Gear lever knob

[Chris A]

I'm sure that at least one of you can clear this up for me.

The original gear lever knob fitted to a 13/60, which I know was black and spherical, but did it have a design showing the foreward & reverse positions or was it plain?

I'm getting confliciting advice. Mine car is fitted with a modern(ish) wooden replacement, which is fine, but I could be tempted to fit the original style if I came across one at a reasonable price. Clearly I wouldn't want to replace one "wrong" item with another "wrong" item.

Thanks

[Colin Lindsay]

I think it was plain; the GT6 used roughly the same knob but it had position markings on it. I have a few Herald ones and they're all smooth and unmarked, but possibly only one marked version so I know they're not as common, which more than likely means that the more expensive cars - Vitesse and GT6 -  got the more expensive gearknob.

To be completely confusing, I have a white one that was on a 1967 Herald... but reckon it was added by a PO.

 

[dave.vitesse]

It was plain. The Vitesse had the gears marking.

[Colin Lindsay]

Snobs.

[Peter Truman]

I had a 1966 1200 Convertible in the UK, purchased in 67 which had the black knob with markings, and yes my 68 Mk2 Vitesse purchased in 1970 had them too, the knob was replaced with a St Christopher wood one as you do, and the original has been lost on the cars worldly relocations.

Peter T

[Clive]

Herald/spit knobs were plain from the factory, vitesse/GT6 had the markings.

Been mentioned before, as Heralds were a fairly popular driving skool car and teh markings would have been helpful. Some probably did get a dealer upgrade? (salesman swapping a knob to secure a sale)

[dave.vitesse]

12 hours ago, Colin Lindsay said:

Snobs.

The joke back in the 1960's was Herald driver's didn't need the gear markings as they were better drivers.

Dave

[Chris A]

Thanks guys for clearing this up for me.

To summarise:-

Herald owners weren't as posh as Vitesse/GT6 owners BUT were better drivers and had a better memory - they could remember the gear layout without a diagram.

Do I stick to the wooden "Herald" knob or replace with a blank black one. Decisions, decisions. . . .🙄

[dave.vitesse]

A wooden one was a dealer option.

Dave

[Chris A]

2 hours ago, dave.vitesse said:

A wooden one was a dealer option.

Dave

You're just trying to make it easy for me to decide 🤣

That's the item fitted, clearly the photo isn't to scale - sorry about it being so big.

[AidanT]

3 hours ago, Chris A said:

Thanks guys for clearing this up for me.

To summarise:-

Herald owners weren't as posh as Vitesse/GT6 owners BUT were better drivers and had a better memory - they could remember the gear layout without a diagram.

Do I stick to the wooden "Herald" knob or replace with a blank black one. Decisions, decisions. . . .🙄

Wasn't there a retort to that? Something about time that herald drivers had to remember?

Sorry 😌

[Chris A]

2 hours ago, AidanT said:

Wasn't there a retort to that? Something about time that herald drivers had to remember?

Sorry 😌

You mean because the Herald engine has so much torque you hardly ever need to change gear? 💨

[johny]

Now we are dreaming!