Hello Wes!
02 Dec 96 08:32, Wes Leatherock wrote to John Demott:
 WL>         Surely someone will note that the first successful automatic
 WL> transmission, the HydraMatic, was initially available on Oldsmobile in
 WL> 1937.  (My grandmother had a HydraMatic 1939 or 1940 Oldsmobile.)
Yes. Oldsmobile was the "experimental" division of GM but 1937 is a tad 
early. Hydra-Matic arrived late in 1938. Perhaps you are referring to the 
earlier "Automatic Safety Transmission" that was offered in 1937. This was, 
of course,
a conventional clutch with most of the gearshift action removed. The
Hydra-Matic was the first gearbox that shifted for itself.
BTW. The last year for the LaSalle was 1940.
John       E-Mail address:  demott@voyager.net
--- FMail/386 1.02
---------------