Can You Name That Shifter?

"SteveLehto" (stevelehto)
03/29/2015 at 11:00 • Filed to: None

The advent of digital photography has resulted in me taking a lot of pictures. And I mean a lot of pictures. My photo library on my computer is out of control and I often spend hours trying to find pictures I am sure I have taken - but I just can't remember when.

And, as with many things in life, I get distracted along the way. Hey - when did I take that?! And once in a while you get lucky with a camera-phone shot. The pic at the top was taken with a cellphone I reached in the window of a car at a museum. I had taken the same shot a few times with my Nikon and it just didn't come out right. I like the way this one came out.

Anyhoo, I wanted to make a quick mention that my podcast is about to pass the 25,000 total listens mark. Seems just last month I was watching as the numbers approached 10K. And if you haven't caught this week's yet, here it is.

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And the shifter at the top? I'd tell you but that would ruin the fun. I'm sure someone will ID it in the comments.

Follow me on Twitter: !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

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Steve Lehto is an attorney and writer and has an upcoming book on the Superbird and Daytona project at Chrysler which will be published by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in January, 2016. He also handles !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! He wrote !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

This website may supply general information about the law but it is for informational purposes only. This does not create an attorney-client relationship and is not meant to constitute legal advice, so the good news is we're not billing you by the hour for reading this. The bad news is that you shouldn't act upon any of the information without consulting a qualified professional attorney who will, probably, bill you by the hour.

DISCUSSION (37)

TwoAngryCarbs > SteveLehto
03/29/2015 at 11:08

Looks like a Delahaye to me

aberson Bresident of the FullyAssed Committe > SteveLehto
03/29/2015 at 11:08

Kinja'd!!!

this one needs lucubration lubrication

it always squeaks when i use it

wait did firefox seriously correct lubrication to lucubration

lol

Sn210 > SteveLehto
03/29/2015 at 11:10

Is that from a Cord?

$kaycog > SteveLehto
03/29/2015 at 11:12

Sharon The Shifter.

SteveLehto > TwoAngryCarbs
03/29/2015 at 11:21

No . . .

SteveLehto > Sn210
03/29/2015 at 11:22

Interesting guess . . . yes and no.

SteveLehto > $kaycog
03/29/2015 at 11:22

I guess that is as good a name as any.

TwoAngryCarbs > SteveLehto
03/29/2015 at 11:23

The shifter itself looks like a Cord but that steering wheel messes with my mind.

Tinfoil Hat in a thunderstorm, now with added diecast > $kaycog
03/29/2015 at 11:23

That's nice but I prefer 'Manuel the shifter'

Tinfoil Hat in a thunderstorm, now with added diecast > SteveLehto
03/29/2015 at 11:26

Duesenburg?

Sn210 > SteveLehto
03/29/2015 at 11:27

Kinja'd!!!

is it an ACCord?!?

SteveLehto > TwoAngryCarbs
03/29/2015 at 11:27

There is a good reason for the confusion. The car is "correct," though.

SteveLehto > Tinfoil Hat in a thunderstorm, now with added diecast
03/29/2015 at 11:27

No.

JGrabowMSt > SteveLehto
03/29/2015 at 11:27

Ive gotten my photos organized finally. Took about three months to do it. Event name and date for the folder. The sick and twisted part is that Ive had to dig up pictures recently where I have to re-edit, and my sister has pointed out a couple and was like 'you should print that,' and I know exactly what show and where in the parking lot, but ill get months mixed up (was that in september or july?) My sisters just think Im nuts for remembering.

Sometimes I cant remember if Ive sent an email or delivered a message, but I can tell you about all of the pictures on my flickr. Every last one.

SteveLehto > Sn210
03/29/2015 at 11:28

No, but the car was blue.

SteveLehto > JGrabowMSt
03/29/2015 at 11:30

Same here in that I retain the knowledge of 1) I took the pic 2) I remember where I took it but the date is nebulous enough to leave me completely lost.

