What was the first car to NOT have a manual transmission as an option?

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by Jon A.

There's the main benefit of an automatic, getting through gridlocks with ease. The road network where I am is known to be poorly designed, so there are more here than in real cities. I've heard of bus drivers saying that's why they can't keep on schedule.

I know a fellow with two Smart ForTwos with the automated manual, something I hadn't even heard of until I actually rode in one of them a few weeks ago. He goes through the gears manually, and I can feel the rumble from the electric clutch engaging. The system is fairly interesting although still not my bag of toys. The one he's using now, I think he just uses it when the other is is awaiting significant repairs.

I guess you have to own two of them, one to drive and one to repair.
My 2017 Jeep Compass has a transmission similar to that, but I just drive it as an automatic.

[Jon A.]

Originally Posted by dieseljeep

I guess you have to own two of them, one to drive and one to repair.

Nailed it. He does all the work on his family's cars and likes the Smart at least partly because it's a really cheap way to get from A to B. He fixed up a 2006 Mercedes-Benz C230 sport coupe for his daughter to use, but she decided it was too fancy for her liking so he sold it for just enough to break even. Fair enough, a car like that would make the wrong kind of statement for me as well. I'll stick with old and rather obscure.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by Jon A.

Nailed it. He does all the work on his family's cars and likes the Smart at least partly because it's a really cheap way to get from A to B. He fixed up a 2006 Mercedes-Benz C230 sport coupe for his daughter to use, but she decided it was too fancy for her liking so he sold it for just enough to break even. Fair enough, a car like that would make the wrong kind of statement for me as well. I'll stick with old and rather obscure.

This car talk can really get crazy!
I went to a garage sale several years ago and some stuck up looking broad stopped as well, driving one of those death-traps, a so-called Smart Car. I was driving my old Toyota Prius. I remarked the my car gets at least 5 MPG more than that thing you're driving and it has a little more room in it, plus it's safer.
Naturally the bimbo mentioned the costly batteries.

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by dieseljeep

This car talk can really get crazy!
I went to a garage sale several years ago and some stuck up looking broad stopped as well, driving one of those death-traps, a so-called Smart Car. I was driving my old Toyota Prius. I remarked the my car gets at least 5 MPG more than that thing you're driving and it has a little more room in it, plus it's safer.
Naturally the bimbo mentioned the costly batteries.

They'd have a hard time selling me on one of those "smart" deathtraps as a golf cart let alone as a car.

A year or two back I remember this commercial where they tried to show the strength of the bodyshell by balancing a Suburban on top of its roof...As an engineer, I thought "okay you've shown me your ad agency is good at deceiving dumb people. Now show me what that soda can does under REAL crash conditions" There have been various cases of people balancing cars as heavy as a suburban on four chicken eggs...Just because it can take a static load don't mean it is worth a damn in an impact at highway speeds. A real demo would have been to park it nose against a concrete wall and ram a Suburban or a semi truck into it at at least 50MPH and show that the passenger compartment is fully intact...Though I'd reckon it probably takes that impact like a chicken egg (SPLAT!).

[Jon A.]

Originally Posted by dieseljeep

This car talk can really get crazy!
I went to a garage sale several years ago and some stuck up looking broad stopped as well, driving one of those death-traps, a so-called Smart Car. I was driving my old Toyota Prius. I remarked the my car gets at least 5 MPG more than that thing you're driving and it has a little more room in it, plus it's safer.
Naturally the bimbo mentioned the costly batteries.

I say a lot of things I think could be considered crazy, I just roll with it.

This makes me think of how the Ford/Chevy/Dodge 4X4 guys are always taking cheap shots at one another. They could debate the strengths and weaknesses of each indefinitely, and/or use compromising photos of the object of their derision as the basis for Pinterest memes.

Originally Posted by Electronic M

They'd have a hard time selling me on one of those "smart" deathtraps as a golf cart let alone as a car.

