The Power-Packed Story of Chrysler PowerFlite

Chrysler PowerFlite Drive -- The world's finest automatic transmission. This film answers the following questions: 1. What is it? 2. How do you operate it? 3. How does it compare with the competition? 4. What are the best ways to demonstrate its benefits? This Chrysler traning film answers these questions and more.
Ross Roy, Inc.

[@buckyflywoodie3905]

drive my old powerflite since 1971. My 54 Chrysler is 66 years old and it's just as smooth as ever. plenty of power. shifts crisp. I love it.

[@michaelbenardo5695]

I have one too!

[@fairfaxcat1312]

I'm going down to my dealer tomorrow to order my next automobile with Mercomatic.

[@carltonkeys6205]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😏

[@johneddy98033]

Three years after this film Chrysler introduced a new push-button version of PowerFlite.

[@bigpantsbobnuggets5051]

Hydramatic was used in tanks during WW2

[@dginia]

Also the P-39.

[@pacbeltrr38]

..... And a couple of years later, Chrysler was selling the advantage of the *multiple shifting* with its 3-speed Torqueflite - WITH Park pawl!! However, this Powerflite was a fine piece of rugged simplicity, and a good gearbox. This was a great presentation. Thanks!! Chrysler realized that they started losing the "stoplight drag races", when the others got better at shifting 3 and 4 speed ATs, combined with higher stall Converters, increasing their Torque Multiplication. ESPECIALLY when GM introduced the "mouse motor" 265 & 283c.i. Small Block V8s. That rewrote the book on compact, lightweight, POWER. SO GOOD, that GM installed them in new vehicles until 2002!! Also, the 350, 327, and 383 SB Chevy Engines can STILL be bought brand new today! Chrysler DID come back with the Torqueflite 727, possibly the BEST 3-speed Auto, ever.

[@johneddy908]

Actually a new push-button version of PowerFlite was introduced first, then in late 1956 would come the three-speed TorqueFlite for Chrysler's 1957 cars.

[@1575murray]

TorqueFlite did not have a park pawl until 1962 when the A727 was introduced (Chrysler did not get it until 1963 for some reason).

[@fairfaxcat1312]

How about the Chevy 305. Can the 305 be bought brand new today?

[@automatedelectronics6062]

It's great seeing these old filmstrips! The PowerFlite as well as the early TorqueFlite transmissions were lacking because they didn't have a Park position. It mustn't have been that bad, as Chrysler added it in the early 1960's. Virtually all automatic transmissions had a Park position, except Chrysler. What they didn't bring up was the PowerGlide. It was also a 2-speed, torque converter automatic. I wonder what the 'breakaway' torque was on that one. Also, they didn't tell you that the Merc-O-Matic(Ford-O-Matic) was a 3-speed automatic, but it started in 2nd gear. If they started it in Lo(1st gear), I wonder what the torque multiplication would be?

[@desertbob6835]

Sorry... Hydra-Matic had it all over the competition back then. Buick's Dynaflush was the worst.

[@robc8468]

Powerglide was nothing special either.

[@frankeffenberger9698]

@@robc8468 Yes. And it got really poor mileage.

[@Modeltnick]

All GM cars had Dynaflow in 1954 when the Hydramatic plant burned.

[@Modeltnick]

Powerflite was one of the best and reliable automatic transmission ever produced. The only flaw I remember was the ear on the reverse band would break off and have to be replaced. I’m told you can overhaul this transmission in the vehicles.

[@jorgefernandez-mv8hu]

Now it's all about does it have blue tooth and auto park feature..

[@garylangley4502]

Boy, they were stacking it deep and wide. My brother's '54 Dodge has a PowerFlite and I'm not a fan of 2 speed transmissions. I think that it is interesting that how it works, without the torque converter and the automatic feature, it works just like a Model T transmission.

[@fordtruxdad5155]

It's rich that just a year or two previously, Chrysler had been crowing about the advantages of its fluid drive, and the SAFETY and CONVENIENCE of having a clutch pedal!

[@ExiledWolf84]

I;ve been looking for this video for years now, thanks for posting it!

[@johnmaki3046]

Personally, I preferred "fluid drive", but "Powerflite" was GREAT!

[@santiagorubio833]

Why are Chrysler videos always so skewed and not very objective? Some advantage will have to have the Power Flight transmission of 1954 on other automatic transmissions. Remember you that Chrysler took 14 years to develop an automatic transmission for Hydra Matic, 6 years for Dyna Flow, 4 years for the excellent Studebaker Automatic Drive and Packard Ultramatic, and 3 years for the very good Borg Warner Ford O Matic and Merc O Matic. Even the modest but reliable Chevrolet Power Glide came out in 1950. Something Chrysler engineers had to learn in all these years of study and development before daring to offer a truly automatic transmission for the first time. Lastly, General Motors' Hydra Matic transmission was used for many years in Cadillac, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Lincoln cars (between 1949 and 1954), the best Ford Motor Company car, some 1954 Chevrolet and GMC trucks, Hudson, Nash Ambassador. In the Mercedes 300 Adenauer you could choose between Hydra Matic and Borg Warner. In the mid-50s, I saw a couple of Rolls Royce Hydramatic, Opel Kapitän, Vauxhal Cresta and Velox etc. As far as I know, no factory was interested in putting the Power Flight transmission in their cars.

