Who Makes The Super T10 Transmission & Which Cars Used It?

During the glory days of the American muscle automobile, saying that your automobile had a four-speed was an enormous deal, each for bragging rights and precise efficiency. The time period, in fact, refers back to the four-speed handbook transmission, which earned you a lot road cred within the Nineteen Sixties that rock and roll bands even devoted complete songs to it. 

Not all four-speed transmissions are equal, although; some developed their very own legendary reputations, together with the famed Muncie M22 “Rock Crusher” gearbox from General Motors. Another pivotal four-speed transmission was the BorgWarner T10, which ushered in a brand new period of American efficiency starting within the late Fifties. The unique T10 featured in all kinds of efficiency automobiles within the ’50s and early ’60s, and was later adopted up by an up to date, stronger model referred to as the Super T10.

BorgWarner developed and constructed the unique Super T10 four-speed, and the most well-liked model of the gearbox was accessible in General Motors autos from the early ’70s by the early ’80s — together with the Camaro and Corvette. Richmond Gear later bought the rights from BorgWarner and took over manufacturing of the Super T10. Today, Richmond nonetheless builds and sells the transmission and its particular person parts.

You cannot get to the Super T10 with out first speaking concerning the unique T10. The BorgWarner T10 gearbox debuted within the 1957 Chevrolet Corvette at a time when a handbook transmission with 4 ahead gears was an enormous deal, particularly in an American automobile.  

Unlike engines, American automakers may (and infrequently did) share transmissions, and that was the case with the T10. It would finally turn into accessible in high-performance Ford, GM, and Chrysler autos. It was fashionable sufficient that, in case you discovered, say, a 389-powered Pontiac lined up on the drag strip towards a 406-powered Ford within the early ’60s, chances are high each drivers can be ripping gears on the identical T10 four-speed. Beyond the large three, American Motors additionally used the T10 in muscle automobile choices just like the AMX. 

An up to date Super T10 transmission first appeared in 1966, adopted by a “second design” Super T10 within the mid-’70s. The revised Super T10 used a stronger 26-spline enter shaft, had hardened gears, and supplied extra ratio choices, making it well-suited to high-powered muscle automobile engines. However, the muscle car era was fading by the early ’70s, and the second-design Super T10 transmission was solely used as manufacturing facility tools in General Motors automobiles, specifically the mid-sized A-Body, the F-Body platform utilized by the Camaro and Firebird, and the Corvette.

While Detroit’s unique, high-horsepower, high-displacement muscle automobiles had died off by the second design Super T10’s mid-’70s debut, it nonetheless shifted some memorable machines, together with the second-gen Chevy Camaro Z/28 and the long-lasting “Screaming Chicken” Pontiac Trans Am of the late ’70s and early ’80s. BorgWarner additionally offered the Super T10 as an aftermarket improve at velocity outlets beneath the Power Brute title. 

GM stopped utilizing the Super T10 four-speed within the early Nineteen Eighties, by which level the five-speed handbook had began to switch the four-speed in efficiency automobile functions. That mentioned, the “4+3” transmission within the C4 Corvette was principally a Super T10 with an added overdrive gear, conserving the transmission’s legacy alive in a way. BorgWarner finally offered the Super T10’s manufacturing rights to Richmond Gear, which has stored it in manufacturing, guaranteeing the transmission stays a preferred improve and substitute possibility for classic four-speed muscle automobiles.

After the Super T10, BorgWarner continued growing and constructing transmissions, together with some for well-known high-performance American autos. These transmissions embrace the T5 five-speed handbook and the legendary T-56 six-speed, later acquired by Tremec, which was utilized in iconic American efficiency automobiles just like the Dodge Viper, the C5 and C6 Chevy Corvettes, and the Ford Mustang.