The Mysterious VW Semi-Automatic Transmission Secrets Finally Revealed | Jalopnik
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ส.ค. 2024
- In keeping with this series’ overarching theme of giving you the experience of being cornered at a party by some wild-eyed loon who won’t shut up about some bullshit, I think we have a good episode for you today. It’s about a piece of automotive history, something that’s occasionally mentioned but I suspect rarely understood: the semi-automatic transmission.
In this era of near-ubiquitous (at least here in America) automatic transmissions and desperate defenders of the glorious manual experience, the semi-automatic seems to exist in a strange, uncertain middle ground. While we have plenty of automatics that let you use little flappy paddles to switch gears on your own, those are still fully capable automatics. What I’m talking about is a genuine half-ass measure.
I’m specifically talking about the Volkswagen semi-automatic transmission, known as the Automatic Stick Shift, introduced in 1968. The Beetle was never offered with a full automatic, so this was VW’s only attempt to win over all the American drivers who were unwilling or unable to deal with clutches and shifting and all that sort of weird-ass foreign-feeling stuff.
My dad was one of these drivers, and were it not for VW deciding to reach out to such people, he would never have gotten a Beetle, and my life would likely have been a bit different.
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I currently drive a '75 Autostick. What makes it the rare model nobody wants is that, 1) it's an Autostick, 2) it's factory fuel injected. It's a standard beetle and not a super luckily. The weird thing is that it runs and drives perfectly. I keep telling myself that if the motor or tranny go out that I'll switch to a 4 speed and a carbureted motor but that thing just keeps going. Oddly enough, a VW shows I get just as much attention as a lot of the older, nicer VWs.
Same . Like I’m prepared to switch it if need be ,but my 74’ autostick is still going strong 💪
Do u still have d "Auto-shift" emblems for d rear lid?. Looking 4 it
I had a ‘74 autostick. Redline was about 68mph in second or “high” gear. I didn’t know that until my second engine.
I had a 73 autostick. It could reach the factory spec of 78 mph.
I worked at a shop that rebuilt a beetle engine after a woman rented her autostick beetle out to a film production and they ruined it driving it way way over redline, because they assumed “auto” meant it would shift automatically like a modern transmission
I had one of these in a 1968 Beetle! It was a clever system and they catch a lot of money today.
I'm 6' 4" and when driving one of these, my knee kept bumping the shifter and disengaging the clutch. It was infuriating and hilarious at the same time. There's no way I could have driven one of these all the time.
Imagine if Jason from EE had these drawing skills 🤣
Thank you for making a segment on this. I inherited my grandfather's 72 Super Beetle with automatic stick shift. I'm attempting a full restoration and intend to keep it automatic. The challenging part is figuring out how to work on it, because I'm basically the only one in our VW club that has one!
Hi Nathriel...I have Stickshift like yours. Can we share email address? I need to discuss a few things regarding the gears, if you dont have any issue. Thanks
How is your process going? I have a 73 super beetle autostick that I bought from my grandfather as well and am trying to restore it.
Would love to see how your process went. Im having the motor worked on the motor now but am waiting to see the transmission condition
How is your process going? I have a 73 super beetle autostick that I bought from my grandfather as well and am trying to restore it.
Would love to see how your process went. Im having the motor worked on the motor now but am waiting to see the transmission condition
How is your process going? I have a 73 super beetle autostick that I bought from my grandfather as well and am trying to restore it.
Would love to see how your process went. Im having the motor worked on the motor now but am waiting to see the transmission condition
How is your process going? I have a 73 super beetle autostick that I bought from my grandfather as well and am trying to restore it.
Would love to see how your process went. Im having the motor worked on the motor now but am waiting to see the transmission condition
I still have a stock '73 Super Beetle with Automatic Stickshift. She is all original, and runs great.
I have my grandfathers '69 autostick in my garage. Still runs. Your explanation is little off about the servo. Its even wonkier. The "biscuit" under the driver side fender is actually an air tank that stores vacuum from the manifold. What you are pointing to is a pneumatic clutch servo on top of the transmission. By pressing the stick shift down you electrically activate a pneumatic servo in the engine compartment that releases vacuum from the air tank which activates the pneumatic clutch servo on top of the transmission. The pneumatic clutch servo pulls the clutch. Personally I think its pretty cool.
I had an early 80s Citroen GSA C-Matic, which was a front engined air cooled flat four, with front wheel drive and a 3 speed stick shift with torque converter and automated clutch. Basically a back to front version of this Beetle.
You could start in third if you wanted. Very smooth drive with the hydropneumatic self levelling suspension.
Thanks for this explanation!
The way the gearing was set up reminds me a bit of an automatic motorcycle I once had.
