The Ford Barn

fordor41 · 05-16-2015, 10:51 PM

A friend of mine just finished restoring his parents '57 Ford fairlane convert, 312 automatic. I watched him start it and he put it in neutral. I asked him why and he said that was a "safety" feature by Ford that it could only be started in neutral. I've had 2 '57 Fords with automatics and they all started in park or neutral. He showed me the original owners manual and it said "to start the car with conventional or overdrive tranmissions to place it in neutral". I told him conventional/overdrive referred to 3 speed standard not autos. I'm trying to convince him that the neutral safety switch has gone south in the park position.
Anyone agree with me?

05-16-2015, 10:51 PM	#1
fordor41 Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: elmira,ny Posts: 1,517	neutral safety switch A friend of mine just finished restoring his parents '57 Ford fairlane convert, 312 automatic. I watched him start it and he put it in neutral. I asked him why and he said that was a "safety" feature by Ford that it could only be started in neutral. I've had 2 '57 Fords with automatics and they all started in park or neutral. He showed me the original owners manual and it said "to start the car with conventional or overdrive tranmissions to place it in neutral". I told him conventional/overdrive referred to 3 speed standard not autos. I'm trying to convince him that the neutral safety switch has gone south in the park position. Anyone agree with me?