When did they start putting PUSH to start

I know that '51 Chevys had them, along with vacuum-operated windshield wipers. Every time you hit the gas, the wipers stopped due to drop in vacuum!

 

47 Dodge truck had a push button on the floor for the starter

 

The first one I can recall in a modern era production car is the Honda S2000. Starting in 1999, as a model year 2000.

I valet'd a lot of cars back then and I had never seen anything resembling it to that point.

 

All the first electric start cars were push button starters, many had a foot pedal you pushed to hit the starter. I dont know the first car to have one, but I believe the 1912 Cadillac had a push button electric starter. I do seem to recall my Dad saying his 28 Hupmobile had a motor generator.

 

My guess, is because of all the Gamers and Bimbos, that hold the key on after the car is running.

 

Today it's just a "retro" gimmick.

HRH's 1930 Plymouth has a starter pedal on the floor (no solenoid, the pedal engages the starter and turns it on).

 

As for Ferrari - the 250 series road cars of the sixties had an ignition switch that was a turn the key and push to engage the starter. The 288 GTO was the first I remember to have a push to start in 'modern' times.

 

I had an old Citabria airplane (made 1969) that had one. In the old airplane days, a "turn the key to start" was a rarity. I guess it helped you to remember not to turn off the engine by ignition, but rather to lean it out first.

When I was learning to fly, the Cessna 150 had a "pull to start" T-handle control...it actually did away with the function of the starter engagement solenoid - the pilot pulling on the lever mechanically engaged the gear to the flywheel, and at the top of the stroke, a set of switch points energized the starter motor.

 

Ahh - Those were the days!

My very first car (an original Mini Clubman) had vacuum wipers - Went like the clappers when stopped, and then basically halted as you took off and needed 'em.

It also taught me more about the "Prince of Darkness" (Lucas) than I ever wanted to know - The distributor was basically sticking out of the front grille so that whenever you went thru' a puddle the thing stopped - We used to buy WD40 by the case......

Cheers,
Ian

 

that had the push button starter... I am sure it was way before that, sometime right after the Model T and Model A which used hand cranks...

 

This is correct. The 1912 Cadillac was the first car to have an electric starter. It was operated by a button on the floorboard. The starter engaged when the clutch pedal was depressed. Charles Kettering was the inventor. The push button start went away when the locking steering column came into vogue. It has come back with the emergence of electronic ignition keys.

 

Now that brings back some memories.
Used to see several of those at the old Compton Airport in Southern California. I always loved that airplane!

Cheers,
JJ
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By mid 1913, almost all high-end cars had some form of push-button starting. Push buttons on the dashboard were retained in European sports cars (primarily British) until roughly 1968, when the increasing number of auto thefts paved the way for steering column locks.

 

The push button start went away on many cars well before the column lock -- it was combined with the key switch to save production costs.

Then the switches had to add a feature to keep you from engaging the starter when the car was already running. That often amounted to a lock-out that required you to turn full off before it would go back to start.

The combination of key switch, steering column lock, and starter switch caused issues for restarts in automatic transmission cars -- if you stalled and tried to restart, you could wind up locking the steering while you're moving.

But I suspect the return to start buttons has to do with the boot-up time of all the computers when you turn the key to "on".

 

The very first Ferraris from 1949 (166, etc.) all had push button starters. You would insert the key in the ignition switch, Then push a separate button to start the car. The starter button was also the generator warning light. It would illuminate when the key was inserted, then go out when the charging system started working.

In the photo the ignition switch is at the far right and the starter button is to the left of it.

Brian Brown
Patrick Ottis Co.
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N 5190X...it also had heel brakes, which would get you in a bad habit when you wanted to land a more conventional toe brake airplane.

James

 

My 1915 Model-T car did not come with a starter. A Push-2-Start was added later.

My brother's 1917 Model-T truck did come with one on the floor though.