why 3 differnt auto's

i'm sure this is covered somewhere but why did ford offer 3 differnt auto's surely the expense couldn't be justified?(then again what do i know ford made money i didn;t)ps iknow i said this before but i don't know how to delete it my name says it all.
 
actually ford has had several automatics of the years, starting with the original cast iron cruise-o-matic, the ford-o-matic(2spd used behind sixes), the aluminum case C4(light duty for sixes and small V8's), the aluminum case C6(heavy duty used behind the larger small blocks and big blocks), the fmx(an updated version of the original crusie-o-matic used behind small blocks in medium duty applications like 351w engines in performance cars), then of course the C3(used behind 4 and V6 engines), the AOD used in various applications, the AOD-E an upgraded and electronically controled AOD, and the 4R70W and its variants which are upgraded AOD-E transmissions. each had its reason for being.
 
rbohm said:
actually ford has had several automatics of the years, starting with the original cast iron cruise-o-matic, the ford-o-matic(2spd used behind sixes), the aluminum case C4(light duty for sixes and small V8's), the aluminum case C6(heavy duty used behind the larger small blocks and big blocks), the fmx(an updated version of the original crusie-o-matic used behind small blocks in medium duty applications like 351w engines in performance cars), then of course the C3(used behind 4 and V6 engines), the AOD used in various applications, the AOD-E an upgraded and electronically controled AOD, and the 4R70W and its variants which are upgraded AOD-E transmissions. each had its reason for being.

thanks for the info mine is a cruise-o-matic i always thought this was a c4 am i wrong if not is there any differences in c4s and if the c6 is heavy duty why was it offered behind lowoutput 302's.
 
Ford used the same name for some of the different transmissions they used in the 60's. A car equipped with a cruise-o-matic, could have had a C4, C6, or an FMX. There are several different variations of the C4 : std duty, heavy duty, pan fill case fill, then there was the C5, which was a lockup converter version of the C4. Typically the C6 was only used in trucks,vans, and Bronco's were a heavy vehicle needed something tougher than a C4.There are really too many different automatics,their variations , and reasons for being produced to go into here. If you need to Id your transmission , there are many here that can tell you how to tell you how to do this.