While there were a couple of razor close guesses, at the end of the day no one nailed this nearly impossible automotive quiz dead on. The bizarre looking device was guessed to be part of a hydramatic transmission by one person (he was right, it is), guessed to be an oil pump by another person (he was right, it is) and completely missed by several others. This is a rear transmission oil pump from a very early, perhaps first generation GM Hydramatic transmission. It was actually mounted externally to the outside of the transmission and as you can tell, it is a beefy piece. Those early hydros must really be weighty if this is but one small piece of the whole works!
The proof in how weird this part is really comes from the fact that Mike Casella who we serving as my “tour guide” at Then and Now Automotive in Weymouth, Massachusetts was also stumped when pressed on that this thing was. He had to get official word from store owner Tom who has knowledge in his head that we literally cannot fathom about this stuff.
GM rolled out the Hydramatic transmissions during the 1939-1940 model years and they were the first truly automatic, mass produced transmissions for cars in the world. The transmissions were four speed automatics (fourth was 1:1) and they did use a fluid coupling, but it did not multiply torque like a modern torque converter does. One of the other interesting things was that “park” was achieved by placing the transmission in reverse after the car was shut off. That actually caused the parking prawl to engage and hold the car in place. The transmissions were first offered in Oldsmobiles and the option cost in 1957? How about $57.00.
While crude by today’s advanced standards, most of the basic principles established by the Hydramatic are still in practice, being used by tens of millions of cars around the world every day.
HERE ARE SOME MORE PHOTOS OF THE VINTAGE HYDRAMATIC OIL PUMP –
I know it was just typo but Oldsmobile brought the hydamatic in 1937 not 57 and it was semiautomatic
1956 was the year it was replaced with a torque converter and park
Ah zo – zis is in fact der schnickelgruber genital vart supressor. It kills der verdamdt varts ov der alte herr und inflicts der gross pain und ich bin ein kliene how zu say – mad like der hund!
Mutti – ver dar mien leiderhosen….
gibber gibber
(I must apologise – Vala my mad German buddy is visiting and has taken over my computer – now where’s the riding crop?)