1955 Studebaker Champion

[peyton]

What would cause a BW o/d to totally lock up rendering a car inoperable. 

 

I  owned a 1955 Studebaker Champ with a  three speed  trans and Borg-Warner overdrive.  I usually drove it in overdrive and one day parked it on an incline. The next day, I attempted to back up and could not get the car out of first gear. I remember a  kind of grinding/ grating noise during each frantic attempt to get it out of first and into neutral or reverse. It was stuck in first and obstacles prevented me from going forward. 

 

At the time, I was totally naive regarding overdrive maintenance and broke. I sold the car for $50 (1965) to a mechanically inclined friend who fixed it and sold it for $100. I often wondered how he could fix it and profit from the sale. I would see the car operating for years after selling it. The Stude was  the best of my early cars.

 

I certainly cannot say that for the 56 Chevy, stick V8, o/d that followed it.  Ten mpg, slow, and a real oil burner! Yet it didn't smoke and sounded great. 

 

Any thoughts on why the transmission locked into first?

 

Peyton
 

[Alfre]

The shift solenoid got stuck