Thomas wrote about GM’s recall of a few hundred Chevy Express/GMC Savana vans for column-shift issues, and the comments below really took me back to my own experiences with column shifters. What does it mean when the red flag is between P and R? It’s in reverse, of course; if it were in park, the flag would be in front of the P.
Urban Runabout:
I remember back in the 70’s when certain Ford and GM automatics were perpetually out of sync with what was displayed on the column.
“They all do that.”
UnseenCat:
That was just part of the Malaise Era “mystique.” You didn’t bother to look at the shift pointer on the dashboard. You just went by pulling the (overly loose, straight from the factory) column shifter through the detents.
The good ones were the older Ford column-shift automatics that had the little window mounted on the column itself with the indicator cast right into the rotating ring that the shifter mounted to. Those were dirt-simple and never fell out of adjustment.
Disphenoidal:
I do love the clunk of an old column shifter. When I go from one of those to the new electronic ones I feel like I’m going to rip that plastic handle off.
I too love the clunk. Though hardly as fun as a manual, there’s still a satisfying feeling of human-mechanical interface going on there, meat making the metal work. I also like the sort of klug-klug-klug sound the column makes when the lever’s racking through PRNDL.
Antti delivered another fascinating look at fine Finnish transportation oddities with his exposé on the reg-meeting, bed-truck-stretching shenanigans that saw the Subaru Brat and other mini trucks extended to ludicrous proportions. Amongst the discussion was the unstretched Ford P100, a machine so gutless that it was said to deliver “only greetings.”
Stryker_T’s appreciation for the gag led to the kind of blue humor I enjoy, because I’m basically twelve.
Stryker_T:
“… and it was said to be able to deliver ‘only greetings’.”
Finnish BURN, lmao
Sklooner:
Is this true for Finnish condoms too? Asking for a friend
Urban runabout:
My Grandpa was Finnish
Yes.
Dennis Ames:
We knew he Finnish, that’s why we have you!
Like Stryker_T, Canopysaurus commented to give Antti a well-earned attaboy for his sausage pun (the best kind of pun), which Data and Burt Curry kept going with Dad-joke zeal. Respect.
Canopysaurus:
“The Brat: the Worst?” Very funny.
Data:
He was just trying to curry favor.
Burt Curry:
I do that all the time…
Have a terrific Tuesday, everyone!
Top graphic image: LMC Truck
Old GM columns could also feature the shift indicator as a physical point mounted on the column. My Jeep has one. Problem is… the whole window and indicator fell off. Oh well.
78 and up GM A/G bodies had the shift indicator operated via a little cable, eventually the cable would cut down into the plastic and get stuck or break. It was a simple design but not for longevity.
def wasn’t expecting weird Finnish regs to be that entertaining of a read
Just wait ’til you hear about the Ruisleipä & Poronkäristys
(rye bread and roasted raindeer)
my curiosity is piqued
Pulled up the Autopian this morning, saw the exploded diagram of the Ford column parts, including the automatic transmission shifter collar with the pointer assembly… Ummm — Is that in reference to my… Yep, COTD! 😀
Yep, a good column shifter has a nice fee to it and you don’t have to look at any indicators to know what gear you’re in. I also like the old mechanical console shifters as well. Just a simple, solid mechanical interface. The fiddly little electronic knobs and so common today just don’t cut it. At least the “fake” console shifters — Just a knob and lever that moves in a track to actuate contacts or internal switches — have some “fee” to them and indication of what they’re doing. They’re better than nothing.
And then there’s the pushbutton shifters. The old Chrysler Torqeflite ones had nice, chunky mechanical buttons that let you know in no uncertain terms that your selection registered — just like the satisfying mechanical tuning preset buttons on old car radios. The new electronic controls are OK, but the light touch leaves such a disconnected, remote feel from the car.
To be fair, in a lot of ways the granddaddy of today’s mechanically “disconnected” (figuratively and literally) electronic shifters for automatics is probably the Allison membrane-switch panel so commonly used in trucks and buses and heavy equipment. It’s just a hunk of chunky plastic with a sheet of membrane switches in rows and a thick raised plastic panel layered on top, with big cutouts to drop your finger into for each flat “button”. You just tap the plastic membrane for the gear you want, like punching the timer setting on a microwave. It’s quite functional and pleasant enough once you get used to it — probably because even though it’s all plastic, it’s unusually thick, tough plastic. And clearly engineered to be mostly impervious to abuse. There’s no tactile thunk, though. Just the not terribly subtle kick in the seat of your pants from the transmission obeying the command from the shifter panel — because the big Allison units tend to let you know there’s a lot of hydraulic and mechanical action going on somewhere down below.
*Bows Twice – Exits Stage Left*