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1950 Lincoln Cosmopolitan

89 messages,  Last post on Feb 10, 2013 at 4:01 PM

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What is this discussion about? Lincoln, Classic Cars, Coupe, Convertible, Truck, Sedan, Wagon

Messages Page 7 of 10

#55 of 89 Re: Why a 1949-1950 Lincoln? (Mr_Shiftright) [hpmctorque] (isellhondas) by hpmctorque

Oct 13, 2008 (8:22 am)

Ahh, you're right, isell, and thanks for clarifying that.
 
In comparing Powerglide and Fordomatic, Fordomatic was the more efficient and versatile of the two transmissions, although if you left the gear lever in "Drive" the car started in second gear, thereby utilizing only two of its three gears. You had to place the selector in "Low" to start out in first. I believe the early Powerslides, whoops Powerglides, were similar to the Dynaflows, in that they started in the second of two gears, if you placed the selector in "Drive." You engaged first by putting the selector in "Low." Because off-the-line acceleration was painfully slow in Drive, Chevy changed it (in '53 or '55) so that the car started in first regardless of whether the selector was in Drive or Low. Ford didn't make that change, apparently feeling it wasn't necessary, since their automatic used two gears in normal every day driving, just like Chevy's. Another difference was that Chevy's first gear was lower than Ford's second gear, so under normal use Chevys were a little more responsive off the line, with comparable engines.
 
Now when it came to durability, Powerglide was more rugged than Fordomatic. That's not to say that Fordomatics were problematic for the average owner, but Powerglides rarely failed.

#56 of 89 Re: Why a 1949-1950 Lincoln? (Mr_Shiftright) [hpmctorque] (isellhondas) [hpmctorque] by isellhondas

Oct 13, 2008 (9:52 am)

Replying to: hpmctorque (Oct 13, 2008 8:22 am)
I agree with you.
 
In 1953, the Powerglides started shifting by themselves.
 
Plymouth didn't get a "real" automatic until, I think 1954.
 
Chrysler messed around with Fluid Drive and Hy Drives.

#57 of 89 Re: Why a 1949-1950 Lincoln? (Mr_Shiftright) [hpmctorque] (isellhondas) [hp by andre1969

Oct 13, 2008 (1:37 pm)

Replying to: isellhondas (Oct 13, 2008 9:52 am)
Yeah, it was 1954 when the Chrysler Powerflite was finally offered across the board. I think it actually came out in mid-year 1953, but was only offered in Chryslers and Imperials. I read somewhere that Chevrolet was selling 1/3 of its cars with Powerglides by 1950 or 1951, so the popularity of the automatic transmission caught on fast.
 
How would a Powerflite compare to a Powerglide or FordoMatic? Wasn't the FordoMatic a 2-speed? One of my officemates recently bought a '62 Ford Galaxie 4-door, and he said it had a 2-speed, and called it "Fordomatic".

#58 of 89 Re: Why a 1949-1950 Lincoln? (andre1969) by hpmctorque

Oct 13, 2008 (8:01 pm)

Powerflite and Powerglide (from '53 on) performed similarly. Both were rugged and low maintenance, but were hampered by having only two gears, so that represented a compromise.
 
Ford introduced a two speed automatic, similar to Powerflte and Powerglide, well after they offered the original three speed unit, but I don't know off hand just when that was. Maybe it was 1959, when they introduced the 1960 Falcon. The Falcon automatic was a two speed unit. That transmission was also featured in the Mercury Comet and, I believe, the Ford Fairlane and Mercury Meteor, or at least the smaller engine versions of those intermediates. They continued to make the three speed unit (Cruisomatic?) available, however, for a few or several years. The two speed was an additional Ford transmission.
 
Man, I hope I don't offend anyone, but it occurred to me that we must all be a bunch of certified nuts, living in the distant past, agonizing over such trivia. Oh well, I suppose it's no different than recalling old baseball scores and related details. At least it's legal and harmless.

#59 of 89 Re: Why a 1949-1950 Lincoln? (andre1969) [hpmctorque] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Oct 14, 2008 (8:09 am)

Replying to: hpmctorque (Oct 13, 2008 8:01 pm)
Just tune in to a sports call-in radio show and you will experience levels of minutiae and useless mind-boggling trivia that will make this discussion seem like a solemn consideration of the Death of Socrates.
 
"Well Yah Jerry Farnsworth came up from Triple A in February of '96 with an ERA of 2.54 against lefties but interestingly 5.57 against righties in cloudy weather conditions. He always wore one blue and one red sock...I'm not sure which one on which foot---anyone out there remember that?"

#60 of 89 PowerGlide Today by toemoss71

Oct 14, 2008 (8:36 am)

This may be a bit off-topic, please excuse me but this is one of those ironies in life:
 
In my high-performance days, the PowerGlide was called the "slip'n'slide" and would be thrown away as quickly as possible to replace it with a Turbo 400 as the best performance automatic. Well...I have a good friend who's drag racing, and guess what the performance auto for racing is today? Yep, the PowerGlide - with many modifications, of course. But I've seen street rods that are using the PowerGlide for high-horsepower motors, like 600+ hp! Truly strange...

#61 of 89 Re: PowerGlide Today [toemoss71] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Oct 14, 2008 (8:43 am)

Replying to: toemoss71 (Oct 14, 2008 8:36 am)
interesting!
 
But yes, we are going way off topic here so either we have to steer back to the Cosmo and related areas or wrap this one up I guess.

#62 of 89 Presidential Cosmo Limos by toemoss71

Oct 15, 2008 (10:01 am)

Does anyone know how many presidential Cosmo limos were made? I see them mentioned from time to time, but not sure I've seen a number of how many were actually manufactured in what years. Great looking cars, and if they aren't spendy it would be fun to have one. The red lights in the grille really adds prestige to the car.

#63 of 89 1950 Lincoln For Sale - "Hot Rod Lincoln" by toemoss71

Oct 15, 2008 (1:03 pm)

Commander Cody of "Commander Cody & the Lost Planet Airmen" 1970's swing band has his 1950 Lincoln for sale. The band did a remake of "Hot Rod Lincoln" and dedicated this car as their version of the hot rod Lincoln. Immaculately customized with a supercharged Chevy 350 and all the classic custom goodies:
 
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Cars-Trucks___1950-Lincoln-Hot-Rod-49-50-51-Mercu- ry-Lead-Sled_W0QQitemZ320310166263QQddnZCarsQ20Q26Q20TrucksQQddiZ2282QQcmdZViewI- tem?hash=item320310166263&_trkparms=39%3A1%7C65%3A7%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p4506.c- 0.m245

#64 of 89 "Hot Rod Lincoln" Correction by toemoss71

Oct 16, 2008 (5:11 pm)

Sorry, it's the lead guitarist who sings the song that is pictured with the '50 Lincoln, no Commander Cody. Bill Kirchen from "Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen" was at the car show, saw the car, autographed the dashboard & had his pic taken with the car. He also asked that the car be at the stage when he sang the song.
 
Current bid is $25,500.

Messages Page 7 of 10

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