Runaway car

[Xeno]

Given most trans now are actuated electronically through solenoids for pressure, flow and direction, there is no need for a direct manual connection.

[Clare Snyder]

And by design the rear brakes only do a small fraction of the total job of stopping a vehicle. Don't think any car I've owned would have stopped in less than a few blocks with the emergency brake applied with the throttle wide open.The one exception was my '49 VW. It only had about 10HP and the hand brake operated the same cables to all 4 wheels as the pedal did.

On my '28 chevy to stop quickly you used the foot and hand brake together - the hand brake operated the expanding shoes in the drum and the foot brake tightened the band around the drum and applied the expanding shoes in the front drum.

[Clare Snyder]

A large number of today's cars use totally electric shift. So did the

59? Edsel with the shifter in the steering wheel

[Clare Snyder]

The old chrysler "typewriter" shift was cable activated ans IIRC the early oines didn't have a "park" function in the trans. The Edsel push button shifter was all electric - in the steering wheel center (where the horn button would normally be)

[rbowman]

Definitely. There was a cable from the push button assembly to the transmission. My '60 Plymouth had them before I dropped a manual transmission with a floor shift in.

[Clare Snyder]

The original split braking system was "diagonal split" brakong - with rach circuit applying one front and the opposite rear brake. This only worked with 4 wheel drum brakes - when disc brakes became common front/rear split became pretty much standard. They may hve gone back to diagonal on some vehicles now with 4 wheel disc brakes. I know for a fact that neither my '95 Mystique nor my '02 Taurus had diagonal brakes - and nor did my '95 Trans Sport. (all 3 had front disk/rear drum brakes and front wheel drive)

[rbowman]

Sometimes the Feds do something useful. When I lost the brakes on my '51 Chevy it was not big deal between the manual transmission and handbrake. However, when they went on my '62 Lincoln Continental, that was a lot of sled to stop. Fortunately I was just about at work and there was a fairly steep slope up to the parking lot where I could bleed off speed.

[Joshua Snow]

Not with the original VW Golf/Rabbit.

The Hyundai Getz which is all disc certainly is.

And it has such a good hand brake that if you try to drive off with it on, it sort of just squats, doesn't move off at all.

[gfretwell]

The old Torqueflight used cables from the trans to the dash buttons. They did add park to the later versions but it was still cable operated. It wouldn't go into reverse unless you were stopped or going really slow but you could go into drive rolling backward. That was how you laid rubber on your daddy's old Valiant with the slant 6.

[Homeless Lisa]

Stupid asshole pollock.