Way back when, when the PG was introduced, nobody liked it. 2 speed slushbox. Now, almost 50 years later, it is very popular with the drag race guys. What on earth happened here? Why so good at that application? Just wondering, I have no plans, but can one hold up to a turboed's 5.3 LS?
IIRC a properly set up Powerglide can deal with a tremendous amount of power. I think that's why the drag guys have always liked them.
I had on in my first car-- 1966 Chevelle. That car burnt a quart of oil every 40 miles or so. Whenever someone would tailgate me (up to 50 mph or so) I'd just drop the trans in low-------instant James Bond style smokescreen! It was awesome. 
http://www.curbsideclassic.com/automotive-histories/powerglide-gms-greatest-hit-or-deadly-sin/
It really picked up when the bracket racers needed consistent run times. If you can eliminate a shift, with the 3spd to 2, you can ran nearly the same number every run.
If you want to play with some lathe time, hardened input shaft, clutch hub, and a redone VB, you can got 800hp-ish on a "stock" rebuild. The stock 1.76 planetaries are the stronger of all the factory produced assemblies. If you degrade to the 1.82's, you can only get to about 550 before they don't last.
Oh and the new big thing in drag racing is the 2 speed Turbo 400. So far they are holding up behind 3000hp Pro Mods.
They suck on the street, but for a specialized application like drag racing they don't need the trans to work in all circumstances.
they have been used in circle track racing.
The Powerglide (or Torque Destroyer) is a useless transmission until you put a $1500 converter in front of it. On the strip, you can run the converter up to a very high stall to get into the juicy part of the torque curve, and the converter will progressively lock up, so your engine can run from, say 6000 rpm to 8500, with the input of the trans going from 0 rpm to 8200 or so in first, and then a similar situation in high. If you listen to a fast bracket car, the revs really don't change a lot till the top end of the track since they usually gear the diff to run out the top end 10% or so above the HP peak.
Lotsa different first gear ratios available, too.
In reply to Streetwiseguy:
So they basically set it up to work like a CVT? Never knew that.
Shifting from Low to Drive at 60-65 mph through glasspacks sounds awesome though
These guys run a modified Power Glide. Properly built they will handle stupid amounts of power.
The only thing you need to know about a powerglide for a street car is dont even think about it unless you already run 9s and dont want it to be a street car anymore. They are useless for anything but a drag car or other exhibition-only type stuff.
I don't know what people had a problem with. The one on my Chevelle wouldn't shift until almost 60 mph if I had it floored. 
Like my Ford-o-matic, but not fragile.
My brother is planning on getting adapter kit to put it behind a 460 in a tube framed tubbed MGB.
"That wheelbase, that power? I don't want to be worrying about allot of shifting."
Streetwiseguy wrote: The Powerglide (or Torque Destroyer) is a useless transmission until you put a $1500 converter in front of it.
Clearly, you've never driven something with a Dynaflow.
That has got to be the worst auto I've ever driven, and I've driven a Turboglide too.
There's nothing that will fix either of those, not even a $1500 convertor.
Shawn
Trans_Maro wrote:Streetwiseguy wrote: The Powerglide (or Torque Destroyer) is a useless transmission until you put a $1500 converter in front of it.Clearly, you've never driven something with a Dynaflow. That has got to be the worst auto I've ever driven, and I've driven a Turboglide too. There's nothing that will fix either of those, not even a $1500 convertor. Shawn
Oh, I never said it was ther WORST automatic out there...and I have driven a Dynaflow Buick... and a Ford-o -matic...
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