Hydramatic (also known as Hydra-Matic) is an automatic transmission developed by General Motors Oldsmobile division in 1939/1940. Hydramatic was the first fully automatic mass-produced transmission developed for consumer automotive use.
The name Hydramatic was coined by GM's marketing division in 1939 and applied to the first fully automatic automobile transmission which was developed by GM's Oldsmobile division.
General Motors Buick division developed its own transmission, which was named Dynaflow. While Dynaflow was known for its smooth shifts (earning the nickname "Dynaslush"), it could not compete with Hydramatic which supplied superior overall performance.
Hydramatic was the root product for a widely used series of automatic transmissions developed by General Motors, the most notable of which is the Turbo-hydramatic from the 1960s to the 1990s.
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General Motors Powertrain Division