*Still have mine after nearly 50 years... The thing can take a hill like a champ once you get up to speed with 1 person in it. They were not for people used to roughing up a car. Have to be a bit more gentle or intuitive with them. The manual a lot more rugged. Nice drawing and great presentation*
I have a '72 autostick! such fun to drive!
As far as I know from my Beetle-history (I had 2) the double jointed rear axle (semi trailing arm axle) was only in the automatic, 1302 and 1303 (superbeetle). The basic version (down to the end of production) had always the "Pendelachse" (swing axle).
On cars imported into Canada and the US, The Automatic Stick-shift was introduced in 1968, and only came with the new DJ rear axle. In 1969, it became standard equipment on both the manual and autostick Beetles.
The autostick was an option from 1968 to 1979, although the only Beetle available was the SB Convertible from 77-79, and could be ordered with a manual or automatic.
I’m pretty sure the autostick was dropped from the Standard Beetle in ‘76, which was also the last year the Standard Beetle was sold in the US and Canada.
The SuperBeetle sedan stopped regular production in 1974, and was only available as a special edition La Grande Bug in 1975, and of course as the convertible until 1979.
Man, as much as people rag on this thing, I want one. I have a Manual Beetle and let me tell you: I can't stand it. Having to do the Charleston every time a red light comes up is just too much effort for a simple sputter over to the store. Just let me DRIVE dangit!
I had a 72 bug with the auto stick. The automatic switch went out and I remember wiring in a push button switch from radio shack so I could engage the clutch. That became the selling point of the car went I sold it for another bug.
Thank you for the explanation. I just bought a 73 Super Beetle convertible with AutoStick. Haven't had a chance to enjoy it yet. It's still February and it's still cold. It's in my garage for now.
Great overview. - I did drive a fully automatic 1970 fastback for 15 years and the transmission was not a dog. I'm finding this 69 semi I have challenging though and this explains why - maybe - I'll try starting in Low instead of 1
Saab did some weird clutchless manual they called sensonic back in the 90’s. Still had a normal H pattern shifter but no clutch pedal.
Thank you for the information, friend. I have owned a 73 autostick convertible since February 2022. I'm not a mechanic but I've managed to do simple maintenance as necessary so far. But I fear that someday something serious will fail and I won't be able to find anyone to fix it! I've seen comments about how fast others have been able to drive. I don't drive any faster than 50. I don't need to.
I have one 1969 auto stick shift still works car in great condition
In 1985 I took my driver test in my 1969 Automatic stick shift, and the DMV lady almost wouldn't let me use the car because it was messing with her head. It was my 16th birthday, and she could see how desperate I was and relented. I loved that bug.
They are still used in Europe, i think even some early 2010s civics have them
Back in the 80's, my first and only beetle, a 68, had the autostick. The first one got stuck in gear and my mechanic couldn't fix it. The second one kept slipping out of gear on the highway. 3rd time was a charm. It was virtually impossible to find any documentation on them back then. Only one old Clymer manual even mentioned it. A couple of junkyards had spares for me back then...
Thanks for the great video!! I'm still driving my Beach Buggy which is based on a 1500 Automatic Stickshift. It works fine since more than 22 years now and I love the way to cruise.... ;-) Greetings from Switzerland!!
Since I was born in 1951 I remember when Volkswagen came out with the Auto-Stick transmission. It was an odd type of transmission for its time. It might be considered a semi-automatic. I only rode once in one of these Volkswagen Auto-Stick transmission cars. The driver shifted through all three forward speeds like this was a manual transmission with an automatic clutch.
I bought a brand new 1970 VW Beetle with an automatic stickshiftback in 1970 -- my first car! The gas mileage was good, but the torque converter kept needing replaced -- twice while still under warranty, and a third time at $180 (back in 1970, for a 20-year-old, that was pretty darn high!). Yep, you're right -- it was a dog! Finally traded it in for a Honda a few years later.
My wife and I had an ASS in a VW back in the 70's, you had to be careful not to bump the shifter or else it would go out of gear.
Wow, I had a pastel yellow 71 autostick, when I graduated high school. It didn't have much power, but after you took your foot off the accelerator, shifted to second, then you could motor along pretty good. If you accidently hit the shifter too hard reaching for something, or tried to move the shifter without taking your foot off the gas, the car would buck up, pretty good. You had to let go of the shifter.
I lived in Michigan, and if the temp was below 40 degrees, well let's just say a candle could give you more heat. You had to pull up a knob on the side of the emergency brake to turn on the heat. It had a metal sunroof that didn't leak, and I got about 28mpg. I had three friends I played basketball with, and one guy was 6' 3, the other 6' 6 with the last guy just big at 200 lbs. Well, we all fit by adjusting the front seats forward to account for the long legs.
