Just wondering why in the States automatic trans always been preferred!

[cavemanno1]

Do you guys know why most of the American made cars have been equipped with an automatic transmission while here in Europe we have had manuals even in big tracks?
Only the very high end cars have automatic trans lately.But I talk about 40-50 years ago made cars.
Was it for comfort,laziness,fuel economy or reliability or simpler design?If someone of these then how come the European car manufacturers didn't do the same?I have to say for a daily driver which sees a lot of traffic jams and bumper to bumper an auto trans is a blessing.I wonder why we didn't have them in those days?

[b5blue]

My Cherokee is a five speed, depends on the car and use. The 727 is so good it has no fluid/filter service interval listed in the FSM. (Only after repair.) Personally I have automatic and a 440 because that's what was in the 70 Charger when I bought it off my friend who had been racing it for 8 years.  21 years ago I'd been happy to have a 4 speed, now I'm really happy it's a 727. I just want to cruise and chill out. 

[Chargen69]

When they started it, it was considered a luxury item.

now, there are too many idiots for manual transmissions.  there is a saying here, if you want an anti-theft device, just own a car with a manual transmission

[XH29N0G]

When they started it, it was considered a luxury item.

now, there are too many idiots for manual transmissions.  there is a saying here, if you want an anti-theft device, just own a car with a manual transmission

My dad bought manuals because they got better gas mileage until the point in the late 90's when the used cars he was buying only came in automatic.  Yes, the charger I own was bought as a manual family car and set up for gas mileage (383 magnum instead of larger,  manual, and g78 tires).  In 1978 he special ordered a 6 cylinder Malibu station wagon with manual. 

My mom's dad had manuals because he liked to shift.  As I am told, started with an old dodge in the 1920's that he had taken the body off of to make fast.  After that he made it big and bought and drove things like a Cord, I think some Cadillac with many more than 8 cylinders, a giulietta in the late 40's early 50's that he bought after it won some race in Italy, a DB4, Jaguars, an Alfetta that was bombed, and then a 1974 pinto because he spent what he got. 

[myk]

American drivers are mostly cruisers, so a manual transmission is seen as a waste of effort.  Besides,  how would we drive our cars while texting, drinking our Starbucks,  talking on the phone,  watching our in dash screens, etc, if we had to manually shift the car?  Totally uncool, totally un-American...

[Aero426]

We are lazy.

[cavemanno1]

I know you guys are lazy  but I was wondering about the back in the day cars like '40-'50s.When was the time they started to use autos for the fist time on as normal.

[Aero426]

I know you guys are lazy   but I was wondering about the back in the day cars like '40-'50s.When was the time they started to use autos for the fist time on as normal.

Because when the automatic was introduced in the 1940's, it was considered a luxury that made life a lot easier.   Even before that, you had some 30's car with pre-selectors.   You had a small electrically operated solenoid switch off the column that you would flick the switch to the selected gear.   Then when ready, you just punched the clutch.    

[crj1968]

Cruising long highways across the country...

I love manuals for weekend fun, but day to day in city traffic...not so much.

[Troy]

Because "America".

There's some good points here (saves me from typing a lot):
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/2fql6h/why_are_automatic_transmissions_dominant_in_the/

Troy

[Sublime/Sixpack]

Automatic transmissions made driving less of a hassle in the city, and it appealed to most women, especially those wearing high healed shoes.

Personally I prefer a manual transmission for shear driving enjoyment, but with how much the traffic has increased here over the years I'll take the automatic for getting from Point A to Point B and back.

[Ponch ®]

1) Stop and Go traffic
2) availability/price --> economies of scale
3) I dont know about Europe, but in some countries in Latin America, Asia, Africa, etc. merely having a car is still considered a luxury itself and every penny counts when you're buying one...so if you can save the local equivalent of a few hundred or thousand by buying one with a manual instead of an auto, you get the manual. We're somewhat spoiled here, where adding the cost of an auto is not a big deal, so every car has one.

[Homerr]

No need to know how to operate a manual transmission for your driving test here.

