They had a bad rap of being unreliable but i know of folks that have never had an issue with them. They were offered from 1957 to 1960 before being dropped. Many were replaced with Power Glides back then. Today good luck finding someone that knows how to rebuild and work on them. I know someone who has one in a 57 Pontiac and he loves it because it is a much smoother tranny than the P.G.
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1957 Pontiac Pathfinder Deluxe sedan restored 261 six
1974 Chevrolet Caprice Estate wagon low mileage original 400 V-8
I don't know much about them but weren't they just Powerglides but with a clutch for initial takeoff? Had a ride in a 60 Chev with one.
No, they shared nothing with the cast iron Power Glide of that era. They were aluminum and were more like the Buick Dyna Flow transmission. The principle was three turbines, two planetary gear sets and stator. Not a torque convertor like the Power Glide. You could not detect any shifting at all and the Turbo Glide was very smooth in operation. I drove a 57 Chev with this tranny a number of years ago and it was amazing how fluid the power was. I know of someone with a 57 Pontiac (Canadian) that has the same combination and he loves it. These Turbo Glides initially could only be had with a 283 V-8 and they were expensive for the time. Your point about needing a clutch for initial take off is the Chrysler Fluid Drive setup, which was not a true full automatic. Chevy never had one of those goofy transmissions, they always had a fully automatic transmission as of 1950 with the cast iron Power Glide. Cheers. George
-- Edited by long stroke on Friday 13th of October 2017 06:27:20 PM
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1957 Pontiac Pathfinder Deluxe sedan restored 261 six
1974 Chevrolet Caprice Estate wagon low mileage original 400 V-8
I seem to remember a 1962 Impala Sport Sedan with a 327 running a Turboglide, according to a local Auto Trader from around 1980 when I saw it. The seller called it that by name. I thought it was very strange because the last year for them was 1961. And 1962 was the year that the new aluminum Powerglide made it's debut behind 327s. Maybe the seller had his facts jumbled. I don't know, but I have always remembered the '62 with the alleged Turboglide and have always been unresolved WRT that story.
I wonder if I could ever find that old issue and specific ad? Ha! The car may have been in the Peterborough area. It was in nice collector car shape, based on my recollection. I never saw it in person though. It had twin bumper guards and also wide whites (on a '62?)
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67 Chevelle Malibu Sport Coupe, Oshawa-built 250 PG never disturbed.
In garage, 296 cid inline six & TH350...
Cam, Toronto.
I don't judge a man by how far he's fallen, but by how far back he bounces - Patton
GM had so much trouble with turboglides, they offered a kit to replace them with a powerglide. They are now very hard to get parts for since so few were made and they didn't share parts with other GM's.
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63 Parisienne sport coupe (The Big GTO), black, maroon interior, 409 4 speed; former owner of a 59 El Camino, 63 Corvette SWC, 62 Chev Bel Air SC. 1963- Pontiac top selling car in Canada
Mahone Bay, NS Still not old enough to need an automatic
Are there any other thoughts on the Turbo Glide transmission. I have a very interesting original 1957 video on the Chevrolet Turbo Glide transmission that i have on VHS tape. This tape makes me think that GM thought most folks thought that most folks thought on kinder garden level. How could you not be insulted, but then again it was 1957. Cheers.
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1957 Pontiac Pathfinder Deluxe sedan restored 261 six
1974 Chevrolet Caprice Estate wagon low mileage original 400 V-8
