In 1964 I bought a Hurst Mystery shifter for my 56 Ford...It was a lot of money for a 17 year old in HS..
In mid-1961 a Hurst floor shift was made available as a dealer installed accessory for Pontiacs with a three speed manual transmission (you could get a four speed trans with a factory floor shift, but up until then three speed cars were only available with a column shift.)
Some info about the "HURST EQUIPPED" emblem. .The emblem has become very iconic thru the years, it appears on many cars. Even recently, I saw one of these on Dana Mecum's 1965 GTO convert. Anyway, it was created in 7.25.69. The idea came from our marketing dept. Earlier, we had a similar "Hurst Hustler" decal. So they asked me to develop an emblem, that was just like the "Hurst / Olds" emblem that I created in 1967, for the Olds car project. The emblem, as shown was 5.25" lg. x 1.25" high. It was made from zinc die cast alloy, and chrome plated. It had a 3m adhesive peel off back so it could be mounted anywhere. Today, there are many copies, and many are made of a plastic material. The photo enclosed is one of the first 50 produced, in my collection. D.Glover
That is cool. To this day I have a set off the knockoff plastic ones on my OT rice burner. It's allowed because I adapted a real Hurst T handle to the modern shifter.
D. Clover, you just described our first Hurst tool to a tee! With the exception we had a Chrysler two stroke power plant. When I retired in 2012 it was still working and used as a back up tool. We used it hundreds of times! You designed it well! Bones
Hurst cufflinks. That's far out. All of the things you've been a part of are just incredible. Thank you for the stories.
Hursts January of 1959 ad (pre shifters) in Hot Rod lists the company as Hurst-Campbell in Abington Pa.
By the time Hursts ads for his shifter came out in October and December of 1960 in Hot Rod , it was listed as Hurst-Anco Industries out of Glenside Pa.Newer ads again listed Hurst-Campbell before and after the move to Warminster Pa.
D. Glover, Of all the people here on The Hamb that have "lived the Life", YOU sir have not only Lived it but helped "Design It"!! Another revelation from the members here on The Hamb! Very Very Cool D. Glover! We like stories and I bet you have a pile of them. Please write on!! P.S. Thank you for designing products to make us go Faster but specifically from saving those who have ended up on the wrong side of Speed!!
As you all know theses are the original set of cuff links, yes I bought them new while at Hurst. Last year I sold them to a friend, for a good amount. I have pics, and you just can't keep forever. They are in a good home.
Showrod- Ref: Hurst @ Glenside. During the time frame of 59-64. Hurst was working out of 3-4 buildings in Glenside, Pa. They split up the production of products to different buildings, at that time I know at least one place was on Glenside Ave. Prior to that George and crew were at the York Road garage in Abington, Pa. In Jan, 1965, moved to the Warminster loc in Pa. Products at the Glenside time frame, I believe were; motor mounts, shifters, dual gate, bumper guards & tubing parts. More info on shifters will be mentioned in an up and coming thread. D. Glover
vw's as well,,, their floor shifters for vw's were the industry standard for many years and are highly saught after the darker the copper color on the lever the better , i used to buy every one i could find to get parts together to make a good one , ( offshore companys knocked em off and still are ) never understood why hurst stopped making them,,,,today you pay hundreds for a real good aftermarket shifter for the aircooleds , i figured hurst would of jumped back in by now ..... also the hurst bumpers for the early busses are bringing such a premium that at least 2 shops are repoping them ,,,,,
Much respect for The man created an Iconic business with good products, back in the 60's I had his 3 and 4 speed shifters, a must have IMO, some friends that had the Olds Cutlass, Pontiac Grand Prix, Hurst trimmed cars, IMO "Tits"cars, among all the new cool cars of 60's 70's. His marketing skills were fantastic and created a career for Linda Vaughn, one of the most photographed women in history, she made Hurst one of the most recognized product names ever.
Early '70s, my first hot rod build (and high school girlfriend), '48 Chev, 283, 3spd. Hurst mount on the front of engine, Mystery Shifter on the back. Probably the only 2 parts that DIDN'T come from the junkyard
Bought an NOS one in the box at a V8 swap meet..warranty card, shift pattern sticker for the ash tray...it was all there....for 15 bucks...I was desperate for money and sold it for $785.00 on eBay...
Great stuff in this thread, My first Hurst shifter was the one that came in my 69 Cutlass S that I special ordered late in 68 when I was still in Vietnam. My Buddy Rick's dad was general manager of Paul Brothers Oldsmobile in Washington DC and had sent him the order sheets to order him one and the preview photos and I decided to order one rather than a Camaro. I wore out a few bushings but that shifter worked to perfection for a factory installed unit. My dad bought me a Competition Plus for the Muncie M21 I had in my 48 in the late 70's ( I still have the shifter hanging in the shed) and I put a Hurst 3 speed shifter in the 48 in 1989 when I put the truck back together and that one did great for over 100K It's still in the truck on the full syncro Saginaw.
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