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Wildman · Sep 23, 2023

Wildman · Sep 23, 2023

Two to Go: Rambler’s 1963-1965 Twin-Stick Transmission

Always zigging where the rest of the auto industry was zagging, little American Motors introduced its own novel transmission control in 1963, known as the Twin-Stick. Here’s what that was all about.

With only a fraction of the technical and economic resources of the Detroit Three, American Motors was continually challenged as it battled to carve out its own distinctive brand identity in the competitive ’60s car market. But led by clever and creative product guys including Roy Chapin Jr, Richard Teague, and Roy Abernathy, to name a few, the plucky automaker always managed to offer something different. Here’s one more interesting example: the Twin-Stick transmission of 1963-1965.

In a nutshell, Twin-Stick was Rambler’s tried-and-true Borg-Warner electric overdrive system, beloved of penny-pinching fuel misers everywhere, but with a sporty twist. A second lever was added alongside the console shifter for the three-speed manual transmission. So the setup worked pretty much like a three-speed-plus-overdrive standard transmission, but with a convenient second stick so the driver could manually select or disengage overdrive at any time, on the fly. Additionally, there was a small white button atop the left shift knob allowing the driver to kick down, instantly and clutchlessly, from overdrive to standard gear range.

Pretty clever, yes? Twin-Stick combined traditional Rambler fuel economy with some shifty sporty-car fun. And with an overdrive range available in the top two gears, drivers had five different gear ratios to call upon—handy on the boulevard or in hill country. AMC and Borg-Warner engineers adapted the system to all three of the B-W three-speed transmissions then used by AMC (small and large sixes, V8) to offer the optional feature across the automaker’s product line with a price of around $145.

Alas, in 1966 the company bowed to convention and dropped the Twin-Stick feature in favor of a more conventional Borg-Warner T-10 four-speed manual gearbox. We don’t know this, but apparently customers found the four-speed more familiar and comfortable. But the twin-lever, dual-range transmission concept has popped up a few times in passenger cars since then, for example in Mitsubishi products of the late ’70s and early ’80s, which also touted the dual virtues of economy and performance. And it wouldn’t surprise us a bit to see the Twin-Stick idea arise once again.