On Fri, 28 Mar 2008 11:00:01 -0700 (PDT), John Martin
wrote:

Only 90 hp, but tons of torque.

So much so that the earliest ones - the BN1 version - were sold as 3-
speeds even though they had a 4-speed transmission. What should have
been first gear was blocked off, because with the low ratio and the
torque of the engine it was too easy to break an axle. And, with the
light weight of the car, starting in second was easy. You could start
it in fourth if you wanted, with only a bit of clutch slipping.
Second, third and fourth (first, second and third as labeled) were all
synchro, but the low first gear was not. The shift pattern as sold
was very odd. First, third and reverse were all back, only second was
forward. I still remember sitting in it (stopped) one day, pondering
how odd the pattern was, thinking that there really should have been
something ahead of the labeled first - where reverse would have been
on a typical US three-speed. So I played with the stick a bit, and in
it went. Whoa, what do you do next? I pushed down the clutch,
started the engine, and let the clutch out just as slowly as I could.
Still, it took off with a jump and scared the hell out of me. I found
out that mine - like lots of others - had been modified by filing out
the shift gate to allow selecting the low gear. The BN2 cars had four
speeds with closer ratios.

Except for the crash-box first gear (which is just fine, as long as
you are rolling you can start off again in 2nd...) why didn't more
owners open up the hidden first gear and put in a LOT taller rear end?

Most 3-speeds in those days (and this was a 'fake three speed' so
logic should still apply) didn't hit their top speed because they ran
out of engine power, they ran out of revs - because they needed
another cog in the box that they didn't have.

Would have made highway running a lot nicer at speed, and probably
crashed right through that 100 MPH limit with an engine that has had
some TLC applied.

If I had a nickel for every time my brain said {"Dummy! Over-Rev!!
Upshift!! NOW!!!"} and I tried shoving my old Datsun B210 into a
fifth gear it didn't have...

-- Bruce --