About that time Chrysler also had a push-button transmission, but their buttons were in the instrument panel. Now electronic transmissions are going through another transition between control types, such as knobs.
Speaking of transmissions, Buick (1961) also featured an automatic transmission (NOT push button) where the shift pattern was PNDLR instead of the normal PRNDL. It was intended to make it easier to shift between L and R for rocking the car out sand or snow.
IIRC, the PRNDL automatic shift pattern wasn’t standardized until some time in the mid-1960s, when the federal government mandated that N be between R and D. Before that, different cars used different patterns. I’m told it was a common problem when someone was driving an unfamiliar car to put the lever where D would be in their usual car, and end up in the wrong gear.
oldsmobile station wagon was the family car. My dad always had a truck for himself though since he enjoyed those.
We had a series of station wagons when I was growing up. Five kids. My dad had a company car as part of his contract, so my mom got the station wagon, and he drove a sports car.
The station wagon was the company car, I assume? Lucky dad! That’s still pretty liberal. One company I worked for had two car plans: Plan (A) was they gave you a car and paid all expenses, but you had to pick from a limited list, or Plan (B) was you could pick your own car, and charge mileage for business travel, but were responsible for all other expenses; in return, you got a monthly car allowance added to your income.
Most of the employees were fairly young, so almost everyone opted for Plan B, and the panoply of official company cars included minivans, Jeeps, and even two-seater sports cars. This caused a minor scandal when it filtered through to upper management, who declared that henceforth, the ONLY acceptable vehicle under Plan B was a four-door sedan. A conventional one. In standard manufacturer colours.
Fortunately, my minivan was grandfathered in. I kept it until I left for other reasons.
Those were nice cars. And in those years, I thought the Fords had the distinct marketing advantage by having a 3 speed automatic instead of Chevrolets crap powerglides.
From 1955-1960 dad had company cars, max two years old. Great deal. In 1960 he bought the company car, a 58 pontiac. It was a good car but rusted out by 65. Traded it in on a '64 Rambler, and total POS. He sold it in 1970 when he bought a 69 pontiac. That was another good car.
My Dad was a Chevy man. In the ‘60s, it was a Bel Air, in the ‘70s, an Impala the size of a cabin cruiser.
The company car was the station wagon. My dad started collecting sports cars, but he usually took the train to work.