3 on the tree questions???

[dailydriver]

I don't know when the very last passenger car with a three on the tree was produced.
But the second car I ever owned was a 1969 Olds Delta 88 ragtop with the 2 barrel carbed 455, and a three on the tree shifted manual.
I had loads of fun in that "Beast" (it's nickname)!!

 

[demarpaint]

Thinking back I had a Chevy Van 1970 G-10 I think. 250 I6 three on the tree. That was a great van, pleanty of power, posi rear IIRC. My buddy had an E-100 Ford around 1970, same set up. The linkage went bad, we put the shifter on the floor. IIRC the shifter ended up being behind him. We had to do a real custom install to make it work. LOL

 

[HM12460]

I owned a 1970 Ford Galaxie 500 2 door with a 302 and a s speed column mounted shifter. It was the last year for this on the FULL SIZE Ford's. My first car was a 1967 Dodge Coronet 2 door with a 318 and column mounted shifter. The linkage was really worn, what a pita to repair! I'd really hate to go back to one of them now.

 

[JayhawkRoy]

Owned a basic model 1979 Plymouth Volare with one. Bought it new in Germany from the AAFES car dealers. Reliable trans with the 225 slant 6 engine. Worked out fairly well, but the two US Chrysler dealers who worked on it said they were pretty rare.

 

[Chris142]

I had a 69 Chevelle 2 door post car with a 6 cyl and 3 on the tree. I put a 302 in it, thing really ran then.

 

[UNC017]

The linkage isn't really *that* insane when you only have to select 4 gears (3 forward and reverse). It would be nuts with a 5- or 6-speed.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Recall that most all manuals from the 30's to the mid sixties had column shifted 3 on the tree. AFA Cable FWD, I like the "idea" of rods but from an engineering standpoint, given the shifter is fixed to the unitbody and the engine is floating - the engine torque can pull the shifter out of gear or you can have binding when shifting at high torque load due to misposition of the trans relative to the shifter mount.

 

[addyguy]

It's funny, I never would have gussed the three-on-the-tree setup was to maximise seating positions. Really learned something with this thread.

I would have thought it was a cost-saving measure - with automatics and standards using column-shift, you could use 'close' to the same parts for both - same lever, and a basic column for both, no modifying the floor...etc...

With a floor shift, you have to cut a hole in the floor, have a floor shift lever, a shift boot...stuff that adds up.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
The linkage isn't really *that* insane when you only have to select 4 gears (3 forward and reverse). It would be nuts with a 5- or 6-speed.



True, but the floor mounted shifters had shorter linkages, and were stronger. The three on the tree got real sloppy as it aged. I had to convert a few over the years to floor mounted because of that. But it did work, and eventully became extinct because as we added more gears for economy and power the linkage would have been the limiting factor.

 

[UNC017]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
The linkage isn't really *that* insane when you only have to select 4 gears (3 forward and reverse). It would be nuts with a 5- or 6-speed.



True, but the floor mounted shifters had shorter linkages, and were stronger. The three on the tree got real sloppy as it aged. I had to convert a few over the years to floor mounted because of that. But it did work, and eventully became extinct because as we added more gears for economy and power the linkage would have been the limiting factor.


I agree completely. I'm not saying it was better than a floor shifter, just not as nutty as people used to thinking 4- 5- and 6-speed shifters might be thinking that it was.

The lack of any external linkage between a chassis-mounted shifter and the flexibly-mounted transmission is one of the real strengths of a "top-loader" manual trans. That said, not much ever felt better to shift than a 60's Hurst 4-speed shifter, preferably with a pistol-grip on one end and a Mopar 833 gearbox on the other (but Hurst-shiftered Muncies were great too).

 

[Iancoleman]

The last passenger cars with the three on the tree. 1977 Ford maverick,Ford midsize 1979 Ford Granada 1976 AMCs (all) Matador became standard with automatic for 1977.as for GM 1979 RWD X body not sure on the 1978 to 1981 GM G and A body (the owners manual said manual transmissions were under steering column controls for my 81 Regal but never heard of one as of yet.)any I've seen are 3 on the knee, 1981 Camaro (rare)1978 Chrysler midsize and 1980 Volare/Aspen,As for Trucks and Vans the 1986 Ford Fseries, 1985 Ford E series vans 1987 GMC/Chevy C series pickups 1982 GMC/Chevy Vans 1979 Dodge trucks and 1978 dodge vans.

 

[FL-400S]

Originally Posted By: Kestas
Yes, the three-on-a-tree design was for seating purposes.

What I found interesting was when they introduced the floor shift design in the 70s, the automakers marketed it as a "sport" option and charged more for this feature... even though anyone could see that this design was simpler and easier to manufacture.


They still seem to charge extra for an auto shifter on the floor. I much prefer it on the column up out of the way. But instead these days you get a truck or bigger car with a floor shifter and only 5 seats instead of six, and it costs you more money because its "sportier".

 

[Spazdog]

When I was in the Army, one of our motorpool's "6 passenger Sedans" was a glossy olive green AMC Concord with a 3 speed manual on the column. It had a vinyl interior and a heater. Not even an AM radio like our lighter pale green LTD midsize had. Wish I could remember what year that Concord was.

When I first got my license, we had a '65 Chevy van. You had to get up out of the seat to shift to reverse or second. It was a cool van though. When the choke messed up, we would just open the "doghouse" and manipulate the choke with your right hand while turning the key with your left hand. Leaky radiator? Passenger can add water without stopping.

 

[Iancoleman]

Concord with a 3 on the tree? are you sure it wasn't a hornet?

 

[Spazdog]

Pretty sure it was a Concord...but it may have been a Hornet. I remember it having square headlights....

I usually only got to wash the "Staff Car: 6 Passenger Sedan" when we were in garrison (busy work for the combat MOSes) which meant only driving it a couple hundred meters. Knock mud out of the interior sweep and wipe down, wash exterior, fill up with MOGAS, return, have maintenance personnel tell us what a horrible job we did, return to wash rack, sham for a couple of hours, return again, get told, "how much better it looks now." Go to chow...

I usually got to do the AMC because I could actually drive it. You'd be suprised how many people in the military could not drive a manual and even if they could, they couldn't figure out the 3 spd on the column.

 

[fdcg27]

Has anyone here ever driven a "four on the tree" Mercedes or Fiat?

 

[andyd]

Nope but for a brief time in '67 I had a Citroen DS 19 with a 4 on the tree. I am looking for an old 4wd truck , ideally with a 6cyl/3 spd For its intended usage , that would be fine.

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Has anyone here ever driven a "four on the tree" Mercedes or Fiat?
An old racer trick was to replace the 3 speed with a 4 speed. This way you had a 4 on the tree but no reverse. I had this in my Chevelle for a while.

 

[ms21043]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Has anyone here ever driven a "four on the tree" Mercedes or Fiat?


Not a Fiat or Mercedes, but I used to work in a repair shop a long time ago, and a customer used to bring in a Ford Cortina for work sometimes. This car had a V6, the kind you find in the old Mercury Capri's, a 4 speed column shift and it was right hand drive. Taking that thing on test drives was an interesting experience.

 

[CBR.worm]

Somehow I managed to make it this far without ever driving a column mounted manual. Seems strange, I guess we were always driving sporty cars with floor mounted shifters or sedan/trucks with autos.