Ford-O-Matic was the first fully automatic Ford transmission used by Ford Motor Company, designed by Borg Warner Transmission Corporation. Introduced in 1950, the 3-speed Ford-O-Matic evolved into the Cruise-O-Matic in 1958 (and a 2-speed Ford-O-Matic in 1959) and the FMX in 1968.
This line continued in production until 1980, when the AOD was introduced. Like Ford, variations of this same Borg Warner design were used by other automobile manufacturers as well, such as AMC, International Harvester, Studebaker, Volvo and Jaguar, each of them having the necessary external modifications required for the above applications.
The Ford Cruiseomatic transmissions were so close in design to the Borg Warner Fordomatic transmissions that in many instances the same rebuild kits could be used. Specifically in the Medium case BW transmissions and the FMX Ford transmission.
Needless to say the design was successful and although way out of production was one of the most popular transmissions we, at my transmissions shop, rebuilt in our early days in the early ’80s. Since the Cruisomatics were one of the only transmissions with a cast iron case, rebuilders who did the most BW-Cruiseomatics were called ‘ironheads’..
I can’t recall if Ford used a different trade name later on, for instance on transmissions like the 4R100.
Not that you will run into the need for one of these units, it is nice to know transmissions of this type can easily be found fast, and at affordable prices at GotTransmissions.com. Call us at 1-800-268-0664 for an unbeatable quote.