I traded the bug in for a '74 silver mustang 2. The mustang was very cool cuz the girlies liked it, but all in all, I would rather have the bug.
This kind of transmission (autostick) didn't available in Brazil, where I always lived in. I would like to drive it. I already though replace the regular transmission from the my beetle to an autostick one, because around here it would be a novelty. Tks!
My husband and I want to import a second Brasilia and convert it to autostick because I am kind of a lazy driver and don't want to worry about a clutch in Los Angeles traffic. People in L.A. love our yellow manual Brasilia and it's such a novelty in the United States. I can only imagine the confusion if we bring an autostick Brasilia to a VW show here. 😅 Do people convert Brasilias to automatics in Brazil very often?✌️
I still have one on a 1973 Super Beatle that we bought new. I rebuilt that transmission three times. I used to go to the junkyard once a month and collect parts for it .
Hi James, my name is Jaime and I still have a 1969 cabrio vw-automatic which is the european name for the same transmission.
Do you know how to regulate the Force of the Clutch, so it does not give a Mule Kick every Gear change? I' read you have repaired yours three times! Congrats!
Studebaker Packard had these in 1946. Chrysler had vacuum shift fluid drive in 1939..nothing new.
That was my first car. Loved it. Heat sucked but loved the shifting.
Thank you for revealing the mysteries of the VW semi automatic - not only the how, but the why!! Biggest facts reveal however has got to be the groovy "automatic Stickshift" badge - can't recall having seen one of those over here in Europe! Seems they're just "VW automatic" on this side, and that might make some sense since "stickshift" is an American idiom. "Automatic manual" would be a bit too much, even for the British. Great work, can't wait for the next visit to your enchanted basement!
My brother in law had one , If they had the engine transmission management computers back then like what is in cars now , all you would need is a servo to move the gear selector and the computer selecting when to change and operate the clutch servo and you have got a Tiptronic gearbox . I wonder if you could actually do that now ?
Jasper Goodman was. a friend of mine when I worked in the Safety Cycle bycicle shop in Hollywood. He invented the hydrostatic transmission
I had a VW bug that had a button on a shifter you pushed to operate a servo clutch to shift. I think it was only produced 1 production year in a standard bug. I wish I had kept it now, was great on gas.
My brother had a red beetle much like the one in the video, and it had the auto shift. I loved driving that car because I only had to let up off the gas pedal to shift gears.
Loved this video......hilarious. Thanks for the info
I still have a Stickshift! It’s a 1972 Super Beetle! I’m working on restoring it, but having problems with the transmission.
I had a friend in high school whose dad had a Porsche with the sportomatic trans. Got to drive it once and it was super weird. Hadn’t driven a manual up till that point which made it all the more confusing.
Hahaha thanks Jason! I just saw a Beetle parked with a for sale sign and I was thoroughly confused at the “Automatic Stickshift” badging. Must be one of very few left!
What do you do to change the automatic shift to a straight drive
How do you change the automatic stick shift to a 4-speed
My mom had a 76 auto stick beetle, I've always loved these cars. I currently have a 1965 beetle that is way more fun to drive than my mercedes
76 was the last year for the autostick. Very rare car !!
Back in 1988/89 I had a VW 1302 from 1972 (I think it was) and it had the so-called "Dreigang-Halbautomatik" gearbox. Interesting concept, but the car was completely hopelessly slow with its 44 hp. 0-60 mph took around 30 seconds and significantly more if the topography was hilly (like in Oslo where I'm from or San Francisco). If you waited for a red light in a hill, the car would hardly accelerate. Dangerous situations arose because other drivers lost patience. It was probably not as hopeless when the car was new in the early 70's, but 20 years later the car was almost dangerously slow.
I love my 68 autistic.
My wife asked why I never lock it. I said no one would have a clue how it even works. Plus my shift pattern has faded away from the ash tray.
I had a 69 beatle with the semi auto transmission.
It was slower than the manual and was not really a winner in many aspects.
None of my friends with manuals liked it.
Just came across this video which was great! We have purchased a '73 Super Beetle for my daughter and it stalls when going in gear. We can hear a puff of sorts coming from the area you have described as the clutch servo when it stalls during shifting from idle. Any ideas why it would stall going in gear from idle and make a noise from the driver rear side? We have the idle right, idles well.
clutch servo is pneumatic, not hydraulic. Great video!
The only "weird" thing in this video is this guy. Maybe his doctor should review the dosage of his meds.
I was in the imported car parts and service industry for almost 40 years, VWs were a big part of that. The only issues were the points at the end of the shifter (easily replaced- part was maybe $5.00) and the vacuum servo occasionally (not a big job part maybe $45.00, and there was a kit to replace the rubber inside).
