John;
The Packard automatic transmission was called an "Ultramatic" and it was an
in house made unit. The early Borg Warner automatics, with the mechanical
lockup, were developed jointly with Studebaker so they were hence called the
"Studebaker Automatic" in the American manuals. Studebaker used these
transmissions between late 1950 and 1956 after which they switched to
another Borg Warner automatic, that they called a "Flightomatic". The same
transmission was also used in some Ford products which made it cheaper to
use then the "Studebaker Automatic" out of straight economy of scale. I have
heard rumors that Borg Warner did take the "Studebaker Automatic" to Europe
after Studebaker abandoned it but I had no confirmation that Jaguar used
them, especially as early as 1953. This is good information to know as early
fifties Studebaker owners apparently have a hard time finding parts for
these units.
As for the transmission in your Jaguar not having a cooler I doubt if that
was the reason for the mechanical lockup in those units as Studebaker
promoted this feature for the fuel economy aspect. I know that the Chrysler
Powerflytes often did not come with a cooler either depending apon the car
in which they were installed. I case in point is my freind's 1955 DeSotos;
one is a Firedome and does not have the cooler, the other is a a Fireflight
and it does have a cooler even though they both have the same transmission.
Since the Fireflight has power steering and the Firedome doesn't, perhaps
the cooler was an option on the cheaper cars. I am sure that as you move
down the price scale to a Dodge or Plymouth you would find the same thing,
but definatelly not in an Imperial.
Best Regards
Arran Foster
1954 Imperial Newport
Needing A Left Side Taillight Bezel and other trim parts.
P.S The technical term for a Gyromatic, Prestomatic, etc, is an M6 semi
automatic, at least according to my manual.
Back to the Home of the Forward Look Network