Who is MDL?

Modern DriveLine is a five and six-speed manual shift overdrive conversion specialist.
Our product offerings are centered around Tremec transmissions due to their OE high performing quality.
We engineer & develop many of the supporting products needed to install or update Tremec transmissions into classic hotrods, to modern-day muscle, and everything in between.
Our goal is to provide the best fitting transmission for our project using as many of the parts you already have.
We will ask you a series of questions to understand your needs and provide you with a detailed list of transmission components.

Our Business Philosophy

At Modern DriveLine our goal is to provide top-notch service, our environment is built on integrity, respect, and a love of performance
We do this by providing high-quality Award Winning products backed by unrivaled customer service.
An MDL purchase comes with the added value of quality, expertise & loads of solid advice.
It’s not enough to provide the best parts for your build, we want to help you with your goals really understand your project, we’re involved and engaged with your vision.
This promotes great collaboration and inspires design and car-crafting at its best.

Our business is built on word of mouth. We hope you will tell a friend about us when you receive good service and advice.

How We Roll

With Over 24 years of hands-on time in this business, our staff made up of ‘Car-Guys’ just like you,
Modern DriveLine provides the knowledge, innovation, and experience to deliver a positive personalized buying experience.
What this means to you…
We are here to help advise and educate beginning with designing your solution through to the purchase process.
But it doesn’t stop there…
We have engineering staff to help you through your installation should you need it.
We are adding helpful videos & How-To articles all the time. We are here to help start to finish!

We want to be known as the ‘GO-TO’ source for manual 5 & 6-speed solutions.

Our Company

Our business started out of need. Being a part of the Shelby Club of Northern California, it was apparent that there was a need for a company focused on the modern overdrive transmissions that understand the needs of high performance, and not so high-performance owners. Working for Charlie’s Mustangs in the ’90s, Bruce began repairing T-5 transmissions.

In 1996 Bruce purchased a 65 Mustang hardtop that needed restoring. It was equipped with a V8 automatic. After driving the car for a year, he decided the car needed a manual transmission. A T-5 five-speed was chosen for its size and drivability. While searching for conversion parts, he found
there were very few companies offering five-speed conversion parts or complete packages. It was this search that showed a need for better fitting parts that are easy to install and long-lasting.

We have added to the lineup from the T5/Mustang beginnings and now offer many new applications and continue to work on new projects. We now address the six speed market, as well as, Falcon’s, Cobra’s, trucks, Hotrods  and Big block, small blocks, six cylinder, Y-blocks and flathead conversion parts and packages.  We continued broadening the product line in 2008 with GM and Mopar components, with more being added each month.   In 2009 we introduced the LF series hydraulics to meet the needs of the market.

Modern Driveline has been in business since 1998. Hundreds of transmissions have been rebuilt, and custom built. Our products are now installed in well over 10,000 vehicles, ranging from model A’s to current production vehicles across the country and in foreign countries.  Modern Driveline is here to service you with your driveline conversion needs whether it is a stock 6 cylinder or a high performance V8 or anything in between.  Convert your classic to a modern Hotrod today.

The Man Behind the Name

Hello, my name is Bruce Couture…  I believe that a business is only as good as the people behind it. I have been installing high-performance parts on early and late model Mustangs since 1996. In 1996 I worked with Charlie’s Mustangs in San Jose, CA. While there I installed superchargers, Baer brakes, EFI conversions, mass air systems in F series trucks, six-speed conversions, and more. If it was a V-8 or larger, Charlie’s shop made it faster.

In my off hours, I run a 92 Mustang LX  “the Blue coupe” set up for open tracking. It sports a supercharged 327 stroker producing 486hp at the rear wheels.  All that power is handled with a T5z with a single disk 10.5″ Kevlar clutch.  The car that really started Modern Driveline is my 65 Mustang Coupe. The car came to me as an unfinished project.  Shortly after restoring the car, I decided the automatic wasn’t chosen for me.  I decided a T-5 five-speed was a better choice.  After finding almost nothing to install a five-speed in a classic Mustang, start developing all the supporting parts to do so.  This experience led others with the Nor-Cal Shelby Club to take notice and a business was born.  Many of the parts we develop are build on my own small collection of cars. Our clutch cable kit, cross-members, hydraulics kits were all fitted to my personal cars before being released as a product for MDL.  If it’s not good enough in my car, it’s not good enough to sell.

2015 saw the completion of a red ’86 Mustang convertible which Charlie had dis-assembled in the early ’90s.  After many years of sitting and moving from California to Idaho, time was found to work on putting the car back together as Charlie would have wanted it.  2015 was the year the paint was applied and the rubber hit the road for the first time in 20-some years.

In 2007 Modern DriveLine set up shop in Caldwell Idaho which allowed us to continue to grow & improve as a company. In the last 13 years, MDL has grown to a business of over a dozen staff members and over 10,000 square foot layout.  All of this has allowed up to future develop new products, build in-house brand clutches, and better serve our customers.

MDL has been a Tremec Elite distributor since 2008 allow us to purchase directly from Tremec for both transmission assemblies and service parts.  Currently, we have a service center repairing Borg-Warner T-5, T-45, T-56 as well as Tremec 3550, and 3650.

Modern DriveLine is proud to celebrate over 21 years in business, making us one of the oldest 5 & 6-Speed Conversion Specialists today!
We have warehousing full of the many items that customers need to complete their project fast.   

Founded in 1998 by Bruce Couture and his passion for a modern driveability in his classic Mustang has evolved into today’s MDL.
Our engineered solutions from Flywheels to Driveshafts and everything in-between are all about the love of driving. Our continuing Innovation has produced Hydraulic clutch solutions for many applications Ford, Chevy, Mopar & others Our clutch program features In house hand-assembled clutches tailored to your horsepower & use.

Keep an eye open at your car show on the west coast. There is a chance you will see one of the cars from my small collection of “hotrods”.  If you do, be sure to say hi.

~Bruce