Henry Ford wanted an automatic trans for the A
 

Just finished reading Charles Sorensen's book "My Forty Years with Ford". A great read! One neat thing was that Charlie said Henry wanted a fully automatic transmission for the A. He couldn't figure out how to do it and relented to the sliding gear trans that Edsel wanted. Charlie said that if Henry had the torque converter it would have been an automatic.

Re: Hnery Ford wanted an automatic trans for the A
 

Studebaker came out with their first automatic transmission in mid 1950. It was a Borg Warner with lock up torque converter, and I recently read that Ford wanted to buy it from Studebaker, but Studebaker wouldn't sell it to Ford. That's too bad because the money sure could have helped Studebaker.

Re: Hnery Ford wanted an automatic trans for the A
 

Various stories have surfaced about the gearbox in the development of the Model A in 1927.
Henry wanted to put in a planetary like the Model T [ a primitive automatic requiring your feet to work it] which was vetoed by Edsel & the engineers who were adamant on a standard sliding gear trans.
Henry reluctantly agreed, but was not happy. It was the right decision as every other car had the same design gearbox.
DeAngelis,Francis& Henry give a good account of this in ''Model A as Henry Built It'', also Winnewisser in the ''Legendary Model A Ford'' which is a great account of the A in context with the era.

Re: Hnery Ford wanted an automatic trans for the A
 

I think automatic transmissions came out about 1939-1940. In caddies or oldsmobile, name hydromatic

Re: Hnery Ford wanted an automatic trans for the A
 

Tom, The Spudebaker had an automatic by 1951, Buick, Chevy, Ford and others were also on board. The hydromatic was 10 yeara old by then. I would like to see a technical history of the transmissions development from the metz sliding disk through the electric shifts, used by Hudson and others, maybe Cord, Studebaker also had something different in the 30's on some of their bigger models. Even the dynoflow was available in
s1948. Jack

Re: Henry Ford wanted an automatic trans for the A
 

The way I heard it was Buick brought out the original Slushpump (Dynaflow) in 1937.
When did Chrysler introduce it's Fluid Drive? I know it was just a torque converter in front of the clutch, but that was like an intro in automatics for them.
Terry

Re: Henry Ford wanted an automatic trans for the A
 

I drove a '49 Ford for a summer back in the mid '50s that had a Ford-0-matic.

Re: Henry Ford wanted an automatic trans for the A
 

This is where Motor's Flat Rate Manual comes in handy. It shows lots of parts, part numbers, and the years for the parts. It shows:
Chrysler fluid drive 1939
Dodge fluid drive ..1941
Ford automatic ....1951
Chevy automatic ..1950
Buick dynaflow .....1948
Cadilac hydramatic 1941
Studebaker......mid 1950
Dodge automatic ...1954

Re: Henry Ford wanted an automatic trans for the A
 

JUST OPEN THE THROTTLE AND GLIDE AWAY WITH THE (SELF-OPERATING CLUTCH) THIS SELF OPERATING CLUTCH WAS AVAILABLE FROM THE AUTOMATIC DRIVE & TRANSMISSION CO. INC., NEW JERSEY BACK IN 1931. THE ADD READS AS FOLLOWS: You stop your car by one motion-pressing the brake. Why not start it with equal simplicity? With the Self-operating Clutch, just open the throttle, and you're off! Imagine crawling through traffic or crusing all day on the open road, without6 touching the clutch or shifting gears.! Has anybody have or seen one of these???????

Re: Henry Ford wanted an automatic trans for the A
 

crock ...................
Is this part of the dangerous "free wheeling" experience ?
MIKE :) (mikeburch)