What was the first year with a car with a sequential or semi-automatic gearbox?

[dud]

I'm really confused about this.

Who was the first, and when, that used a transmission that didn't need a clutch pedal for shifts once underway and didn't use a H-pattern shifter?

FW14?

 

[Erwin Greven]

Ferrari 640 was the first F1 car using a semi-automatic sequential gearbox 1989.

 

[Richard Dastardly]

And the first actual use in a modern racing car was a Porsche 956 ( Group C WSC ) PDK in 1984, iirc. Wasn't reliable enough to run the full season. You have been able to clutchless shift racing boxes for decades, though.

There may have been some crazy pre-selector boxes in the 20s or 30s & possibly some auto box experiments in the 40s-50s.