[4onthefloor]

First off let me say I'm new hear so try not to own me too badly lol I wasn't sure if this should go in tech or talk so w/e here goes......

I always wondered why so many mustangs (especialy the true sport models) were all 3 speed auto's? You are hard pressed to find a mach 1 standard. I have absolutly NO clue why seemingly all the later shelby's 68+ (gt500 and 350).

I have always been a "no clutch, no glory" type of guy I guess. I just find it unfortunate really, somebody like me who would love to buy and build up a 70-73 mach-1 has to convert it to a stick.

I have heard some questionable answers to my question over the years, but nothing really definative. So hear it is: Why did Ford produce so many 3 speed automatics?

[mustanghelper]

My guess would be reliability.
Fords automatic transmissions still suck really bad at even today standards. With advancements made by other car manufactures. Ford seems to focus on cost.
It took many years for a company to say lets just build a better transmission, and sell it as a low cost upgrade to the masses. IE ford / Tremec T56. Still I don't know of any other Ford manufactured transmissions the can handle the daily grind, and out last there motors. IE the Ford motor company. To this day I believe the 3 speed automatic was the only transmission up to the task. As time went on Ford went from a premium manufacturer that made cars for the rich, to a mediocre / slash cost / Discount manufacturer. witch was always the plan behind the original production line. Seems like they filled out there manufacturing model plan to the T lol (get it the model T Ford)
PS I wrote this on the fly, so as a consumer I'm just stating the obvious.

The legendary torqueflite automatic transmission

FORD 3-Speed Automatic - Muscle Car / Street Rod / Restoration

The Ford C4 and C6 transmissions are two of the best performing, most durable transmission ever built. By adding a Gear Vendors Under/Overdrive to these transmissions you have an unbeatable package far superior to any factory overdrive automatic and with 6 close ratio gears for performance.
With a 28.6% faster cruising gear your 4.10 rear gears will give you the same net rpm as a set of 3.20s (3.55s will cruise like 2.77s - see Final Drive Ratios. Your engine will turn the same revs it does now in 500 miles but take you 640 miles. Fuel economy will jump 22-28% on a normally aspirated engine and even greater on forced induction powerplants.
http://www.gearvendors.com/images/gears12.jpg With our dash-switch set on "auto" the car will act just like it came factory with the overdrive (like Gms Callaway Corvettes that came factory with the Th400 Gear Vendors). The unit will shift into overdrive without attention of the driver and you can let the wife or whomever drive the vehicle. When you are behind the wheel and want to experience increased performance you will set the dash-switch to manual. This allows you to turn the overdrive on/off at any moment. Leave the line with our red light displayed in AutoLaunch and the vehicle will shift to 1st-over as the engine revs giving you a torque multiplier much stouter than 2nd ie - a3.55 cars 1st-over ratio of 1.92 and a final drive of 6.81 is more torque than a 4.56 rear gear car has in 2nd. Regardless of your rear gear you have never felt this much bark in your car.
After you are revved up in 1st-over move your shifter to 2nd and hit our button on your shifter (we shift out instantly) and you are in 2nd. After you have revved up hit the button for 2nd over (this again is a much closer ratio than 3rd - higher than 4.00 with a 3.55 rear). The close ratio performance, sound and manual like interaction is an absolute blast to drive but most important you are getting this performance from the most reliable, race proven, overdrive on the planet.
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Fords installs of our product are the easiest there is to define. Virtually every Ford car 1964 and newer you simply bolt us on without any mods to the tunnel etc. Calls us for all the details. The Gear Vendors is not just the best overdrive you can put in your Ford muscle car or restoration - it represents a tremendous gain in performance, mileage, and fun factor, with higher hp handling than any other overdrive available and installs in just a Saturday morning with regular hand tools.

[Preacher17]

They made so many because that's what moved off of the showroom floor. We look at the Mustang as a performance car but Ford marketed them to all age groups and genders and were very sucessful at it. Granny didn't want a four speed and niether did mom or little sis, for that matter dad either more times than not. Ford built what sold and that was automatics.

