I have had two '51 Hillmans (and a '48) that had the column shift and they
were acceptable as far as column shifters go. However, the mechanisims in the
later cars got worse and worse. My '53 ST 90 did not seem anywhere near as
good (I cannot figure out why) and my current '62 Minx was terrible-I
converted it to a floor shift.
Jan Eyerman (past owner of 100+ Rootes cars)
Fred Levit <fle426@northwestern.edu> wrote:
In 1951, and for the 12 years thereafter, I drove a 1951 Hillman Minx with
the steering column shift as described by Bob Hamilton. It was no problem
to drive and no problem to shift. First gear was a very low crawl gear,
only used when going up a steep hill. Normaly the car was started in second.
I had forgotten about the business of pulling out the knob on the shift arm
to get into reverse, but that's exactly how it worked.
Fred Levit
Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. USA
fle426@northwestern.edu
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