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

[benman94]

Having driven both pre- and post-war Olds with the Hydramatic, I will say the 1-2 gear shift can be rough, and occurs a bit earlier than one would expect from say a modern transmission. It does drive and feel more like a 3 speed; one gets the impression that the first gear is there solely to get the damn thing to start coasting forward. Remember, these cars were HEAVY!