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1966, we had a 1950 Dodge Pop bought for $400 (30k miles, garage kept since new in perfect condition) with fluid drive, which was a torque converter AND a clutch on a manual 3 speed tranny. We had rain on frozen ground which resulted in a 1-2 inch sheet of clear ice on the road. Virginia had outlawed studded tires shortly before the storm.
The Dodge would accelerate in 3rd gear but very very slowly. With the torque converter you could just leave it in gear and drive in 3rd, stop with the brakes and never touch the clutch.
The roads were so bad that other cars rear wheels were spinning, sitting at traffic lights and there were 80 wrecks in one 5 mile stretch of Mercury Blvd at the same time on that day.
The Dodge, left in 3rd gear, handled the ice better than any car I have ever seen. Of course traction and braking were no better, but all the other cars I saw on the road just spun their wheels on acceleration, before they even touched the accelerator pedal, while that old, slow as molasses, Dodge just kept on going. A lot of it was Pop's driving skills. Before he transferred to the air wing of the army air forces in 1941, he had been an ambulance driver in the 29th Va division of the US army, the same division that stormed the beaches on D-Day, same division in the movie Saving Private Ryan. Many of Pop's friends were there and many did not come home.
When I am driving on roads covered with snow or ice. I remember that day in that Dodge watching Pop demonstrate his skills and using the same techniques, my biggest concern is other drivers who still tailgate when traction is pitiful as is their driving skills.
regards
mech
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