A year or two back I remember this commercial where they tried to show the strength of the bodyshell by balancing a Suburban on top of its roof...As an engineer, I thought "okay you've shown me your ad agency is good at deceiving dumb people. Now show me what that soda can does under REAL crash conditions" There have been various cases of people balancing cars as heavy as a suburban on four chicken eggs...Just because it can take a static load don't mean it is worth a damn in an impact at highway speeds. A real demo would have been to park it nose against a concrete wall and ram a Suburban or a semi truck into it at at least 50MPH and show that the passenger compartment is fully intact...Though I'd reckon it probably takes that impact like a chicken egg (SPLAT!).

Considering that I'm not a Smart enthusiast but I know a few things about them, I can take an objective stance on this.

I used to think a crash would easily turn one of those things into an Origami sculpture, but then I found out about the cage around the passenger compartment. There is a video of one slamming into a concrete barrier at 70MPH; the passenger compartment help up fairly well, save for the big hole in the driver's side footwell. The doors still opened, the damage hindering movement of the driver's door somewhat but the the other door was not affected.

I don't think any vehicle or its passengers would survive getting sandwiched by a semi moving at a good clip. Many moons ago I heard a story of a similar accident involving a 1971 Mercury Montego. If I'm not mistaken a drunk in a 5-tonne truck pushed the Merc into the wall of a bar, caving in the wall as well. The owner had recently done a bunch of bodywork on it in preparation for paint. That was in 1978 according to a photo I saw of the wreckage.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by Jon A.

I say a lot of things I think could be considered crazy, I just roll with it.

This makes me think of how the Ford/Chevy/Dodge 4X4 guys are always taking cheap shots at one another. They could debate the strengths and weaknesses of each indefinitely, and/or use compromising photos of the object of their derision as the basis for Pinterest memes.


.

I stopped at a friend's place where he was prepping the ground for concrete.
He borrowed a large ground tamping machine that the owner brought in a brand new Ford F150, that he had in his possession for four hours.
On the way there The machine slid around in the bed and poked two holes in the aircraft- quality aluminum truck box. The stuff must be as thick as an aluminum pie plate.

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by dieseljeep

I stopped at a friend's place where he was prepping the ground for concrete.
He borrowed a large ground tamping machine that the owner brought in a brand new Ford F150, that he had in his possession for four hours.
On the way there The machine slid around in the bed and poked two holes in the aircraft- quality aluminum truck box. The stuff must be as thick as an aluminum pie plate.

Supposedly the other two Merican makers are going to go aluminum too...For fool ecconomy. once that happens I can see a business in aftermarket steel bed liners, and or classic trucks experiencing a bump in value.

[KentTeffeteller]

Originally Posted by dieseljeep

This car talk can really get crazy!
I went to a garage sale several years ago and some stuck up looking broad stopped as well, driving one of those death-traps, a so-called Smart Car. I was driving my old Toyota Prius. I remarked the my car gets at least 5 MPG more than that thing you're driving and it has a little more room in it, plus it's safer.
Naturally the bimbo mentioned the costly batteries.

The Prius is reliable, many go to 300K with little or nothing other than basic maintenance. And it doesn't need Premium fuel either. My 1997 Volvo 960 Sedan got the same MPG as a Smart Car and with a straight 6 engine. My present Ford Taurus SE Wagon with a 3 liter, Duratec 24V engine is better on fuel economy. Both are safer.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by KentTeffeteller

The Prius is reliable, many go to 300K with little or nothing other than basic maintenance. And it doesn't need Premium fuel either. My 1997 Volvo 960 Sedan got the same MPG as a Smart Car and with a straight 6 engine. My present Ford Taurus SE Wagon with a 3 liter, Duratec 24V engine is better on fuel economy. Both are safer.

The Prius is really a rather interesting design! Everything seems to work as it should.
The first issue with the batteries was at 200K miles. When the check engine indicator came on, when I ran the scanner, showed a bad cell in the one of the cell packs. There is 28 cell packs in the main battery module.
I found used replacement cell packs on the E-place. Replacing it is very labor intensive as there is a lot of disassembly in the rear of the car. Interesting, to be sure.