The hill anti roll back feature?

[TJ Hopland]

Seems like I have heard talk about a feature perhaps in the 1930's that some cars had that had in the manual trans days that kept you from rolling back on hills.  Was that factory option on Lasalle or Cadillac or any others?   Or was it aftermarket?   Also I assume it had some sort of on/off control for if you actually wanted to back up? 

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

I can vaguely recall there being some option for 1948 Chevrolets that worked off the clutch that held the car when starting on a hill, and allowed the driver to not roll back until the clutch pedal was completely released.

Bruce.

[Alan Harris CLC#1513]

The 1940 Cadillac-LaSalle data book shows the "NoRol" as an option. It must have been available in other years as well. I believe that it worked by holding pressure on the braking system when the brake pedal was released with the clutch pedal depressed with the car on an incline.

[Big Fins]

Similar to a brake line lock on a race car when staging.

[David King (kz78hy)]

I Remembered Studebaker having this feature.  Did a quick search for Studebaker "Hill Holder" and found some info.  This Wikipedia is the best for explanation and Cadillac did offer it, quoting from the wiki site "Pre-WWII Cadillac ("NoRol")"

Here is the link to the site.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill-holder

[Lexi]

Yes, I recall getting a ride in a Studebaker and the owner told me about the anti-roll feature. Can't recall the year of car though. Clay/Lexi

[Warren Rauch #4286]

  It should be no surprise that Studebaker led the industry in late 1935 , for its 1936 models with the Hill Holder. Their Bendix division was a major brake products suppler.  Most followed suit , with most cars having standard transmissions it was a cheap /great safety help.
   Cadillac was a little slow ,not untill the 1939 model year. (Oct 15,1938 Cadillac Accelerator) New No-Rol system. $11 installed on 37-50,37-60,and all 1938-39 models.
  (Sept 1941 (Cadillac)Accessory Marketeer) Another outstanding seller in the Cadillac line of accessories is the No-Rol ,...All owners who have tried it ,swear by it because it will hold the car on an incline without keeping a foot on the brake pedal or using the emergency brake.  The function and operation is positive yet very simple. It operates always when needed but never at any other time.Three conditions must be met before it will function.
          1)The car must be on an upward incline.
          2) The transmission must be in a forward speed or neutral
          3) The clutch must be disengaged .

 The 1942 NoRol is identical to previous models and fits all 1940,1941,and 1942 cars.It sells for only $12.50 installed.
 I can't be sure it was offered in 1946 up,but very few standards were sold.


 How did it work?

An added valve was added to the master cylinder. A steel ball rolled to close off the valve when faced uphill.This held the previous pressure on the brake system. Engaging the clutch, disengaged the NoRol.

Warren

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

G'day Warren,

Thanks for the description.

Bruce.

[Cadman-iac]

  I've heard of that setup before, but have never actually seen it.
Growing up my dad had a 1940 Chevrolet Master 85 I think was the model, and it had something similar in that it would assist you with shifting the transmission. It had a vacuum servo that would push or pull the shifting linkage when the clutch was depressed. We never got it to work consistently, so it was left disconnected most of the time.
There were some very ingenious people back then who were working on some pretty cool stuff. I've always enjoyed looking at how it all worked.
Nowadays, everything is electronic, and you need an electrical engineering degree to figure it out.

Rick

[TJ Hopland]

I think there were several transmissions where you 'pre selected' the next gear so all you had to do is clutch in and out.   I think the most fancy was Cord where it was a little baby shift lever on the side of the steering column. It sent an electrical signal to the FWD transmission.  Same transmission Tucker used in his prototype cars.  I think there were others that were a similar concept with some sort of a column shifter.