As Blake mentioned, it is a driving "accessory" of sorts - it sits tight on
the wheel but it can revolve, allowing you to hold only the knob and steer
with one hand, because you can "push" the steering wheel through its entire
arc easily with one hand.
The ad did not say the knob was a must if it is illegal in your state. It
said the FLIP-DOWN style was a must (this was a choice, I think for more
$), so if a regular knob was illegal in your state then you'd really want
to get yourself the flip-down style.
As far as I think (I don't KNOW this for a fact), the suicide knob is
illegal in MOST if not all states. It is called a suicide knob for obvious
reasons - it's an easy way to kill yourself because you can't control the
car very well in extreme situations with one of those. As to a flip-down
style, I have no idea what those are, but presumably they flip down, out of
sight, or maybe even off, so you can get it out of sight quickly when the
cops come over to see your license and registration.
All that said, I note that it claims to be a "reproduction" which presumes
there once was an original, and I somewhat doubt that, because by the 60's
the dangers of the suicide knob were pretty well known and the knobs
themselves (or rather, installation thereof) were generally outlawed. There
might have been some aftermarket knobs, but I suspect MG wasn't issuing
them, butchaneverknow. I also suspect they didn't license the MG logo ON
the knob, but again, who knows?
All in all, though, you wouldn't want one, I hope. They're dangerous, and
even kind of tacky in a I'm-a-teenager-I-can-drive-with-one-hand
hey-everybody-watch-this sort of way. Good way to remove yourself from the
gene pool.
- Tab
At 12:24 AM 9/1/02, Andrew B. Lundgren wrote:
>Yeah, I am, browsing though ebay tonight... Always a good time
>killer!
>
>Anyway, what is a MGB Suicide Knob? It is item #1854967790. All I
>could think of is maybe it is a kill switch? But you would not want to
>advertise one of those with a fancy switch, you would want to hide
>it....
>
>
>Why is it a must if it is illegal where you live?
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