[mustanghelper]

Originally Posted by Preacher17

They made so many because that's what moved off of the showroom floor. We look at the Mustang as a performance car but Ford marketed them to all age groups and genders and were very successful at it. Granny didn't want a four speed and neither did mom or little sis, for that matter dad either more times than not. Ford built what sold and that was automatics.

I agree back in the day it was all about the driver.
After reading more into it, about The TorqueFlite transmission you can see that Ford likes what Chrysler had. They even went as far to spent mad money to get it. The only problem is that from my point of view is they tried to fix something that wasn't broken. Yup, or they just figured they should modify the transmission enough so they can call it there own design. Yup I think Chrysler had it right from the very get go. It seems as if Ford wanted you, and I the consumer, to think they Had manufactured A genuine Ford transmission! I could be wrong, but Does it sound like JEEP is still using the original design ? The legendary torqueflite automatic transmission ?

[meangreen92]

And the Mach I was a more luxury oriented performance car.

[302THEBOSS]

For the average driver the auto is obvious. Its easy and simple. For your faster cars, like the Mach 1 the autos still remain popular because people who bought 351 2 barrel Mach 1s and even 4 barrels weren't evtremely fast, alot of people bought Mustangs for the image. Dont forget, even your brutally fast musclecars often served dual duty as a daily driver. The freally ast cars, equipped with 428 CJs and the Shelbys and such had autos because on the drag strip, the auto is the most consistent. No clutch, so if you build the same RPM on the converter every pass and mass the throttle just hard and quick on every run, your times should be very close to each other because shifting should be the same every time too. Even when you shift and auto manually, shift times still remain more consistent. And remember, in bracket racing you cant run too much faster than your dial in, so you have to be even more consistent. The later Shelbys got bigger and more luxury oriented, especially as Ford took over basically all assembly in 1968, as opposed to the earlier years when Shelby assembled the cars. I love the 4 speed myself, and if your really into racing with a clutch, and you have a musclecar, you should check out United Manual Transmission Racers. I dont know if I'll be running a stick or an auto because my car will be a daily driver except in the winter, but im one of those guys who interprets a daily driver as something that idles below 1100 rpms. So a racing clutch with a Top Loader and 4.10 Traction Lok could be on a daily driver of mine. Most guys dont veiw it the same though, especially now that most guys in the hobby are old. Persoanlly though, I love the window rattling lope engine backed by a four speed with cheater slicks out back.

[krankieone]

Prabably the same reason I bought an auto (wife wont drive stick )

[Itchy]

Originally Posted by krankieone

Prabably the same reason I bought an auto (wife wont drive stick )

That's the reason I got a manual ... OK not really, but It was an added bonus.

[Veronica]

Originally Posted by Preacher17

They made so many because that's what moved off of the showroom floor. Granny didn't want a four speed and neither did mom or little sis.

Hey, wait a minute. I'm all of those folks except for granny. The fact that my everyday car is an automatic is mere happenstance. My fun car is a 4-speed, though. As far as cars with an automatic transmission go, one would be hard pressed to find a four speed car that would outrun this 3 speed auto car. It's 68 Super Stock Hemi Dart. They were doing 10 second quarter miles back in 68. It would be just plain scary now with modern tires, fuel and lubricants.

[The Greek]

Here's another consideration I would like to add. The muscle car or anything that had a rather large engine and sporty looks during those times was placed under extreme and unfavorable scrutiny by the auto insurance companys. They particularly frowned on cars with 4 speed manual transmissions. In their eyes this was a red flag, anyone who wanted a car like this automatically was a racer, no ifs ands or buts. I know because I was a young driver in those days. If the car had an auto trans. you had a much better chance of getting affordable insurance rates. This may have contributed to the large number of Mustangs with automatic transmissions.---Chuck