Why this ’80s transmission used three shifters instead of one – Jalopnik

Long before ZF introduced the Tiptronic transmission to such enthusiasts as the 964-generation Porsche 911, the auto industry was coming up with fun ways to spice up the automatic shifting experience. Why not let go of the clutch for everyday work and give the consumer the opportunity to still have a little fun and control when thinking about spirited driving?

But could an automatic provide a similar level of engagement as a manual in the days when bands like The Police and Men At Work were riding high in the charts and “Return of the Jedi” was topping the box office? Hurst, working with Oldsmobile, came up with a great solution for the 1983 model year: three levers protruding from the center console.

We all know the three-pedal experience of a manual transmission, but why did this ’80s transmission use three shift levers instead of one? The short answer is that these Hurst Lightning Rods, as they were known at the time, were a crazy method of providing some much-needed driving experience from a rather underpowered drivetrain. There are also some other useful methods of torque converter drivetrain engagement that are worth highlighting.

1983 was not the first time that Hurst and Oldsmobile worked on a car together. The first Hurst/Olds (or H/O for short) hit dealerships in 1968 and featured a hotrodded 455 cubic inch V8 instead of the normal 400, plus a special silver paint job, some other nice touches and a Hurst Dual Gate shifter.

Dual Gate – what does two mean? Nice, but try three for size. The H/O badge returned in 1983, blessing Oldsmobile’s G-body Cutlass. This time around, the paint and red accents harkened back to its ’68 forebear, but under the hood was now a 5.0-liter HO (or High Output) V8 with 180 horsepower and 245 pound-feet of torque. A far cry from the 390 hp and 500 lb-ft the ’68 produced, but it was more than any other Cutlass badge at the time. It also had four forward gears instead of the OG’s three.

The operation of the shifter was a curious affair. If Driving line Details: Move the center and outer levers forward and put the inner lever in Overdrive, and it works like a conventional automatic. The party started with all the levers in the bottom position, putting it in first gear. Second gear is engaged by moving only the outer lever forward, and to reach third gear, move the center lever forward. To downshift, simply reverse the order of operation.

Underneath all that was a normal sequential shifter, meaning the gears are shifted in a 1-2-3 fashion so they can’t be skipped, and are controlled via a cable. But not in the sense of motorsport. Nice thing about the Dual Gate from the previous Hurst: the pressure in the transmission fluid line was increased as soon as it was moved to the outer port, making shifts much faster than if the transmission did all the work itself.

In terms of why this ’80s transmission used three shift levers instead of one, well, because it made the engine in a special, low-production model – one with half the horsepower of some of its predecessors – more attractive to operate. It is also not unreasonable to say that people who like to drive fast also like to have something to do while doing so. Maybe it’s the same reason why many of us liked to use those digging structures on the playground when we were knee-high in front of a grasshopper.

A few automakers have come up with other unique methods of clutchless sequential shifting. We mentioned above the Tiptronic transmission in the 964-generation Porsche 911, but before that, Porsche offered the Sportomatic from 1968 to 1980. Technically this was not a conventional automatic, but rather had a single dry clutch that disengaged – allowing H-pattern shifting – when the driver’s hand touched the shifter, and came back into contact with the engine when he removed his hand.

Then there was the Lenco transmission, which was actually a lot like the Lightning Rods, but had four shifters! Although, instead of moving a cable, each shifter locks a planetary gear set in place, changing the gear ratio. It was known for being quite rugged and became popular in drag racing.