Although the first Torqueflite was the revolutionary cast iron A488, called the best automatic transmission in the world, (and one of the heaviest) the most famous Torqueflite model is the A727, which replaced the cast iron unit in 1962. Assigned to the big block wedge engines and trucks, the A727 used an aluminum case, saving about 60 pounds.  Some models used a pawl  for parking actuated by a lever, (1962-64 models) or owners who wanted to find their car in the same place they left it could  put the transmission into Park. This was better than having your new 300 roll into a park.

The first cast iron Torqueflites had a rear pump as well as a front pump, allowing the automatic-equipped cars to be push started. This was great for those Bendix Fuel Injection owners, although "nice try, it's still dead," would most likely be the result. It probably wasn't officially endorsed, but it worked in emergencies and many people knew about it. Not me, of course, or I would have tried it just to see if it really worked. "Hey, stand in front of the car and.....oh, never mind. Just run for it."

Base models got the A904 and in later years, the A998/999. The A904 was a scaled down aluminum cased version, quite capable of dealing with the power of the slant six and 273 V8 and later, the 318. I can personally attest to this fact.

My friend Bob Mackey (here he goes again) had for his first car a white 1962 Fury convertible with a 318 Torqueflite. One day Bob casually said "watch this, I just learned this," and revved the poor 318 until the lifters floated. He then punched Drive. There was a loud mechanical snapping noise, and the car just sat there. "U-joint," he grinned, and motioned toward where we should push the car to make the repair. We did that a lot. The TorqueFlite never hiccupped.

The difference between the 904, 998/999, and 727 was largely in the materials and the amount of "beef", (904s had Chuck Steak, 727s got Porter House) and in the torque converters. The  A488 has internal components similar to the 727 and probably shares a few parts, but is not the same transmission. Much of this confusion probably stems from Chrysler's early  references to the 904 as "Torqueflite 6" and whichever Torqueflite was behind V8s at the time as "Torqueflite 8." A V8 version of the 904 did not appear until 1964.

The 998 was a 904 built inside a 727 case. AMC used the same transmission case behind all its V8s but only used 727 internals behind the 401. The A500 and A518 truck transmissions were 727s and 904s with an overdrive added. Several other automakers bought and used Torqueflites, including AMC and Monterverdi. AMC used GM's Hydramatic in the 1950s (except for Packard Twin Ultramatics in Packard V8-powered cars), Borg-Warners from 1957 on (some 1954 Hudsons also had them), and finally moved to the Torqueflite in 1972 for cars, and around 1979-80 for Jeeps, which had used Hydramatics due to a contract negotiated by Kaiser.  AMC's larger 1958-62 models may have been the only Borg-Warner transmissions with pushbutton shifting.

The various Torqueflites had the same internal ratios, despite their other differences. Until 1980, they were relatively narrow.  After 1980, a wide-ratio gearset was introduced and used in most of the 998 and 999 transmissions. This ratio was 2.54 in first, 1.54 in second, and (as with the earlier Torqueflites) 1.00 in third. This gearset, which uses a welded-steel planet cage, is noisier and less durable than the original-ratio gearset with its machined-aluminum planet cage, but the lower first and second gears helped cope with the tall rear axle ratios needed for gas mileage. "Uh, yeah, I'll have that New Yorker Brougham with the 440, and make sure you put 40 lbs of air in the tires, I wanna run it in the Mobilgas Economy Run."

You'll notice that early Torqueflites had pushbuttons, and so did later ones. Isn't that brilliant of me to point out? New ones don't have pushbuttons. They also don't have engines worth connecting them to, but that's a different story.

Late 1956 Chrysler 300Bs and Imperials were equipped with the  Torqueflite, as well as  the senior models of the Chrysler line. It was thought that there may have been some De Soto models that got the Torqueflite, but none have ever been confirmed, although  Chrysler  had a conversion kit for people  who wanted the  new Torqueflite.

Ford was so impressed with the Torqueflite that it attempted to quietly buy the rights to manufacture their own version. The story  was quickly picked up by the automotive magazines; Ford reportedly had paid Chrysler $7.5 million, which was  big money   in 1957. The result was the 1958 Ford Cruise-O-Matic,  available on all standard Ford engines. It was not, however, a Torqueflite, but a Ford automatic built around the Simpson gear set. It was heavier with more parts, keeping the Ford derived clutch band controls. Early models, especially those put behind performance engines usually  split the case right down the middle. It was a problem that plagued Ford for a couple of years until a redesigned version appeared  in the 1961 models. In fleet applications the Cruise-O-Matic was reliable and gave little trouble with regular maintenance. It certainly outshone Chevrolet's 1957 "Turboglide." Gee, that must have been hard to do.

In 1956 the pushbutton automatic was introduced, but the entire corporate lineup from Valiant to Imperial switched to a column shift in 1965, much to the disappointment of many Mopar loyalists. Why were the pushbuttons discontinued? There are several popular theories, but one  was that the selector cost $1 less to manufacture than the pushbuttons. Based on the rationale of "build a million cars, save a million dollars," it made economic sense. Another theory says that Chrysler was out to increase  sales to owners of competing makes, and the pushbuttons were annoying to people switching over from Ford or GM cars. Another theory was that people switching over from Ramblers were too stupid to count to three and wouldn't be able to figure out which gear they were in.

A final theory is  that the switch was necessitated by a decree  from Washington or the Society of American Engineers or both. Indeed, the selector quadrant order of "PRND21" was standardized by the S.A.E. that year to minimize the potential of a driver familiar with a different car getting the transmission in the wrong gear. Hey, you dummy, that's my foot you just ran over.

Also, driver education programs were not buying Chrysler products because of the  pushbuttons, and this was seen as a critical gap because students were perceived to buy whatever they'd learned to drive on. Or whatever had the biggest back seat. In addition, momentum was building for what would become the National Highway and Traffic Safety Act of 1966, which would establish and promulgate the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. Although the first FMVSS would not take effect until January 1968, the Federal government stipulated  that it would buy only cars conforming to a set of proto-standards, one of which called for standardized controls and displays. Some municipalities did likewise, though not Los Angeles -- they would only buy Chrysler products, for only Chrysler products would meet the City and County of Los Angeles' internal standards for exhaust emissions on government-owned vehicles.

By 1965 the  pushbuttons were gone forever, although  the Torqueflite was unchanged. For 1965 only, the column selector activated the transmission through the same kind of cables that had previously been put in motion by pushbuttons. For 1966, the transmission was  activated by  single rod linkage. Fear not, you could still do a stall start and launch a U-joint or two through the neighbor's window. Don't ask.