The Great HydraMatic Fire

[53chieftain]

Recently, I was talking with an auto mechanic about having some work done on my 1953 Pontiac. I was a little taken back when he asked me if it had a Powerglide or a HydraMatic transmission in it.
Who ever heard of a Powerglide in a Pontiac?? Well, he was absolutely correct about his questioning.
I found this article on the net that was written by Thomas E. Bonsall the noted automotive historian and author.

http://www.autotran.us/TheGreatHydraMaticFire.html

[50scars]

I lived in Detroit when that fire occurred. Even in Northwest Detroit, many, many miles from Ypsilanti, you could see the dark smoke in the sky. Not only did Pontiac recieve a substitute transmission, but Olds and Cadillac had to do with Dyna-slow for a while. I do not believe it took very long for GM to figure out how to get Hydramatics back into production, because the cars with the substitute transmissions are not very common.
The mechanic who asked that question is either very old, or very sharp, possibly both.

[stevep]

Lincoln also used Cadillac Hydramatics up to 1954. But do to the fire, 7500 1953 Lincolns could not be built as Ford had no other trans option available. So Ford went to work on modifing the Ford-O-Matic to handle more horsepower. It was used starting in 1955 Lincolns.