TwoAngryCarbs > SteveLehto
03/29/2015 at 11:36

It's a Tucker Torpedo interor

RacinBob > SteveLehto
03/29/2015 at 11:37

Tucker 48

Kinja'd!!!

http://tomstrongman.com/the-tucker-48/

SteveLehto > TwoAngryCarbs
03/29/2015 at 11:39

We have a winner! Yes, the shifter is on a Tucker (at the Gilmore in MICH) and the Tucker used a Cord transmission. Also, the steering wheel was "borrowed" from Lincoln. So, that is why the image looks confusing to people who know their cars. It all looks kind of familiar (but NOT, if you haven't seen this assortment in this setting - A Tucker '48).

Thanks!

DirtyBird > SteveLehto
03/29/2015 at 11:57

select a shift i think is the name, would shift after you pushed in the clutch. theres a couple videos floating around youtube of how it works, is really neat stuff

Edit: actually called a preselecter.. heres a video https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5aozO4…

XJDano > SteveLehto
03/29/2015 at 12:01

I will call it Tinny Tim.

It looks small and fragile.

Finally going to Museum of Transportation with kiddos today.

SteveLehto > DirtyBird
03/29/2015 at 12:04

Yes.

SteveLehto > XJDano
03/29/2015 at 12:05

In St Louis?

DirtyBird > SteveLehto
03/29/2015 at 12:08

Edited with a video of a 1936 Cord that has a demonstration of the shifter

XJDano > SteveLehto
03/29/2015 at 12:09

Yeah, it's been on the todo list for quite some time.

SteveLehto > XJDano
03/29/2015 at 12:14

Be sure to take some pics of their Turbine Car. They have one there that runs.

XJDano > SteveLehto
03/29/2015 at 12:41

Im going to ask to drive it. I'll tell them I know Steve & it's OK.

Cé hé sin > TwoAngryCarbs
03/29/2015 at 12:46

No. The clue is the reverse gear. Delahaye used the Cotal box which had a separate reverse lever so there was just a H pattern without the dogleg reverse.

TwoAngryCarbs > Cé hé sin
03/29/2015 at 13:22

Indeed, at first I was guessing which of the marques that used preselectors it might be and afterwards I noticed the dogleg typical for Cords of the time. Thanks for the reply

Cé hé sin > TwoAngryCarbs
03/29/2015 at 15:09

Technically the Cotal wasn't a preselector although many people class it as one. It was an electromagnetic semi automatic. So far as I know the Cord box was however a preselector.

TwoAngryCarbs > Cé hé sin
03/29/2015 at 15:17

I believe that the term preselector is used for Cotal gearboxes as an overall heading only.

Cé hé sin > TwoAngryCarbs
03/29/2015 at 16:31

Yes, people bandy it around a lot.

Interestingly, one maker was so impressed by the idea of the Cotal's electric gearchange that they applied it to a Wilson pre selector, which they then called the preselectrix:

Kinja'd!!!

Maxton86 > SteveLehto
03/31/2015 at 16:43

You asked to name the shifter, not the car. So, my guess would be a version of the "Wilson Pre-Selector". You could select the next gear you needed while the clutch was still engaged and then push in the clutch pedal when you wanted the next gear, up or down.

SteveLehto > Maxton86
03/31/2015 at 16:44

True. But the extra credit would go to the people who IDd the car.

Thanks.

TavshedFjols > SteveLehto
03/31/2015 at 19:54

Tucker 48, the shifter (and whole trans if I remember correctly) was borrowed from the Cord 810.

SteveLehto > TavshedFjols
03/31/2015 at 19:58

And the steering wheel is from a Lincoln.

Thanks!

BenLikesCars > Cé hé sin
04/02/2015 at 04:15

I just broke the internet trying to google "preselectrix."

Pray tell, which car-maker? (Maybe preselectrix is spelled a tiny bit differently as far as the internet is concerned?)

(Dragged pic provided to google image search, ah ha!)

It's preselector, says the internet.

Armstrong Siddeley! http://www.armstrongsiddeleysa.org.au/preselector.ht…

Those freaking guys. You were 98% correct with the spelling,

This system was known as "preselectric" reflecting the combination of electric actuation and a preselector gearbox. The last Armstrong Siddeley so fitted was the Mk 2 Sapphire .