Torque Drive
For the 1968 model year, Chevrolet introduced a simplified version of Powerglide marketed under the name "Torque Drive." This unit was basically Powerglide without the vacuum modulator, requiring the driver to manually shift gears between Low and High. The quadrant indicator on Torque Drive cars was, Park R N Hi 1st. The driver would start the car in "1st," then move the lever to "Hi" when desired.
Torque Drive was only offered on low-horsepower engines for Camaro and Nova. It was available on the Nova four cylinder engine, and on the Turbo-Thrift Sixes for Camaro as well as Nova. Despite its low introductory price of $68.65, most buyers apparently considered the Torque Drive a nuisance to shift, and for a hundred dollars more they could get fully automatic Powerglide, making Torque Drive installations very rare. Apparently the transmission wasn't very durable, since it depended on the driver's ability to shift between gears in a way that wouldn't damage the unit. After 1971, Chevrolet cancelled Torque Drive and continued to offer Powerglide until 1974, when all engines could be ordered with the three-speed Turbo Hydramatic.
Read more about this topic: Powerglide
Famous quotes containing the words torque and/or drive:
“Poetry uses the hub of a torque converter for a jello mold.”
—Diane Glancy (b. 1941)
“Smoking ... is downright dangerous. Most people who smoke will eventually contract a fatal disease and die. But they don’t brag about it, do they? Most people who ski, play professional football or drive race cars, will not die—at least not in the act—and yet they are the ones with the glamorous images, the expensive equipment and the mythic proportions. Why this should be I cannot say, unless it is simply that the average American does not know a daredevil when he sees one.”
—Fran Lebowitz (b. 1950)