I had one mounted on the stick shift of a JEEP a few years back. It was more of an secondary thing - really only used during 4 wheeling when you needed three feet - one each for brakes, clutch and gas. It was fabbed up using a bicycle shift lever and it worked great. It didn't have full throttle capability, but for 4-wheeling it was fine. You could do similar with a motorcycle or bicycle brake lever, just use an eccentric cam to get the travel you need.
My 49 Chevy had that, too. I wasn't even sure what it was, but from what I've been told by folks old enough to remember, that was a primitive "fast idle" used to warm the car up...or as a very primitive early "cruise control" by some!!!
One of the big name Baja/Pre-runner truck guys uses hand controls too. His name escapes me at the moment.
Maybe it was Bill Schindler? He lost his leg in a crash in '36, went to Indy a couple times at least.
Here's a funny story I've heard through the grapevine... Crazy character named "Rebel John" (Chopolds and a few others on here know who I'm talking about) had an old Ford that had no interior installed in it yet. He wanted to move it around the lot at the shop where he was working on it, so he hooked up a string to the throttle, put it through the fire wall and sat on a milk crate. He was doing OK until he blipped the gas, which knocked him off of his milk crate and into the back. To prevent himself from falling hard, he grabbed on to the closest thing to him...the string on the throttle. The car took off with him in the back and wiped out 4 cars in the lot. The story would be completely unbeliveable if it wasn't Rebel John. Real hand controls are fine. Ghetto hand controls like that aren't.
Finally, the answer you're looking for. My little roadster pickup is a little short on legroom also so I set it up with a hand throttle to make long trips alot more comfortable. I don't have any pics and I don't recall the brand name but it is the kind of throttle used on equipment like stump grinders, fire engines and god knows what else. It is the perfect cruise control for hot rods. I have it mounted below the dash in the center. It is a button with a ribbed ring around it, When you reach the desired speed you push the button in with your thumb and pull the ring out with 2 fingers and let go of it. Now you can take your foot off the pedal and stretch out. If you come to a slight hill and need a little more gas you turn the ring for an increase [or decrease] of throttle. Need to shut it off in a hurry? just hit the button and you are back to foot pedal. It really works great. I think its a common throttle for small equipment so try a place that sells parts for that stuff. I think it cost close to $30 and on my car I shortened the cable a lot and it connects to my throttle linkage inside the cowl.
My '50 DeLuxe has the Choke on right and Throttle on left right under starter button: After working with an Ag Tractor for hours , when I get in a car I reach under the steering wheel for the throttle often. I think the Model T throttle is basically the same as an Ag tractor. PB
Did you ever drive a Divco Milk Delivery truck? You drove it sitting or standing up. Throttle was a twist of the shift lever and the clutch and brake were the same pedal. Top half clutch and bottom half brake. Took some getting used to.
Choke and throttle levers or knobs were factory equipment on darn near every car and pickup and tractor built from the 'Teens through the early 50s. Model T and A Fords had levers just under the steering which controlled spark advance and throttle. The Model As also have a foot throttle and a dash mounted choke rod through the firewall to the carb. Starting in 1932, only the choke and throttle rods remained at the dash and were replaced by knob-operated cables years later. Choke knobs were still in use up into the early 60s in pickups and cars but throttle knobs had been eliminated.
I woulda crashed that with a quickness.... sheit...can you imagine the majority of us HAMBers drivin something like that? it would be chaos. Neato info though, I did not know that.
It might clear things up for these guys if you could post a photo or two Frank. Years ago I worked on a couple of cars with hand controls for owners who didn't have full use of their legs. One if I remember right was a simple setup that worked the throttle when you pulled on the lever and the brake when you pushed. <input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden">
My 49 and 50 Dodge Trucks had a pull-out throttle control next to the choke for holding a fast idle upon warm-up. That "Backseat Betty" Rod &Custom feature car from a couple years ago had aircraft throttle controls I believe. Isn't he on here? From Austin if I recall.
My next door neighbor has one in his new Ford Truck. He's in a wheelchair and has no use of his legs.
