Hot Rods Forged aluminum Hurst stick, does it really exist?

I was reading the June 1967 Hot Rod magazine and I saw this ad for forged aluminum Hurst sticks, have you ever seen one?

 

No, I have not ; and I have looked for one for many decades. It’s kind of like the angled Tee handles they promoted in ads.

 

I'm sure Moriarity has the stick, An.. The display )

 

Yeah-Moriarty has three in every color, all signed by Linda Vaughn, Grumpy Jenkins, and Dick Landy.

 

IIRC, didn't the NASCAR boys run an aluminum Hurst lever a ways back?

 

That add would have shown up a month before I got drafted but That is the only thing I have ever seen on them. I'd think at that time they probably priced themselves out of the market with those when a replacement stick was costing between 15 and 30 dollars most of the time and that bit into your car budget in 1067. The Competition plus for the M21 Muncie I had in the 48 in the late 70's came with a short straight shifter more suitable for an early Corvette and I had to buy the "truck handle" And even that handle was around 30 bucks and now the same handle is 150.

 

@Mr48chev In 1067 , Prototype and only one that would have it &
Wondering what it was !
Club or Tool for faster Ox


Dam Fat Fingers!!

 

That there is funny

 

Fred Flintstones' shifter handle was billet mahogany!

 

I should have that Hot Rod magazine stashed away somewhere. I will have to look for it. I have never seen one and I do not remember that ad. I was drafted in August of 1967 and my Hot Rod Mag. subscription expired right after that. I would think that someone on here has one.

 

I'm with "I haven't seen one" crowd.

 

I've never looked for one, didn't know they were a thing, but if Moriarity says never, I am thinking they aren't even hen's teeth!

 

Have to ask, how much weight reduction would one expect after replacing a steel shifter handle with one the same size made out of aluminum? Can't be much, can it? Would the extra weight savings be worth the extra cost?
I remember pulling pretty hard on the Hurst shifter between 1st & 2nd (I broke the lever at the bottom of the shifter 2x), I can't imaging doing that with an aluminum handle, even if it was forged. The trust just wouldn't had been there.

 

^^^^^ Maybe the reason we don’t see them?

 

Weight saving ??? Who cares !! It's about bragging rights !!!



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Bing Videos

I never seen a old one but they do make them today or recently.

 

They do make them today, but look nothing like the ad. They are either skeletonized billet aluminum, or smooth solid aluminum.

 

I know at some point in the 1960s they were allowed to run Hurst shifters in Grand National, but I am not sure at what point, also I don’t know what the rules were in order to run them.

At one point all parts had to be available to the public, there were many race car parts that were for commercial (taxi cab/ambulance) this is how the 56-57 Chevys were able to run the the six lug truck hubs/axles, or for export or just got part numbers for the parts books but were never truly available.

 

Hurst shifters became a factory part# eventually for most manufacturers. Maybe as early as '64 for some, Mopar & Pontiac come to mind.

 

We had lots of T handles walk out the gates at the factory. No I didn’t get one cause I didn’t like them.

 

In the early 60's you could tell what race drivers were using OEM shifters............
They're the one's with bloody knuckles from hitting the dashboard.

 

And not just the dashboard.
Right into the radio and/or the heater controls with knobs and levers and stuff sticking out. LOL

 

I'm pretty sure I had one, but the "Hurst" lettering must've been screen printed on it because the one I had didn't have any lettering. It was in good shape, but you could tell it was sanded on and had oxidation from sitting, but I distinctly remember the little teardrop indention near the handle. It came in a box of parts with my old '57 Anglia gasser that was in storage for 35 years. The car was in the middle of being converted from a B&M Hydro-Stick to a Clutch-Flite in '78-79 and the box of old parts suggested it had a Powerglide prior to the Hydro-Stick. It was originally built as a gasser in '68. I remember selling some of the PG & Hydro parts to a couple of different HAMBers, I'm sure that shift lever was part of one of those deals. I had no idea it could've been a forged Hurst piece.

 

Back in the 60's we were so poor all we could afford was a used Hurst. Never seen one of these and never heard of it.

 

In 65 posts no one has claimed to have ever seen or owned one. So I bet they never made any for sale.

 

As rare as a 1961 Chevrolet Impala SS four door?

 

Even being forged, I can't see the serrations that mate the handle to the shifter holding up to abuse.

Gary