Gas pedal starter- what is this sorcery?

Illustration for article titled Gas pedal starter- what is this sorcery?

Went to pull this car (55 Buick Century) in the showroom, and I sat in it for a solid 10 minutes and couldn’t figure out how to start it. Then someone showed me, just press the gas pedal and it fires right up. WTH? How does this work? I’ve never heard of this. It’s not a simple switch, because once the car is running you can floor the gas again and the starter doesn’t try to engage. A simple google search didn’t give me a dumbed-down enough answer. Something about a ball bearing sliding around in the linkage and making contact? I say it’s magic, man!

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