The FLC-"Fluid Link Converter"- ATX was a 3-speed hydraulic automatic transaxle produced by

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

from 1981 through 1994, first appearing in the North American Ford Escort, then later the European Escort in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

. It was Ford's first automatic transmission developed for

front wheel drive Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional lon ...

and transverse engine location. Used in the company's four-cylinder-powered cars ranging from the Escort to the Taurus. The 3.0 powered Tempo/Topaz used a beefed up version of the FLC as well. The transaxle did not have a lockup torque converter, or overdrive. It was controlled by a throttle or "kickdown" Linkage, the speedometer drive used a mechanical cable, and had no computer controls. With the four-cylinder Taurus excised from the lineup after 1991, and with the addition of the new computer-controlled, 4-speed F-4EAT from Mazda, for the Ford Escort/Mercury Tracer, the original FLC continued in production solely for the Tempo and Topaz until those cars were discontinued in 1994. {, class=wikitable , - !1 !2 !3 !R , - , 2.84:1, , 1.54:1, , 1.00:1, , 2.33:1 Applications: * 1981-1987

Mercury Lynx The North American version of the Ford Escort is a range of cars that was sold by Ford from the 1981 to 2003 model years. The direct successor of the Ford Pinto, the Escort also largely overtook the role of the European-imported Ford Fiesta as ...

* 1981-1990

Ford Escort (North America) The North American version of the Ford Escort is a range of cars that was sold by Ford Motor Company, Ford from the 1981 to 2003 model years. The direct successor of the Ford Pinto, the Escort also largely overtook the role of the European-impo ...

* 1983-1990

Ford Escort (Europe) The Ford Escort is a small family car that was manufactured by Ford of Europe from 1968 until 2000. In total there were six generations, spread across three basic platforms beginning with the original rear-wheel drive Mk.1/Mk.2 (1968–1980), ...

Ford Orion The Ford Orion is a small family car (C-segment in Europe) that was produced by Ford Europe from 1983 until 1993. A total of 3,534,239 units were sold during the car's ten-year production life. The Ford Orion was based on the Ford Escort, but i ...

* 1982-1988

Ford EXP The Ford EXP is a sports compact coupe produced and sold by the Ford Motor Company in North America for the 1982 to 1988 model years. The EXP debuted at the 1981 Chicago Auto Show. It shared many mechanical components with the contemporary Ford ...

* 1982-1983

Mercury LN7 Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

* 1984-1994

Ford Tempo The Ford Tempo and its Mercury counterpart the Topaz, are compact cars produced by the Ford Motor Company for model years 1984 to 1994. They were the downsized successors to the Ford Fairmont and Mercury Zephyr respectively. The Tempo and Topa ...

* 1984-1994

Mercury Topaz Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Mercury ...

* 1986-1991

Ford Taurus The Ford Taurus is an automobile that was manufactured by the Ford Motor Company in the United States from the 1986 to 2019 model years. Introduced in late 1985 for the 1986 model year, six generations were produced over 34 years; a brief hiat ...

* 1990-1994

Ford Laser The Ford Laser is a compact car, originally a subcompact car in the first three generations, which was sold by Ford in Asia, Oceania, and parts of South America and Africa. It has generally been available as a sedan or hatchback, although conve ...

* ?-1993

Ford Falcon Ford Falcon is an automobile nameplate applied to several vehicles worldwide. * Ford Falcon (North America), an automobile produced by Ford from 1960 to 1970. * Ford Falcon (Argentina), a car built by Ford Argentina from 1962 until 1991. * Fo ...

See also