Re: 1956 Packard Patrician for Project or Parts- Asking $3,000

Posted by HH56 On 2023/9/27 11:33:56

For what it's worth and I think there may be some errors, Wikipedia says because Lincoln had no automatic of their own after the short lived prewar LiquiMatic, starting in 49 they chose to buy the GM Hydramatic for use in Lincoln Cosmopolitans. Hydramatic use lasted until 55 when Lincoln finally had their own full automatic trans called the TurboDrive. That trans was apparently similar to the already being used Borg Warner designed Ford O Matic and sister Merc O Matc which begs the quesiton why they didn't use that trans earlier.

I also did not see a mention of what Lincoln used in 53 when Hydramatic production was shut down because of a massive fire in the Hydramatic factory. Chevy had the Powerglide but more upscale GM models used the Dynaflow during the time Hydramatics were unavailable. No mention if Lincoln also used the Dynaflow or if they had a supply of Hydramatis on hand or if they went to the Ford or Merc version of the B-W trans the sister cars were already using.

Another surprising statement said that before buying the Hydramatic Lincoln first tried to buy the Ultramatic for use in the big Lincoln Cosmo models but was turned down because Packard could not supply enough to meet expected demand. If it actually happened, I suspect more than supply availability, it might have also had something to do with wanting the Ultra to stay exclusive for a year or two.