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Considered to be one of the most innovative automotive developments of the 20th
Century, GM’s Hydra-matic transmission was introduced on the 1940 model
Oldsmobile. It was the world’s first fully automatic car transmission and it
revolutionised the driving experience by reducing it to the simplest possible
terms - steer, step on it and stop.
The Hydra-matic was adapted by GM for military use in World War II tanks,
and by 1949 the Corporation had built more than one million cars equipped with
automatic drive.
Australians
had to wait a little longer to enjoy the ‘two-pedal simplicity’ of Hydra-matic
transmission, which made its debut here with the EK Holden in 1961. The
three-speed unit was available as an optional extra on the top-of-the-range
Holden Special.
As the brochure explained: ‘There’s no clutch pedal to
depress, and your hands need never leave the wheel in a whole journey’s easy
driving.’ Holden drivers could look forward to, among other things, ‘a
smoother getaway; relaxed crawling in dense traffic; no crashing of gears;
no jerky starts and less wear on engine parts’.
In 1970, responding to growing customer demand for the benefits of automatic
transmission, Holden became the first car manufacturer in Australia to build
its own automatic transmission.
This was the Tri-matic - at a $16.5
million facility in Woodville, South Australia.
Introduced with the HG Holden range, the Tri-matic transmission was
developed specifically for Holden vehicles and Australian conditions, and
was also successfully exported for fitment in GM vehicles produced outside
Australia.
Sixty years on, General Motors Powertrain Group continued to lead the
industry worldwide with a product line-up of nine technologically advanced
auto transmissions, including the refined electronic control, four-speed
automatic launched in the VT Commodore.