The throttle is the white knob on the left.....standard item on 46--48 Plymouths. It simply goes to the carb linkage. You can speed up your idle for warm up. They were standard issue on most cars from the 30s thru early 50s. Or use it for what I call a "poor man's cruise control". It works pretty good on a level road, but will not speed up the engine when going up a hill. The other side of that deal is - when going Down a hill, it causes you to go faster and faster, til you push the knob back in. Back in high school days in the late 50s, my first car was a 47 Chevy Fleetline two door fastback. In the winter, when it snowed, and I went driving around, I would occasionally slide off the road, perhaps into the edge of someone's yard where the snow was deeper. So, I would put the car into low gear......pull the throttle out till the rear wheels were spinning slowly......then open the door and get out to push the car -- which would give it just enough help to get un-stuck. Once it began moving, I'd jump back in. Didn't have to find someone to pull me out. I think they used the throttle on the old trucks in the hay field to keep them moving slowly while tossing on the bales.
Very many pre-war cars had throttle and spark advance levers on top of the steering wheel, operated by rods down a hollow steering column. I've lamented the absence of both on later cars. I'd like, in addition to centrifugal and vacuum advance, the facility temporarily to retard ignition timing if the engine should sound like it needs it; and I'd like the facility temporarily to set the idle speed a bit higher, when the weather is warm enough not to need mixture enrichment but not warm enough to maintain the normal idle speed without stumbling, until the engine is properly warmed up. Just having choke or no choke isn't really enough (and do you really expect a guy who goes around calling himself Ned Ludd to want a computer to do all this for him?!) Another thing I'd like, along with all this, is a mixture gauge on the dash. They're available commercially, surprisingly even in analogue form, though what they actually are is a voltmeter that runs off an efi-style O2 sensor on one of the headers.
I'm guessing he meant Alex Zanardi...he never actually drove at Indy but he did drive in CART/ChampCar in addition to F1. Alex Tagliani speared Zanardi's car in the side at the Lausitzring back in '01 and he lost both legs just above the knee. A few years later he drove the 13 or so laps to "finish" the race in a car with hand controls. Old thread, I know, but I didn't resurrect it!
48 and earlier Plymouths had manual chokes and manual throttles. The hand throttle was another knob just like the choke. When you pulled it out it raised the rpm of the motor. Pressing the gas pedal would speed up the engine but it would not go below the threshold established by the hand throttle. Pretty simple linkage; should be easy to duplicate. Of course, there were no failsafes as on modern cruise controls that will cut back the engine when you tap the brake, etc.
a buddy of mine took a bmx bike brake lever and mounted it to the floor shifter in his K5. Squeeze the lever and you would get throttle, let go and it would return to idle. It came in handy on steep climbs when you werent able to brake, throttle, and clutch at the same time.
Wrong, the deadman throttle on racing hydroplanes and runabouts did return to idle when the driver was dumped out of the boat.... http://www.boatdesigns.com/products.asp?dept=677
Both of you goofs are digging through a dead topic...and particular props go to the FNG goof that dug this thread up only to repeat the exact same info given by someone else on the first page, way to read Forrest...
Right, you did that because you COULD and you knew HOW to do it. Nowadays OnStar would call the police on you that the motor was running with the car in gear and no one in the driver's seat and buckled up. Plus, anyone you tell this story to would call you 'crazy!'. Presently, Toyota is recalling some of their cars because people are not smart enough to step harder on the brake pedal if the brakes do not seem quite right. I am no fan of Toyota, but come on, already. Our world is being taken over by pussies and wimps.
The dash mounted throttle controls on many of the pre-war (WWII) cars was NOT there to be used for driving. They were a fast idle control to keep the engine running upon first start on a cold day. Like this...... Bundle up, run outside, get in the car, start it up, set the hand throttle for fast idle (no auto chokes in those days), run back into the house, have a cup of coffee, run outside and jump in a warm car. Reset idle and go. Use it while driving? Uh,......well, don't to it. Simple.
No offense, but you are illustrating my point. Way back then, hand throttles were used as 'cruise controls' regardless of the intent (your description, but the way, is pretty good). Drivers back then instinctively knew that if they faced a runaway situation, you engaged the clutch. Not like that modern day moron who recently got himself and his passenger killed when his throttle stuck and he did not have the presence of mind to switch off the motor OR shift into neutral OR stomp the living shit out of his brakes. We have gotten to the point where we just expect our machines to watch out for us, with no commensurate operator responsibility.
Here's one no one has mentioned. Back when I ran my FED, there was a wheelchair bound "older fella" that also had a FED. BBC/Powerglide, and it had a HAND THROTTLE, that was a simple pull rod from the carb to a ring a finger was slipped into. The wheelchair bound fella did'nt drive the car the day I saw it, but a young guy was driving it, and using the hand throttle. I have a picture of them and I'd like to post it, but I have NO idea how this scanner works. Maybe it's about time I learned. Butch/56sedandelivery.
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