Thanks for making this video! Definitely will help me sound like less of an idiot when explaining the newest toy on my channel.
I thought the pans were different between a manual and a stick shift, no provision for a clutch cable on the latter. And you didn't mention the fluid pump in the engine.
I have a '68 autostick beetle. The pan is the same as any other '68. There's still a tube for the clutch cable but no cable. The ATF for the torque converter is pressurized by the oil pump. On autosticks the oil pump has a second pump section for ATF. All in all, pretty simple system (in spite of the feel of this vid).
the 1st few years of production they still had the same pan with the clutch cable tube intact. later the tube was deleted so they are much harder to convert to regular 4-speed
Mercedes Benz had a very similar transmission called the Hydrak.
Hail Hydrak!
Thank you for explaining how an "Automatic Stick Shift" Beetle works!
had one 73 super it could not get out of it own way had fun in it
I don't know what year mine was but it was a used and I had it 45 years ago and because I could never get used to that clutch I burned the clutch out in time I think I pay $200 for the car though which even at that time was a lot of money I thought
I thought i understood how a vw autostick worked, until i watched this video. Very cool out of the box kind of ideation typical of German / Czech engineering.
reminds me of the vacuum assist on my 48 Chev hearst. Not sure if that was Fluid Drive
automatic stickshift = Robotic gearbox 😂 happy you find the secret .
The box light!!!
Great video , do you know if anyone tried a performance VW engine with the Semi automatic transmission and if so how well did it work ?
Okay thanks
My mom had a beetle convertible with this. It sounds like they were making things a little too complicated.
I'm looking to get my first classic car I found a VW Beetle 1964 but I believe it is a manual transmission where they synchronized or do you have to double clutch
sounds great
with higher final ratios, an OD gear and lock up torque converter it would work great
Sounds like what they used in the NSU Ro80, but in that car it wasn't an option... it was mandatory.
First car I drove (underage) was a beetle with the 3sp. If you drove like a grandma it worked fine. I would give a one count between shifts.
How do you change the automatic stick shift to a 4-speed
The Auto stick driving around in 3rd gear sort of shows how tourquey the VW Boxer motors are that’s sort of the gears that people use if they converted a old VW to a electric motor
Can you flat foot shift smoothly in this car ?
Yep , I remember converting my bugs to manual transmissions!
Sad
colt hoover sorry bud they sucked! Nobody wanted them
Had one myself and I really thought it was pretty cool..
I am having issues with my VW Stickshift gears. Can someone help here?
Hey I have a 70 autostick now I've looked up all the conversion to manual but it have question after all is changed what happens with atf light on dash should I change my harness or no need
I thought autostick only 3years in production?
The more you know... How was the electrical clutch engaged, was it due to a change in electric potencial on the shift knob itself or was it due to the weight of the gand laying on it? Would be great to get this question solved. Greetings from Germany.
when you rest the hand on the lever
the clutch was pneumatic, not electrical. the shifter lever was in 2 parts, spring loaded, and pressure on the lever made the halves contact and gound and electrical connection, which actuated a vaccuum servo
Sick dance moves, bro.
Similar system used by NSU, and Citroen in the 70's. Novel but didnt stand the test of time.
Can the autostick cruise at 75 mph on the highway? If not, can it be modified to do so without damaging the torque converter?
with large tire yes but it means you have to always use L to take off
My 73 Super autostick would easily do 75.
factory rated top speed was 78mph. the real question is *should* you ever cruise that in a 50 year old air-cooled VW? probably not.
i have one. what would be the value of that
my autostick stuff is all gone except for the tranny fluid tank works good
Huh. The more you know!
Such antics, don’t appreciate it! By, by
I actually had to double check that this was a real thing, and not the product of Jason eating too much cheese before bed.
It's real, I still have one. 73 Super Beetle Automatic Stickshift.
BOOYAH
Automatically transmisión sensors
VW mexico still uses this on the VW Polo Its called Tiptronic, Its a cluchless Stick!
Seriously? Around what year/model of the car?
@@gilbertsanchez2568 on the market now! I live in mex and have driven it.
@@gilbertsanchez2568 it's not the same, it is called automated manual and it has servo for clutch, but no torque converter. Horrible thing, many cars in Europe have this, the freshest would be 2020 Hyundai i10. Edit. Just checked Mexican VW site and polo uses traditional 6 speed tiptronic with torque converter.
Marcin Sobczak yep, it's just an auto box with manual select, even my Corolla can do that
@@marcinsobczak2485 the transmission is called DSG (Direct-shift gearbox) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct-shift_gearbox#Volkswagen_Passenger_Cars
Dodge did it first in the fifties.
Toyota Mrs.
jesus christ
Automatic _Suckshift_
What kind of oil does the transmission use?