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gear, and then back through some of those ranges to drive forward. Chrysler promoted the greater safety of the PowerFlite pattern; because forward and reverse settings were separated by neutral and it was necessary to move the lever only one notch to the left or right to put the car in motion, so an accidental over shift past D would result in a harmless shift to low gear rather than an unintended engagement of reverse.
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Upon its introduction, the PowerFlite was controlled by a single lever mounted on the steering column. The shift quadrant sequence was R-N-D-L, which differed from the more common P-N-D-L-R on other makes. In those cars, it was necessary to pass through all forward ranges to put the car in reverse
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Unlike most other automatic transmissions, the PowerFlite, Chrysler's 2-speed automatic transmission, did not feature a "Park" range, making it necessary to use the handbrake whenever the car was parked. All
Chrysler products at the time had a parking brake independent from the vehicle's wheel
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brakes, a single brake drum mounted on the driveshaft, just behind the transmission. This had the (intended) effect of locking both rear wheels in the same way that the "Park" setting did in other transmissions.
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The PowerFlite was lighter and simple in its construction and operation, with fewer parts than competing transmissions. It was also durable, being used behind every
Chrysler Corporation engine from the
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and used in their passenger cars from 1954 to 1961. Production began in late 1953 and the simple and durable PowerFlite remained available on
Plymouths and Dodges through the 1961 model year.
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The PowerFlite was reverse-engineered and copied, by the
Russians as this was generally a common practice in the Soviet Union. They utilized and fitted the automatic transmissions in the
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began regulating vehicle controls and displays, the
Chrysler pattern (with the Park setting added, becoming P-R-N-D-L), became mandatory for safety reasons originally stated by Chrysler.
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In 1955, Chrysler moved the shift lever to the dashboard in a vertical slot with "R" at the top and "L" at the bottom.
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In 1956, Chrysler switched to pushbutton transmission controls, which remained the only PowerFlite shift mechanism.
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limousines that were used by members of the Soviet politburo as a representative fleet vehicle.
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automatic in 1956, but the two-speed PowerFlite remained available on some models through 1961.
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automakers to introduce a fully automatic transmission, some 14 years after
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342:"Chrysler Drops Clutch Pedal With New Automatic Transmission"
372:"ZIS and ZIL - Russia's Homegrown (sort of) Luxury Cars"
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automatic transmission and nearly three years after
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49:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
306:National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
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109:Learn how and when to remove this message
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282:V8. Chrysler introduced a three-speed
138:1955 selector mounted on the dashboard
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47:adding citations to reliable sources
394:"Favorite Cars Of The Soviet Union"
234:Chrysler was the last of Detroit's
374:. Australia: Unique Cars and Parts
262:debuted in 1949, and Studebaker's
58:"Chrysler PowerFlite transmission"
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426:Automatic transmission tradenames
208:Chrysler TorqueFlite transmission
304:Many years later, when the U.S.
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222:engineered and produced by the
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266:was introduced in 1950.
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431:Chrysler transmissions
220:automatic transmission
352:(2): 81. August 1953
224:Chrysler Corporation
153:Chrysler Corporation
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316:Soviet applications
400:. 13 January 2014
346:Popular Mechanics
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402:. Retrieved
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41:Please help
36:verification
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284:TorqueFlite
274:Six to the
190:Predecessor
99:August 2012
420:Categories
328:References
260:Ultramatic
248:Hydramatic
244:Oldsmobile
230:Background
216:PowerFlite
185:Chronology
159:Production
127:PowerFlite
69:newspapers
236:Big Three
204:Successor
179:automatic
162:1954-1961
404:16 April
378:16 April
356:16 April
276:Imperial
272:Plymouth
198:Hy-Drive
177:2-speed
144:Overview
322:ZIL-111
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173:Class
90:JSTOR
76:books
406:2021
380:2021
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280:Hemi
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