Dating stick??

[marty in Ohio]

Hey, Fordbarners,
Why does the gearshift pull up and swing away on Model A's? My father-in-law told me, years ago, about the "dating stick" that would swing away so the girlfriend could sit closer. What do you all say?

[Ray64]

He is right

[foxfire42]

If you romantic folks want to keep that feature don't convert to a Mitchell transmission. That feature is lost but you do gain a nice syncro feature for the gears.

[Charles Coe]

Back in the late 60s an elderly gentleman showed me that feature on my first A and called it "courting gear".

[WTSHNN]

It was installed as back in that era, you were supposed to always enter or exit the vehicle on the curb side. There is a dealer video I saw years ago that demonstrates the driver lifting the gear shift and swinging it out of the way and then exiting the vehicle from the passenger side.

This is the same reason why the passenger door has a key but not the driver's.

I'm sure that the auxillary reason of diminishing the space between driver and passenger was praciticed more than the intended factory purpose.
-Tim

[roccaas]

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My standard tranny doesn't pivot , but the frame/engine speedster project I bought does. No mods to the tranny or tower that I know of; what am I doing wrong? Is there an adjustment?

[Blessyouboys]

Originally Posted by WTSHNN

It was installed as back in that era, you were supposed to always enter or exit the vehicle on the curb side.

Why is there a door on the drivers side?

[Rowdy]

By design all of them should pivot. Maybe yours has a real stiff spring or a squared off shifting ball catching on the shift forks. Rod

[socalplanedoc]

wow, I ran right out and tried it but, no joy...


it's OK, I still have a back seat

[400A-64]

On Pacific Telephone Trucks. there was a ladder on the drivers side that forced the use of the passenger side to enter & exit. The "swing-away gear shift was a big help !
Bruce Davis
[email protected]

[Charlie Stephens]

Originally Posted by socalplanedoc

wow, I ran right out and tried it but, no joy...


it's OK, I still have a back seat

Have someone that has done it before show you. It takes a hard pull up before you turn the stick.

Charlie Stephens

[Rowdy]

You have to pull it up, then turn it. Posting this just to be clear as to how it works. I do not believe it works on the 4spd AA transmissions. This feature was shown to me by Grandpa when I bought my first A at the age of 13. When I was dating my X in highschool and got the coupe running and driving she thought it belonged there all of the time. Too bad the tornado that destroyed the shop and the coupe before it was fully restored. Rod

[700rpm]

When I was in high school we did that so we could get three in the front seat. We went to a football game once with eight guys in my Tudor. In 1972 my wife and I and our 18-month-old daughter came back from California with a buddy of mine who had just been discharged from the Navy. We were traveling in my roadster pickup and with all three of the adults in the front seat that swing-away feature was absolutely necessary. Our daughter rode in the back in a little camping rig I had built for the bed.

[scrapiron]

That feature is also handy when an "A" trans is used as a second box in a doodlebug,,,,

[29ModelA]

I always thought this was a myth, now I have to try it.

[oldmanandakid]

HA. Way cool and 40 years too late!

[dumb person]

Tried it just now, only works for me in R,2,N but not in 1 or 3.

[29ModelA]

Totally just tried this... too cool. Just have to pull up a little harder than I thought.

[SLPreston53]

Blessyouboys, In CA when I was first licensed, there were still some areas that had a law against exiting a vehicle on the driver's side when parked at a curb. My grandpa had the door literally torn out of his hand by a passing car (obviously way too close) while he was exiting in front of his house and he was found to be at fault because of that rule! Of course, the drivers door was perfectly legal and useful in every other situation, like parking in the driveway or in a parking lot.

[Special Coupe Frank]

"Necking lever".

Funny how no mention is made regarding this "feature" in the owners handbook....

SC Frank

[marty in Ohio]

When I started this thread I had no idea that this feature was so well hidden. Do you think it was really to exit the car from the right side? I've seen lots of talk on the barn about the lock only in the right door. Maybe old Henry was only thinking about our safety.

[TomW]

I was told years ago that you could use this feature to chain the lever to the steering column to prevent theft.

[Special Coupe Frank]

Originally Posted by marty in Ohio

When I started this thread I had no idea that this feature was so well hidden. Do you think it was really to exit the car from the right side? I've seen lots of talk on the barn about the lock only in the right door. Maybe old Henry was only thinking about our safety.

I think it is purely a coincidence of design.

Someone please show me where this "feature" is described in any original Ford literature, and I'll believe that it was an intentional design feature.

As for exterior lock only on passenger side / exiting on passenger(curb) side, this was common on cars before WW II, and on trucks well into the 1950's... my '54 Chevy 3/4 ton still had a single external lock, on the passenger side, as did my 1961 Willys pick-up. I think VW Beetles into the '60's had only a single exterior lock on one of the door handles... can't remember which side though.

Fast-forward 70-some years, my wife's 2000 Neue Beetle and 2005 Chevy Colorado pick-up have only a single exterior lock... on the driver's side.

Watch B&W movies from the Silent era through the 1950's, and you'll see lots of instances of people exiting / entering from the passenger-side, and sliding across the bench seat... ( oh, those are gone now too... )

[28-31]

Originally Posted by Special Coupe Frank

I think VW Beetles into the '60's had only a single exterior lock on one of the door handles... can't remember which side though.

Driver's Side

[switchkid0]

I thought it was kind of funny, the first time I saw it in a movie, some elegant, smartly-dressed gal scooting across the front seat to exit on the passenger side. Makes good sense to me. Can't count the times I've seen someone nearly lose a door because they couldn't be bothered to use their side view mirror.

[ericr]

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I thought I read that while driving on an extended trip in 3rd gear, people would pull it up and shift it over to have more leg room...is that possible?

[28-31]

Any chance someone can post a pic of the shifter in the "swing away" position?

[29ModelA]

Originally Posted by 28-31

Any chance someone can post a pic of the shifter in the "swing away" position?

It really doesn't look like there is more legroom to me.

[gweilbaker]

This here feature is what my better half likes, a little FW vibration, an out of place stick place just so and ooh, la laa she be happy. That's the reason she likes to sit closer!

[Charles Coe]

As Special Coupe Frank said, I have always thought this was an inadvertant byproduct of the shifter design. I also would like to know if it was promoted by Ford.

[30Ford]

yup . an old gent down the road from me showed me that a couple of years ago ....cool eh....






















=

[CarlG]

Originally Posted by Special Coupe Frank

...Fast-forward 70-some years, my wife's 2000 Neue Beetle and 2005 Chevy Colorado pick-up have only a single exterior lock... on the driver's side...

My 2004 Explorer only has a key lock on the driver's door. Not so handy when you have your hands full and trying to unlock the tailgate! (no key lock back there either.)

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Originally Posted by oldmanandakid

HA. Way cool and 40 years too late!

Hey Yall'
NEVER too LATE! WHEEEEEEE! Bill W.