1956: Chrysler pushbutton driving
In 1956, Chrysler introduced two flavors of pushbutton driving, the TorqueFlite and PowerFlite transmissions. The time was perfect. The future was here. Cars grew fins. Sputnik was a year away. Automation was still the key to a world of leisure. Cooking and cleaning were getting automated, why not driving?
Here’s a beautiful commercial from 1956 introducing the new push-button transmissions from Chrysler. As you watch it, imagine you’re the set designer tasked with making a four foot high replica of a push-button dashboard to appear on stage, floating in space, inspiring wonder and awe in the clap-happy audience.
Note: Again, the video hasn't survived so far.
There it is again: ease of use is targeted at women.
In Plymouth showrooms, Push-Button PowerFlite gets the nod, especially from the women who enjoy its convenience and ease of operation.
It’s so easy. Push a button, step on the gas, and go.
And here’s how easy it is.
The ad copy…
First on Plymouth in the low-price 3! The how of it - Select your driving range with just a finger-tip touch on a button. Then PowerFlite fully automatic transmission takes over. The why of it - To give you new care and safety of control! As easy as touching a light switch . . . and safely positioned at the left of the steering wheel, where children can’t reach it while you’re driving. It’s a partner of PowerFlite - the transmission so smooth it responds to a finger-tip touch. The joy of it - It’s the ultimate in driving ease. Restore the thrill you knew with your first car.
This is by no means the first automatic transmission, but it was the first to use push buttons.
The next year, Ford introduced their infamous Edsel, complete with their own push-button transmission, Teletouch. Where PowerFlite used pure mechanical buttons, Teletouch used electric buttons, and they failed miserably. Positioned in the center of the steering wheel, where the horn had usually been since the 1920s. So when emergencies struck, drivers instinctively pounded their gear selectors, either damaging them or switching gears. Whoops.
Buttons here never really caught on and disappeared a few years later. A valid but failed experiment.
Strange but true. I originally wrote most of this post on Tuesday night. On Wednesday morning I received an email titled “Chrysler pushbutton transmissions” from reader Kevin. I thought, “that’s cool, someone already responded to my post.” But then I realized I hadn’t posted it yet because I scheduled it for Thursday morning. So Kevin out of the blue presponded to my post. He even sent the same YouTube commercial you see above. What you see now is the original post with tidbits from Kevin woven in. Thanks Kevin.