Vintage Hurst Shifters - A Complete Guide - Volume 1
Author: Peter Serio
Published by: Pete’s Precision Pontiac LLC ISBN: 0-9749004-0-0
Here is a curiosity I borrowed from my good friend and drag racing aficionado, Dave Dick. The story of Hurst shifters is a classic American success story whereby hard work and a good product by a couple of creative guys established a massive worldwide market and a name instantly recognisable to all gearheads. The company was started by George Hurst and his engineering friend Bill Campbell in the late Fifties, who designed and produced custom engine mounts to fit late-model engines into earlier cars. While on a marketing trip, a potential customer saw the custom floormounted gear shifter in the company’s old Lincoln, in which they had installed a late-model Cadillac V8.
The customer expressed more interest in the shifter than the engine mounts and persuaded them to develop shifters for quantity production. After some early hiccups and through constant evolution of the products, by the early Sixties they were not only selling hundreds of thousands of Hurst shifters for a wide variety of cars, but the likes of Pontiac were factory installing them in many of their performance cars, like their GTO. Meanwhile, Hurst, who were masters of self-publicity and stood solidly behind their product range, continued to devise such things as the Jaws of Life, a range of powerful rescue implements designed to help rescuers lift damaged vehicles off the ground and cut through roof pillars and door hinges following auto crashes. While the shifters encourage and revel in increased performance, Hurst’s innovative rescue equipment has undoubtedly saved many lives.
The author of this unusual book is clearly an ultimate fan of Hurst and particularly their shifters. Having studied and refurbished them for several years, he realised that Hurst had made such a wide variety of shifters over the years that it was difficult to determine what vehicles they were designed for when purchased pre-owned at swap meets, wrecking yards and online. He set out to demystify this situation by publishing as many instructions and information sheets as he could, interspersed with a history of Hurst and a wide variety of contemporary advertisements.
Volume 1 covers all Hurst shifters from 1960 to 1970 for manual transmissions. I found this 144-page history and collection of rare adverts, photos and instructions surprisingly interesting, reminding me of the old Hot Rod magazines I devoured so hungrily, decades ago. Part history book, part nostalgia trip, it will also be extremely helpful for those seeking to restore muscle cars fitted with these iconic performance shifters.
Though published back in 2004, Dave found this book new on eBay a short while ago. Googling identified plenty of examples for sale, though at wildly differing prices, so please research before you buy.