Chevrolet Powerglide, the 1st automatic for the low priced field

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:00]Ah.

[00:00:04]>> The year is 1950. General Motors would make an all new torque converter automatic transmission for General Motors entry-level brand, Chevrolet.

[00:00:12]Chevrolet first offered the Powerglide as an option on higher end models in Styleline and Fleetline Deluxe, as well as Bel Air series for $159, which would be equivalent to you spending $2,197.10 in the year 2026. The Powerglide equipped cars in 1950 got the bigger 235 and 1/2 cubic inch displacement, which made more horsepower than the manual counterpart, 105 horsepower. The Powerglide is hailed as being the first automatic transmission offered in the lower price field. Ford wouldn't have an automatic transmission until 1961.

[00:00:52]Plymouth buyers had to wait even longer until 1954, and their first automatic transmission was called the Powerglide.

[00:00:59]From 1950 through 1952, the Powerglide could not shift from low to high range.

[00:01:06]If the driver selected drive, the transmission would start off in high range. The only way to get to low range was to select low range. The Powerglide was often times referred to as the poor man's Dynaflow because of its two-speed aspect, but it's important to stress these are two totally different animals with inner workings of how the transmission actually worked. Early units had drive modes arranged as park, neutral, drive, low, reverse. Many owners complained about the driving experience, saying that it was a bit sluggish starting out in high range. So, they would shift it from low to high, but a lot of times people would hold low gear for too long. Owners' manual said to shift from low to high around 30 or 40 mph and never exceed speeds of 55 mph, but it would take some balls to downshift it into low because if you overshot it, you would lose reverse because of the way that the drive modes were arranged, park, neutral, drive, low, reverse. Reverse was at the very bottom. In 1953, the Powerglide would get the ability to shift between ranges.

[00:02:14]The valve body received an overhaul as well as a new converter, which had three parts instead of five parts. The converter no longer retained the reactor shaft. The number of control valves also increased. Clutch piston is now a quarter of an inch smaller. Clutch plates are waved instead of being dished. Direction of pile-up does not matter. Size and shape of the struts also changed. Input shaft has two oil seal rings instead of one, and it carries a snap ring around the rear portion of the front splines to restrict forward float.

[00:02:50]Throttle position and car speed have an effect on operation in addition to manual lever position and engine vacuum.

[00:02:58]Oil capacity also increased by 1 qt. The Powerglide transmission used a torque converter together with multiple disc clutch and planetary gear set. The torque converter provides a smooth, shockless multiplication of engine power suitable for all normal driving conditions. The planetary gear set is used in conjunction with the multiple disc clutch to provide extra power for rough going and necessary means for operation in reverse. The torque converter is fluid driven, which multiplies the power output of the engine by varying amounts depending on the requirements. The maximum output of the converter is 2.2 times that of the engine when the hand lever is placed in the low position. The planetary gear set adds an additional power multiplication of 1.82, resulting in the maximum overall multiplication by the transmission of 4.09 to 1. This is more than it is normally available for a standard three-speed transmission. The fluid-driven torque converter multiplies the available power of the engine by changing the direction of flow of a large volume of fluid. The fluid starts flowing by means of the primary pump.

[00:04:16]The primary pump is the largest portion of the converter, and together with its overall cover, it forms a housing for the rest of the converter parts.

[00:04:27]Being fastened directly to the flywheel of the engine, the primary pump turns on whenever the engine turns. As the primary pump turns, so does the fluid with which it is filled. The curved blades of the pump throw the fluid against the turbine, hitting the blades of the turbine. The fluid curves down and around to exit in a direction opposed to the direction from which it entered. As the fluid comes out of the turbine, it strikes a double set of blades known as the secondary and primary stators. These change the direction of the flow of the fluid back into the direction of the rotation or primary pump. Power output of the turbine is carried into the multiple disc clutch and planetary gear set of the transmission. It's important to note that there are two major generations of the Powerglide transmission. The first generation was 1950 through 1961 or 1962, depending on what source you read, which had a cast iron case and could weigh as much as 250 lb dry, 300 lb filled with fluid. Cooled by air, the cast iron case ones did not have a detachable oil pan. In 1959 for the 1960 model year, Chevy would introduce their compact car called the Corvair. The Corvair got a six-cylinder engine which was air-cooled in the trunk 4 years before the Porsche 911 came out.

[00:06:03]The Corvair would get a Powerglide of its very own which featured an aluminum case. Drive selectors read reverse, neutral, drive, low without park. The unit was also used in the Pontiac Tempest and LeMans. The 1963 Pontiacs did get a separate park option.

[00:06:22]In 1962, General Motors would make an air-cooled aluminum case Powerglide for all of their cars. Seeing that the compact car segment was really taking off, they needed a lighter transmission to go in the Chevy II, aka Nova, which was a more compact car and just could not take the weight of the cast-iron case Powerglide. The aluminum case Powerglide weighed considerably less, 100 lb less than their cast-iron predecessor. The new Powerglide unit also sported a 14-bolt oil pan. In 1968, a semi-automatic version of the Powerglide was introduced called Torque Drive. It was essentially a Powerglide transmission without the valve body and shift solenoid. The driver had to shift between low and high range, but could start off in high range if they wish.

[00:07:17]Drive modes were now park, reverse, neutral, high, and first. Torque Drive lasted only from 1968 through 1971 with somewhere around 14,000 units made. It was an option on the 153 inline four as well as the 230 and 250 inline six-cylinder engines. Torque Drive was not available with a V8. The Powerglide would be phased out 1973 for the Turbo 350 and the Turbo 400, but as they say, that is going to be another transmission episode for another day. All right, now it's time for would you rather. All three of these choices with a Powerglide, but which one of these would you rather have? 1950 Chevy Fleetline Deluxe or 1957 Chevy Bel Air or 1966 Chevrolet Corvair. I'm going to leave this here for a minute. If you need more time, feel free pause the video.

[00:08:16]On to the second scenario, 1962 Chevy Nova or 1953 Chevy Bel Air or 1963 Chevy Impala with a 409.

[00:08:28]Once again, going to leave this here for a minute. If you need more time, feel free pause the video.

[00:08:36]That's going to do it for today's episode. What transmissions would you like to see featured on the channel?

[00:08:41]Here is a list of all the ones that we've done so far.

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