Had a lot of three on the tree cars over the years-last one was my 57 Fuely-shifted great! Had a 40 sedan a few yrs ago with a 265 hooked to the stock driveline. Was sweet driving little car. One day my son came over and asked if he could drive it. Said sure-looked out and he was looking around etc. Wife said go show him how a column shift works. Hadn't a clue-guess he forgot cause we let him drive a 55 with a 3 spd and OD maybe 30 yrs before. Good theft deterrent.
Learned to drive on a 54 with a column shift when I was 12. Got a 53 now, and the 3 on the tree is a reminder of good times.
I saw a 54 Belair that I learned on, three on the tree, Blue Flame.. That car was a tank but smooth..
The first vehicle I drove with 3 on the tree was a late 70’s Chevy truck in 1987. I was 19 years old and had never drove 3 on the tree. One of the guys in the shop took me around the block to show me how you shift the gears. When I got behind the wheel it took a few tries to get the hang of it. We continued to go around the block and just when I got comfortable the guy put the outside of his left knee against the steering wheel while turning and he basically locked the wheel and I just about crapped. That guys stupid pranks got him fired eventually. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Got a 29 ford roadster with a 40 Column shift flipped to the Left side and a 39 Ford with the same 40 Column flipped over to the left side, known as a "Girlfriend Shift" because you can shift and still have your right hand on your lady, column shifts are the ticket!
I worked with an E.R. Nurse who also drove a new 70 Monte Carlo with a bolt action 3 speed on the tree. The car had been ordered buy someone who did't follow through on their order/sale, and the dealership was having a hard time selling it. The nurse and her husband got a pretty good deal on it. She would always talk about the car, being a modern day, semi-luxury car, with a 3 on the tree. It was green, with a green vinyl top, and green interior. Richard Rawlings would have been envious. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.
Both my 54 F100 and 41 Plymouth are basically stock with 3 on the tree. Probably is a theft deterent but more than anything I find it just adds to the joy of driving them. The Plymouth has a neat factory option called Powermatic shift. It's basically a vacuum assist hooked into the shifter linkage. Makes moving the lever through the gears very "light", just a flick of the fingers. On cars with this option the shifter has a different knob than stock, kind of a cross shape to give your fingers a surface to push on. Sent from my SM-G950U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
The Jalopy Journal
