Automotive Products, together with BMC in the UK developed a four speed automatic gearbox for the Mini and 1100 range in 1965. Probably the smallest auto at the time, it could be used in different ways. Firstly, as a full automatic through all speeds including a ‘kick down’ to a lower gear for greater acceleration or engine braking. Secondly, the gear shift allowed full manual control through all four gears giving quite rapid changes: called a His ‘n Hers system in those pre-PC days. Thirdly it was possible to engage any gear and start from rest. In some cases, it was quicker than the manual version and it was claimed to rob very little power from the engine. Drawbacks included the fact that it didn’t have a Park position, meaning you had to rely on the handbrake or turn the front wheels into the gutter. It was relatively fragile with the result that there are few survivors today. Also for those of us who left-foot brake an automatic, the pedal was still very small; unchanged from the manual. As an aside, apparently there were four Cooper Ss converted to automatic. There were problems with the throw of the longer crank fowling the top of the gearbox. One went to Stirling Moss, an advocate for automatic gearboxes in every day cars as he couldn’t see the sense in using a clutch in heavy traffic.