Some cars leave a paper trail; the Powerglide left a name, a year — 1950 — and a place in Chevrolet's list. What follows is what can be said with a source behind it.
Where it came from
The Powerglide is a two-speed automatic transmission designed by General Motors. It was available primarily on Chevrolet from January 1950 through 1973, although some Pontiac models also used this automatic transmission after the fire at the Hydra-Matic factory in 1953. Powerglides were used extensively on Pontiacs produced for the Canadian market with Chevrolet powertrains.
They were also used with Nova engines in the DJ-5A Jeeps produced 1968–1970 by Kaiser-Jeep and widely used as delivery vehicles by the United States Post Office. When introduced on upper-level Chevrolet models in 1950, the Powerglide represented the first automatic transmission offered in a low-priced automobile; in contrast, Ford did not offer their automatic transmission until 1951, while Plymouth car buyers had to wait until 1954. The transmission was simple and very durable, which satisfied customers.
In context
On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Toyota Land Cruiser, the Citroën 2CV, the Porsche 356. Nearby in the Chevrolet catalogue sit the Chevrolet Adra and the Chevrolet C-10.
The money
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Powerglide has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.