Kenyon; As far as I know the power steering system used by Chrysler was manufactured by a company called Gemmer, who specialized in steering boxes, I was called Hydra Guide not HydraGlide by the way. Another system popular in the 1950s was used by G.M and manufactured by Saginaw. I don't remember what Ford used on their cars but they likely bought them from Bendix or some independent firm. Studebaker actually developed their own power steering system in partnership with Borg Warner, it used a power takeoff from the engine and a series of clutches rather then hydraulics. Studebaker used it for about six months around 1954-55 and dropped because it was cheaper to use the Saginaw power steering then to make their own. I don't know what the other independent companies used if anything. Best Regards Arran Foster 1954 Imperial Newport Needing A Left side tailight bezel and other trim parts. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kenyon Wills" <imperialist1960@xxxxxxxxx> To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Wednesday, March 22, 2006 11:16 AM Subject: Re: IML: history of power steering Buried in the advertising (on the website) that I've collected are 1951/52 ads explaining that HydraGlide Power Steering was developed by Chrysler for their heavy military vehicles (6x6 trucks?) and that they then migrated it into their passenger cars. -Your military industrial complex at work! There was a big push on this as the significant driving improvement that it was, especially for parallel parking. They showed the fairer sex in gloves, a skirt, and a hat daintily and easily using the strongly boosted steering to navigate what before would have been a very taxing excercise - landing a car parallel beside a curb between two other cars with minimal effort. No comment on the required depth perception and ability to point the car correctly, a human deficiency that even today's microchip superprocessor has yet to address. The phrasing does not say that they were the actual inventors as far as I can tell, just touting that they had great experience. Ad copy isn't the best place for historical research, but with Chrysler being such an engineering-oriented company, I'd bet that they were definitely leaders in this area. The question would be: Did Chrysler beat others to market as an early innovator, or did they cop the idea off of someone else as a "me-too", must-have gadget? -K --- Gale jorgensen <gjorgensen@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > when was the advent of power steering? > > > > ----------------- http://www.imperialclub.com > ----------------- > This message was sent to you by the Imperial Mailing > List. Please > reply to mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and your > response will be > shared with everyone. Private messages (and > attachments) for the > Administrators should be sent to > webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > To UN-SUBSCRIBE, go to > http://imperialclub.com/unsubscribe.htm > > Kenyon Wills ----------------- http://www.imperialclub.com ----------------- This message was sent to you by the Imperial Mailing List. Please reply to mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and your response will be shared with everyone. Private messages (and attachments) for the Administrators should be sent to webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To UN-SUBSCRIBE, go to http://imperialclub.com/unsubscribe.htm ----------------- http://www.imperialclub.com ----------------- This message was sent to you by the Imperial Mailing List. Please reply to mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and your response will be shared with everyone. Private messages (and attachments) for the Administrators should be sent to webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To UN-SUBSCRIBE, go to http://imperialclub.com/unsubscribe.htm