Don,

Have you driven a Late model Dodge or Chrysler Van.
The have the shifter on the dash but have improperly placed it to far from the driver. Useable but very inconvenient.
A major mistake OMHO.
Some of the others are not to bad but not my cup of tea for everyday in town driving.

SF

 

It's all a moot point, unless you wanted to fab a column or perhaps a button/ knob shifter, like the Dart or 200 from FCA

 

I personally like push buttons on the dash. Loved those TorqueFlite MoPars.

 

First car I ever drove was a '57 Mercury with the push button.

 

Gotta love those Mix-O-Matic shifters in the Mopars - a built-in theft deterrent these days (thief scratching his head wondering how to make the car move).


While we're waxing poetic - how about a MANUAL shifter on that column, eh? ...my '64 Dart had the 3-on-the-tree and I loved it. (TWO of my 64 Darts - the other had a Mix-O-Matic)


It might not be the best shifter-choice for an SS, but surely they could do a 5-speed column shift, no? ...for the other models? - surely not a Cost-Effective design, by any means.


(does ANY car/truck manufacturer still make the manual column-shifter?)

 

My first trip to Korea (1994), I found what we called a "bongo" truck had a 5 speed column shift. Hardly anyone could drive it. But few of us had driven 3 on the tree before.. They were usually Hyundai or Daewoo trucks. Had little 12" dual's on the back.

 

I had a Scamp with a 3 on the floor!

 

The last American truck to offer a 3 speed on the column was the 1987 Chevrolet half ton pickup.

The only postwar American vehicle that I know of that offered a 4 speed on the column was the Ford Econoline/Falcon Van from the early 1960s. Some Japanese trucks come with a 5 speed on the column.

As far as manual shifters go, yes, the floor is the best place for them. Column shifters are a lot of fun partially because of the novelty of having something that 99.9% of cars on the road don't have but if you're speed shifting, a floor shift is the way to go.

 

Tell me more about it. I'm obsessed with the '57 and '58 Mercury (and the '57 Monarch), especially the Turnpike Cruiser. I dream of a '58 Turnpike Cruiser with every available option and the Super Marauder 400 HP 430 MEL V8 engine with 3 2bbl carburetors.

 

FWD shift by a cable where RWD shift by linkages, completely different setups and agree with whats more practical for them. My dad used to convert his column shift 3 on the tree to floor shifter and thats another different setup in itself. I myself like the column shifter on automatics and love a good 5 speed manual on the floor.