Packard Twelve versus Pierce Twelve

[Guest SaddleRider]

On ‎8‎/‎18‎/‎2017 at 7:35 AM, Grimy said:

.  One would think that the synch-2nd-and 3rd transmissions adopted by both Pierce and Packard for 1932 would have been sufficient reason for them to gear their cars a little taller.  

 

 

 

You are under-estimating what the super-luxury market was all about in those days.    Manufacturers, then and now,  TRY TO know something about their market, and tailor their products to meet the expectations of that market. 

 

Yes, we both know that by the mid 1930's,  paved highways, some absolutely straight for mile upon mile,  made inter-city  high-speed traffic practical.  But think about the "mind-set" of the typical super-luxury car buyer.   He was no "car buff" as we understand the concept today.   He was likely born before the turn of the last century; grew up in an era where he had little contact with mechanical devices.

 

Shifting gears without a lot of fuss,  in transmissions manufactured before the synchro-mesh era was problematical for many.    Of course by the mid 1930's,  the super luxury cars had transmissions that shifted easily, "like a knife thru warm butter".  Didn't matter;  the less the buyer had to shift, the more that buyer liked his car.

 

Thus the  interest to develop a "no-shift" car in that became a frenzy in the late 1930's.

 

Of course modern logic says the manufacturers were nuts to gear cars as powerful as the big "super-luxury" cars as low as they did.  They weren't nuts - they were simply trying to meet the expectations of their buyers !

 

Yes - most of us know "long stroke" motors impose punishing loads on connecting rod bearings,  at rotational speeds that are many times higher for any given road speed than modern practice.   The engineers had no choice - low octane fuels made those long strokes necessary.  Then we combine the desire of the market to gear the car to shift as little as possible.

 

Bottom line - I suggest you are in error if you try and understand the pre-war engineer's criteria using the logic of we fellow car buffs !