The Ultramatic

On its soth anniversary this week, Packard proudly unveiled its first 1949 models. On the outside, they looked much the same as the old ones. But under the floorboards there was something to send rival automakers back to their drawing boards. Packard had come out with a new automatic shift--and those who had driven it gave it the edge on Buick's Dynaflow. The shift will be standard on the highest-priced line, the Custom 8s, optional on the lower-priced Supers.

Packard had developed the shift three years ago but kept it out of its cars as long as the seller's market lasted. Now, with all other automakers bringing out similar shifts--or developing them--Packard hustled out its own.

Like the Dynaflow, the Ultramatic uses oil-driven turbines to transmit the engine's power to the wheels without the use of gears. But it also eliminates Dynaflow's one drawback: a slight feeling of "mushiness" or power wastage during acceleration. The Ultramatic overcomes this by having, in addition to the hydraulic drive, an automatic clutch which puts the car into direct drive when a certain speed is reached, thus eliminating slipping. At any speed between 15 and 55 m.p.h., the motorist can also switch from hydraulic to direct mechanical drive by momentarily raising the accelerator.

The brains behind the new transmission, like those behind many another Packard innovation, belong to Colonel Jesse G. Vincent, Packard's chief engineer. Unlike most engineers, Vincent never attended college; he quit school after the eighth grade, got his degree from a correspondence school. After a stint with Burroughs Adding Machine Co. and one with the Hudson Motor Car Co., he joined Packard in 1912, became a vice president three years later, specializing in engines.

During World War I he was co-designer of the famed Liberty engines, developed Packard's Twin6 in 1915 (first U.S. 12-cylinder production car) and helped develop engines for Gar Wood's 125-m.p.h. speedboats. During World War II, he redesigned Rolls-Royce's Merlin aircraft engine (used in P-51s and Spitfires) so that it could be mass-produced by Packard.

An ex-speedboat racer himself, Vincent once took such a battering from Gar Wood's backwash that he emerged from the cockpit of his boat black & blue, and groaned: "I'm through with this. I'll fly airplanes." Fly them he did until four years ago when he turned 65 and felt he "should depend . . . on the skill of someone else much younger." Packard is still depending on Vincent's skill. It set a postwar Packard record by selling 11,594 cars in March.

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