Excuse my ignorance. Given there is no mechanical reverse gear, what does shifting into "R" do exactly?
I ask the question because recently ran into this situation. Had parked nose in into a parking garage. Battery had died a couple of months later. Then I could not jumpstart it because some pipe would not let me open up the hood. Had to call roadside assistance; they came in and BEFORE they lifted the rear wheels and tow the car a few feet back, they SHIFTED the gear into reverse first for some reason. I was worried that this might have caused some harm somewhere.
However, reading your post, it seems shifting into reverse before towing the car backwards for a few feet should have been fine? Is that correct?