then you just had parts that made the engines run and cars go nothing like now with system after system that has nothing to do with making engines go or cars move.
In the '60s, there were two slant six Mopar engines. The 225-cu-in and the 170 cu-in. Later, there was a 198-cu-in slant six available, around 1970 or 1971.
A have a Consumer Reports road test of a 1975 Plymouth Fury with a 225-cu-in engine.
71 Gran Sedan (rust color, nice hubs, white vinyl roof, nice interior) that I saw was actually available with a 3 speed manual or was it installed that way by someone who, um, liked to be "different"?
and does a 3 speed manual tranny mesh well with a 318 or 360 if the car was a V8?
71 Gran Sedan (rust color, nice hubs, white vinyl roof, nice interior) that I saw was actually available with a 3 speed manual or was it installed that way by someone who, um, liked to be "different"?
and does a 3 speed manual tranny mesh well with a 318 or 360 if the car was a V8?
Sure a 3 speed tranny could work well. In a 3 speed 3rd is 1:1 with the engine, in a 4 speed stick 4th is 1:1 with the engine.
After that things can get different, but some 5 speed sticks are 1:1 with the engine and some are over drive.
I am not sure about modern cars, but my motorcycle's 4th gear is over drive and 5th is over drive after that. So maybe cars today with 6 forward speeds and stick shift could be 4th is 1:1 with the engine and have 2 over dives, but I don't know that.
Fleet, I was wrong and confused. I was thinking 225 was the smalles but 170 was. Once I had a push button auto tranny Dodge that from the factory had a 170 logo on one side and a 225 on the other. On this Dart these logos were on the side behind the rear passangers windows. Mine was a factory screw up.
71 Gran Sedan (rust color, nice hubs, white vinyl roof, nice interior) that I saw was actually available with a 3 speed manual or was it installed that way by someone who, um, liked to be "different"?
and does a 3 speed manual tranny mesh well with a 318 or 360 if the car was a V8?
depends if say the rear end gearing was 2.73 it would be ok but a 4.11 would have great low range kick but for freeway crusing it would be horrible and just eat fuel.
most old cars that people drive for weekend cruisers take a modren T-56 6-speed and drop it in and they get pretty good freeway mpg and can still run 4.11 in back. even a monster big-block with 4.11 gearing and a T-56 can still get decent freeeway mileage.
The V6 didn't really come along for passenger cars until the mid 70's.
Actually the V-6 engine's been around for quite a while! Willys Jeeps had the V-6 in the 50s. My Mom had a 1960 Buick Skylark convertible with the Buick V-6.
That Buick V-6 was used in many foreign cars too..especially in Britain where Rover made use of it and eventually bought the rights to it completely.
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do you think that
