What happened to overdrive gearboxes?

I have a Discovery 3, which has been an excellent vehicle but has a plethora of gears. Older cars had 4 speed with overdrive on 3 and 4, which effectively made for 6 gears. Why do we not have cars with, say, 5 gears and overdrive in 4 and 5 which would make life so much easier, or do we have to wait for the Japanese to "invent" this again?

Asked on 9 January 2013 by J Lloyd.

Answered by Honest John
The reason why is that a gate of 6 gears is easier to operate. You don't have to go through all of them. You can 'block change' from 6th to 4th, 3rd to 5th, etc.
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