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 corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...

from 1981 through 1994, first appearing in the North American Ford Escort, then later the European Escort in 1983. It was Ford's first automatic transmission developed for

front wheel drive Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of internal combustion engine, engine and transmission (mechanics), transmission layout used in motor vehicles, in which the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel-drive vehicles feature ...

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 * 1981-1990 Ford Escort (North America) * 1983-1990

Ford Escort (Europe) The Ford Escort is a Compact car, 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: the original, rear-wheel-drive Mk.1/Mk.2 (1968–1980), ...

/ Ford Orion * 1982-1988

Ford EXP The Ford EXP (also called Ford Escort EXP) is a sports compact coupe that was manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company from 1982 to 1988, across two generations. The first two-seat Ford since the original Ford Thunderbird, the EXP was der ...

* 1982-1983 Mercury LN7 * 1984-1994 Ford Tempo * 1984-1994 Mercury Topaz * 1986-1991

Ford Taurus The Ford Taurus is an automobile that was manufactured and marketed by the Ford Motor Company in the United States from 1985 to 2019. From 1985 to 2009, Ford marketed the Taurus alongside its rebadged variant, the Mercury Sable. Four generati ...

* 1990-1994 Ford Laser

See also