I'd rather drive a manual transmission anything than an auto Charger.  Really, I sold my auto '69 Charger for this reason.

[redmist]

Because we like fast cars, not slow ones. 

[stripedelete]

As far as the current lack of automatics,  the short answer is: we're pussies.

As far as 40 years ago?  Troy's link is pretty interesting.  It pretty much says your lawn mower engines couldnt handle an automatic

Like Charger69 said, they are a great theft deterrent.  I remember a funny news story, a couple years ago, about a carjacker picking a manual.  And another about a plumber having a heart attack on a service call.  After the emergency squad haulled him off no one in the crowd of neighbors could move the plumbers van(manuel) out of the drive. They had to go to the end of the street and get the 85 yo neighbor lady.

[Charger-Bodie]

Some of us don't prefer automatic transmissions.

[Bronzedodge]

There was a old musclecar book by Roger Huntington, (that I lost somewhere along the way, damn it ) "American Supercar" I think it was.  In it he said something like the manufacturers knew that the manual trans cars would have more warranty issues, harder on the driveline vs the cushioning effect of the converter.  So they would want to steer buyers into automatics.

[daveco]

Basically, really good affordable and dependable automatics were available in cars with sufficient horsepower to make for a satisfactory driving experience.
I remember driving or riding in imported cars equipped with automatics, they were miserable little cars. Back in the day (or even today for that matter) no way would I consider buying a small car with an auto.

[RallyeMike]

Yes on marketing, luxury, and pushing technology. I think the other factor is that American cars were generally larger with larger displacement motors which work well with an auto trans. European cars tended to be smaller with small displacement motor. Small engines are better aided by a manual trans.

[Mike DC]

  
       
Both pics are 1960s America:







Any questions?

[Brock Lee]

It is partially a snowball effect. There were people learning to drive on automatics in the 50's and 60's that never felt like they needed to learn how to drive a manual as the vehicle is merely an appliance. They paid more for automatics. They taught their kids the same, whom taught their kids the same.. We are now several generations deep and since the 90's, automatics are the new standard. You go to a dealer lot and they pretty much ALL are automatics. For the majority of people, driving a manual is not necessary. It opens no significant opportunities in terms of vehicle selection or savings when buying a modern vehicle. So the trend continues on. More people never learning how to drive a manual.

[Mike DC]

                         

               
Electric cars and CVT's are liable to make the whole question moot sooner than later.  ALL gears (auto or manual) will be getting obsolete.


The OEMs have spent way too much money & effort trying to manual-ize their automatics in the last 20 years.  They should have spent more effort to make their manuals easier to use in traffic.  Imagine flipping an electric switch into "automatic clutch mode" and only having to use the gas & brake during stop & go traffic.  The concept has been done in the past and there's no reason this couldn't be done again in very polished convenient way.

[RallyeMike]

Both pics are 1960s America:

Th newest car I can make out is 1955, though I think the point is a manual is not so fun in bumper to bumper traffic.

[Ponch ®]

The OEMs have spent way too much money & effort trying to manual-ize their automatics in the last 20 years.  They should have spent more effort to make their manuals easier to use in traffic.  Imagine flipping an electric switch into "automatic clutch mode" and only having to use the gas & brake during stop & go traffic.  The concept has been done in the past and there's no reason this couldn't be done again in very polished convenient way.

But if you can control how the car shifts by throwing a modern auto into manual shift mode...whats the need for the clutch in a new car? Works like a charm in my 15 challenger, and the paddle shifters are a blast.  I mean, I get it, for some guys a full manual is one of those things that they need to assure themselves that their d!ck still works, but its like saying that manufacturers need to make cars with carburetors and front drum brakes because the cool cars had them back in the day.

[myk]

I thought of it as a fun factor more than anything else.   A friend let my try out her 5 speed Geo Metro back in the day and I have to say that banging the gears and squeezing as much as I could out of that little thing was as memorably fun as is driving any of my automatic muscle cars.  I don't plan on it, but if I buy another car again I am mandating a stick...