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
