4 Speed Manual, Then Two Minutes Later it's a 3 Speed Auto

[Flopsweat]

Jay Leno gets a look the Bronco that Rod Hall won the Baja 1000 in. It's been refurbished and upgraded, and Amy Learner has been racing it.

But something weird happened in the video. About six and a half minutes in she tells him it's a 4-speed manual and they show three pedals in what seems to be the interior of the truck they're standing outside of. But when they show the shifter, if you look closely, you see automatic shifter with a high-low selector to the right of it.

Then about ten minutes in, she tells him it's a C6 3-speed automatic, and you get a clearer look at the shifter, but not the pedals.

I'm pretty sure it's an automatic, but what's the extra pedal for?

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[Andy54Hawken]

Ejector seat...its actually a Bronco that was originally built for James Bond...
Andy

 

[Pepe-lepew]

She may have been partially correct. It likely was a 4-speed converted to an automatic and the clutch pedal was left in place. When the video shows in the engine compartment you can barely see what looks like the clutch linkage rod going down under the master cylinder.

 

[titsonritz]

Makes me wonder if it started out as a 4-speed manual and was converted to an automatic. You can tell when Jay is driving it definitely sounds like an automatic.

 

[gmerkt]

It's a lot of work to remove a clutch pedal hung under the dash on Ford products of that era. It's easier to just leave it in place, or better yet, take the spring tension off, let it sit on the floor and cover it with a floor mate.

 

[Flopsweat]

It's a lot of work to remove a clutch pedal hung under the dash on Ford products of that era. It's easier to just leave it in place, or better yet, take the spring tension off, let it sit on the floor and cover it with a floor mate.

I rewatched the video and the clutch pedal is tied to the brake pedal so that you can left foot brake more easily.

When I think about it, a sawsall or a torch could make removing the pedal go pretty quickly.

 

[gmerkt]

When I think about it, a sawsall or a torch could make removing the pedal go pretty quickly.

Yabbut. You don't really want to do that. In case you or a future buyer might want to restore it back to original configuration. On a rusty 1961 Comet, maybe. But on a vintage Bronco, probably not, those bring stupid money these days.

 

[aasbra]

Don't think they offered a factory automatic in the bronco until '72 or '73. But likely not much on that one is factory. The early ones were 3 speed manual, and then they offered the automatic as an option about 7-8 years after releasing the bronco in '66.

As a race rig, the c6 auto may have a manual valve body, and thus require the driver to shift it through the gears rather than just leave it in drive. If so, maybe why she said it's a manual?

 

[Flopsweat]

Don't think they offered a factory automatic in the bronco until '72 or '73. But likely not much on that one is factory. The early ones were 3 speed manual, and then they offered the automatic as an option about 7-8 years after releasing the bronco in '66.

As a race rig, the c6 auto may have a manual valve body, and thus require the driver to shift it through the gears rather than just leave it in drive. If so, maybe why she said it's a manual?

When she called it a manual, she called it a 4-speed. Later in the video they mentioned it having a manual valve body. When she said manual 4-speed, she may have been referring to the original configuration, but it didn't seem so from the context.