Can a car be both automatic and stickshift?

Question

My uncle tells me his BMW 530 i can be automatic or stick shift. He says he mostly drives it on automatic but can also go manual. However, he does not have a clutch. But he can still change gears without a clutch. could someone explain this all to me. i find it really interesting. I really want a car that can be both automatic and stick shift WITH A CLUTCH lol .

Answer 1

yeah, you just kinda push the shifter over and it shifts gears when you set it in stick, and in automatic it just goes, i have a BMW z4

Answer 2

its triptronic and it has a centrifugal clutch

Answer 3

Because his BMW has an auto manual. Its just a + and - thing. I think its wack. Get a real manual bro.

Answer 4

Some older drag racers  played around with using a Powerglide transmission (two speed) and a regular clutch setup instead of a torque converter for better off-line performance and simpler shifting. Once you popped the clutch off the starting line, you simply had to shift the trans into top gear once you were going and at the right shift point. Tricky setup but it worked. I think BMW has a setup where you can manually select shift points as do some other brands. In theory,.. you could build a clutch/auto setup with any trans setup with a little ingenuity and machining skills.