VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Mechanical - Engine, Trans, etc 1953 210 trans pg cast iron

just wanted to understand why is reverse below drive and low gear on the shift position ?

It is due to the way they machined the valve body to apply the various clutches in the planetary gear set.

Why they chose that sequence is a best guess. It could be that they were concerned with the car going directly into reverse when the lever was moved from Park. Remember that automatic transmissions were a fairly new feature especially in lower priced vehicles at that time

That was the way the original GM Hydramatic was and it had no Park position. The 1940 Oldsmobile was the first arto have a fully automatic transmission with no clutch pedal and first to have a shift qudrant. That is what GM thought was best at that time.

Chevrolet promoted that it was easier to rock the car back and forth when stuck in snow with low next to reverse.

That posiition changed when Ford and Studebaker went to the Borg Warner automatic transmission with Park above neutral in 1951.

In 1957 Chevroet had Power Glide Reverse a the bottom and Turbogdlide at the top.
In 1958 bothj were a the top

Same for Buicks auto. transissions.