Cross-drive steering transmission

Manual transmissions were heavy and tiring to drive, requiring skill and strength from the driver, and also frequent adjustments as the clutch plates wore.

The cross-drive transmissions offered a mechanically actuated self-changing gearbox, where the ratio selection could be either manual, automatic, or by pre-selection.

The control input for steering also became lighter, allowing the use of a single hand-controlled joystick or "wobble stick", as used for the CD-850-1 transmission in the T44 Cargo Tractor of 1950.

A related development at this time was the "power pack" concept, where engine and transmission could be removed as a single unit.

[4] The X1100 was designed as a modular system, allowing its easy adaption to vehicles with different power plants, ranging from diesels to gas turbines.