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Hand Throttle...when Did Mopar Delete This?


Andydodge

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I am having a discussion with a so called expert on a US model cars forum I am on and he assures me that the "Hand Throttle" was long gone by the mid 30's........I have the original owners manual that came with my 1940 Dodge when I bought it in 1971.......its actually a US sourced booklet as it shows LHD features and pictures all through its pages and specifically refers to the "Throttle Button" and controlling the engine speed by hand. I have the original Throttle Button somewhere........but after 42 yrs its been filled in a safe place........my question is .....when did mother mopar stop using a Throttle Button in the USA?........unfortunately there are no prizes, however it would be nice to put this expert in his place........lol...........thanks.......andyd

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One would first have to define 'hand throttle' and before I continued or entered the argument I would first define the term and intended use.  For me the hand throttle would be the only means one had of controlling the vehicle engine speed...but in the case of you using the cable pull on the dash ...1949 officially with the introduction of the P18, they did not have the throttle cable on the dash..so if I were to take a WAG.....

 

but officially I would not call this a throttle as it is not by design the principle (sole) means of engine speed.  Somebody is shaving a gnat here...

Edited by Plymouthy Adams
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Tim it would still be the only throttle one had control of with ones hand. If it is the other way as you mention I suspect even the 30s is too late.

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thus the gnat gets another layer of fuzz shaved off...why I defined the hand throttle as the sole means of controlling the engine speed.....today's cruise control would almost fit the bill here.....except by design they are normally limited to operate above the  32 MPH..out on the big road I use the cruise for control primarily for increase/decrease my travel speed as dictated by speed zones..each press of the resume button is 2MPH..so if going from 60 to 70 I hit the button five times and let the big dog eat...

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Tim is correct, though I hesitate to admit it. Tractors have hand throttles and other equipment. I think the Model A Ford had a hand throttle (as well as a spark advance) evidently it did not have a distributor, as we know it with an automatic spark control.  Don't quadriplegics drive with hand throttles, brake controls, etc?

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I don't get this.........lol........there is the accelerator pedal on the floor and the HAND THROTTLE KNOB attached to the cable that is mounted on the dash..........so 1948 was the last year that mother used a HAND THROTTLE?...........lol..........thanks..........I'll go throttle this expert.........lol.........regards, andyd

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Cruise controll. Dont forget the story of the lady who just bought her new motor home. Got up to speed, engaged the cruise controll got up from the drivers seat and went back to make a sandwich

another Tennessee folk story....heard that story also but not sure if true of not..would hate to admit knowing the lady..be even worse if sharing a gene pool...anybody got the "inquiring mind" to verify this on snopes....lol  (I'm voting more toward blond joke than real life event)

Edited by Plymouthy Adams
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...as I am certain he is referring to the "sole" means of engine speed control...

 

I suspect the last cars to use solely a hand throttle and no gas pedal were in the 1920s. 15,030,000 Ford Model Ts were manufactured from 1908-1927 and not one left the factory with anything more than a hand throttle, and there were many accessory foot feeds available. The newfangled 1928 Ford Model A had both hand and foot throttle control.

 

FWIW, the gas pedal was not always the one furthest right — until 1920 centre gas pedals were common, situated between the clutch and brake and closer to the floorboards.  The 1912 KisselKar photo attached kind of shows the spoon-shaped gas pedal between the clutch and brake, and a bit of the throttle and spark advance/retard levers in the centre of the steering wheel.

post-1019-0-67734000-1371559991_thumb.jpg

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Cruise controll. Dont forget the story of the lady who just bought her new motor home. Got up to speed, engaged the cruise controll got up from the drivers seat and went back to make a sandwich

 

Twist to the same story. When I was in the AF, story was a ferghiner was in the US for flight training, and thought the cruise control was like the auto pilot on the aircraft. Story was, set the auto pilot (cruise control) on the rented van/motor home type, then got up to do something in the back. I worked on the auto pilot systems, so I'm not sure if that tale was isolated to my circle, or wide spread. Pre- wide spread personal home computer age, so spread by written word, and old war stories.

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The 1949 Plymouth was the first Plymouth to use an automatic choke. To me this was a real milestone in modernizing the automobile along with the automatic transmission and lowering the profile of automobiles. I prefer the manual choke and throttle which is what makes me a P15 guy. I have driven longer than planned with the choke pulled out thus wasting some gas. Leaving the throttle pulled out is discovered and corrected the first time you slow to a stop. I like the control the manual choke and throttle give although I cannot deny that the automatic choke is an advancement.

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Hmmmmmm.  My 72 or 73 Mazda Rx 4 with the rotary engine had both a manual choke and a throttle knob.  I never had need to use the throttle, but used the manual choke whenever it got below freezing.  The throttle gave an adjustable high idle up to about 1800 RPM.  Some engines go rrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, Mazda goes Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

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Pretty sure primary function was to assist in cold weather starts, not a cruise control. (It's actually pretty dangerous when used for cruise control) I suspect it went away when auto chokes were standard on all models. 

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Most 1930s cars I'm familiar with had a throttle control on the dash.  The purpose of which was to help the car get warm when starting cold.  I have been the passenger in a 812 Cord where the gas pedal fell off its rocker while going 65mph on a busy highway.  That throttle control came in real handy at that time.

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Pretty sure primary function was to assist in cold weather starts, not a cruise control. (It's actually pretty dangerous when used for cruise control) I suspect it went away when auto chokes were standard on all models. 

??? Manual choke is an air intake butterfly valve incorporated to throttle linkage. The 40's Mopar hand throttle cable is merely an extension to the pedal. Not much use for cold start.

Most european cars had manual choke until end of 70's. In spite of this I never came a cross with hand throttle in an european car.

Manual choke cannot be used to maintain steady cruising speed on hiway driving - just a plenty of smoke due to rich mixture.

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The D24 used aStromberg carb that was equipped with an automatic choke. However, the D24 also has a hand throttle. My car had been fitted with Carter carb and manual choke by a previous owner. I routinely use the hand throttle until the engine warms up, however I am not sure if it would be needed if the car had the Stromberg carb.

Dave

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??? Manual choke is an air intake butterfly valve incorporated to throttle linkage. The 40's Mopar hand throttle cable is merely an extension to the pedal. Not much use for cold start.

Most european cars had manual choke until end of 70's. In spite of this I never came a cross with hand throttle in an european car.

Manual choke cannot be used to maintain steady cruising speed on hiway driving - just a plenty of smoke due to rich mixture.

Fast idle ramp on choke is often not fast enough to keep it running on really cold mornings.  Also bumping the idle helps it warm up faster. Plus you can turn the choke off after starting and keep it running at a faster idle and not run extra rich with the choke unnecessarily on. 

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