GM Celebrates 60th Anniversary
of Automatic Transmission

Alfred P. Sloan, GM's first chairman, was more than impressed when he took his inaugural ride in a 1940 Oldsmobile equipped with the brand new Hydra-matic transmission. "For fifteen years, I have felt that the gearshift lever had no place in a really modern car," Sloan wrote. "I feel very strongly that it is only a matter of time when every car must have this kind of a transmission."

Sixty years later, most vehicles roll off the assembly line with automatic, simplified transmissions. These days, as Sloan predicted, most North American motorists wouldn't even consider buying a car that requires manual gear shifting and clutch pedal pushing.

As part of this historic occasion, GM Powertrain hosted a barbecue lunch and classic car show for its 2000 employees on the patio of Powertrain's Pontiac headquarters. The event kicked off a round of celebrations by GM Powertrain facilities throughout North America.