"Fully Automatic Gear-Shifting!," Hydra-Matic Drive for Oldsmobile by General Motors, 1946

01

Artifact Overview

New car models, aimed directly at women, boasted everything from comfort and safety features to style options to technological improvements that made car driving easier. Automatic gear shifting was an important technical improvement that appealed to women drivers, as featured in this 1946 advertisement.

Artifact Details

Artifact

Advertisement

Date Made

1946

Subject Date

1946

Location

By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center

Object ID

91.0.178.1615

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford.

Material

Paper (Fiber product)

Technique

Gelatin silver process

Color

Multicolored

Dimensions

Height: 10.125 in
Width: 7.25 in

Inscriptions

Partial text under image: Proved on the Battle Front, Proved on the Home Front / Improved for the 1946 Oldsmobile ... This modern "drive" does / all gear-shifting automatically / through all four forward speeds. ... It gives you new freedom of / action and new ease in handling, / as well as finer performance, / and better gas mileage at cruising speeds. ...