[@1575murray]

The PowerFlite was still a big improvement over the previous Chrysler semi-automatic transmissions which were offered in previous years. I would agree that TorqueFlite which was introduced in 1956 was a much better transmission. The original GM Hydramatic was a very good transmission but it was heavy and complex compared to the later designs.

[@dewiz9596]

What got me was the big deal about not having a park pawl. As I understand it, Chrysler’s parking brake was a drum brake on the driveshaft in front of the differential. Petsonally, I have always found parking brakes to be problematic. Cable operated, suspect to rust, etc.

[@Shalash87]

Russia's ZIL-111 and early ZiL-114 Limousines had a licence built PowerFlite units.

Objective? Uh, this is sales propaganda. Propaganda is never objective. Are you daft?

[@chipieal]

This was a dealer promotional film. Do you honestly think Chrysler (or any other manufacturer) would make a dealer film that did not take this bent?

[@dginia]

Does anyone have access to the actual slides or was this on roll film? It would not be hard to re-digitized the images and would be more fun to watch.

[@rayfridley6649]

No comparison with the Fordomatic transmission.

[@johneddy908]

You're probably thinking about the version offered in lower-priced Ford cars. Merc-O-Matic, which is described in this clip, was Mercury's version of Ford-O-Matic, while Lincoln's version was called Turbo-Matic.

[@kevindore6120]

You can have any ford made,even an Edsel.no comparison to what Chrysler made.sorry NO T

[@UfoDan100]

Wow ,, we were so honest and proud of our cars back in the 1950's. I remember some of the 1950's cars when my dad , neighbors and relatives owned them. By the late 1950's all American automatics were 3 speed and had a ''p'' for park. From what I remember , the old Buicks had the most comfort back then. Our neighbor Mr. Hessel had a 1952 Chrysler Windsor or it might have been a Saratoga. The Buicks , Packards and Chryslers were all about equal in size , comfort and quality. Speed and muscle started in 1955 with 12 volts and higher compression.

[@MrTheMiguelox]

Chevrolet still got the 2 speed powerglide in most models until 1969. Buicks 2 speed, that started in direct drive Dynaflow was around until 1964, and chrysler 2 speed powerflite continued until the early 60's as a cheaper option to the 3 speed torqueflite, both only got P on the "shifter" (it was a lever next to the pushbuttons) by 1962, ford's designed a 2 speed ford-o-matic as a cheaper alternative to the 3 speed cruise-o matic in 1959 and GM's Hydra-matic had 4 speeds until being replaced by the Turbo-Hydramatic in 1964, GM's first 3 speed automatic. By 1959 there were 7 transmissions without 3 speeds, poweglide, turboglide, twin turbine and triple turbine dynaflow, powerflite, ford-o-matic and hydra-matic. There were only two 3 speed transmissions: cruise-o-matic and torqueflite. BTW GM big cars, olds, buicks and cadillacs got 12v eletrical system in 1953. Arguably the HP race started in 1949 with the OHV Oldsmobile's Rocket V8 and the similar cadillac V8, followed by chrysler's 1951 Hemi V8.

[@UfoDan100]

Thanks for the input. I love to talk about old cars. BTW,,Buick still offered the straight 8 until 53 and Pontiac until 1955. I do not know when Chrysler, Hudson and Packard ended their straight 8's.

[@MrTheMiguelox]

Packard too kept it's straight 8 (the one with 9 main bearings) until the 1955 V8

[@pacbeltrr38]

Even though this seems like a step back, especially with 8,9, and 10 speed Automatics coming out now.... But these were simple, rugged, and easy to service. Being a retired Line Tech, I can tell you, there's nothing easy about servicing late model AT's!! Except maybe diagnosis, which most of the time, simply involved plugging in a scanner. IMO, it's only advantage. Those old 2-speeds were SO rugged, some (especially Powerglide), are STILL used today in NHRA Drag Racing! Oh, and as far as this video shows..... The "Torque Multiplication" advantage was nothing more than a smaller, higher stall Converter. Simplicity at it's finest!

[@montymatilda]

@@MrTheMiguelox I noticed they missed the Hydra-matic was a 4 speed as well and the 2 speed Ford-o-matic/Merc-o-matic in 1959. However, the Ford-o-matic/Merc-o-matic prior to 1959 was a Borg Warner 3 speed automatic. In Drive it started in second and you had to floor it to get first or pull it down into low. I agree that the Olds Rocket 88 was the beginning of the HP race. GM also had BOP 2 speed autos separate from the Powerglide for a cheep auto for their midsize cars prior to the Turbo-Hydramatic 350.

[@RS-pe5hp]

They lied, Dynaflow was more simple than this, that why they dont compare valve number :D

[@michaelbenardo5695]

But Dynaflow - I had 4 different ones - caused a pretty big performance handicap.