The Gearshift Knob

I bought my MGB in April of 1972. I had spent most of the summer of 1971 in the hospital and at home recovering from a motorcycle accident. I

 

Wow - very eloquent. Great read!

 

That's a wonderful piece of writing, Rob. Great stuff!!!

On a related note, I've been searching for well over a year for a walnut shift knob for my S, without success. If I had a lathe I'd turn one myself.

I much prefer the warm texture and feel of wood to the coldness of metal. There's something about well-finished wood that makes the fingers want to linger.

 

Rob,

There is something about wood. I used a walnut door knob as a "gearshift knob" on my 1963 VW bug. I also had a cherished wooden wine goblet for years until it finally developed a crack in it

I have the stock gearshift on my S and I have "one vent trained on it" to warm it up in the winter and cool it down in the summer.

 

Well done, 'ole chap. Very nice story - certainly one many of us can relate to. Thanks for the footnote as well.

I tried fitting a wooden MG shift knob of 33 years on the S2000. No such luck. The shift lever on the S2000 is a lot fatter. After trying out two other shift knobs - the OEM with leather and the Voodoo, I ended up going back to the OEM without leather. Should a walnut one ever come out I'll be in line for it, even if it does look out of place.

 

Nice write-up Rob. I always put the walnut knobs on my British cars. They just felt right.

Rob, I have a shelf full of old bakealite MG shift knobs with the thin 1-2-3-4-R H pattern on top. I saved them from the dumpster 33 years ago at my brother's sports car shop. Let me know if you want one of those.

The only old walnut shift knob I have is an old Austin Healy knob. They were made by Ammco, the folks who made all the after-market dress up stuff for the old English cars. Remember the chrome luggage racks???

 

I had a chrome luggage rack on the back deck of my TR-6. Unfortunately, it was the only thing that worked on that car.

 

I feel the same way about my Alfa Veloce and the S. They both fill the same niche in their own time.

 

 

I probably had that same model walnut knob with an enameled Triumph emblem on my TR-6. Bought the car new in 1973, and in about a year the leather on the stock knob wore through and was uncomfortable. I replaced it with a walnut knob. The knob stayed with the TR-6 when I traded it for a new car...a story for another time.