Victoria with moveable stick shift
 

I was working on the 30 Fordor and the neighbor walked over. Nice man, about 90. Admired the car, then said he bought a Victoria when he was a teen. I said wow they were the cream of the crop, then I asked him how he managed to buy a Vickie. He said in 1946 it was the only car on the lot, new or used.

He asked me if the stick shift moved out of the way once it was in high gear. I told him I didn't know what he meant. He smiled and looked up, I could almost hear his mind searching thru old files of the 1940's. He looked at me and said, "son you could move the gear shift lever out of the way so your girl could sit next to you and not waste any space. In case you had a car full or you wanted your girl to sit close to you." He gave me a knowing wink and walked back to his porch.

Anyone know what he was referring to ?

Re: Victoria with moveable stick shift
 

From memory, you simply pull the stick upwards and swing it around against the gas tank.

Re: Victoria with moveable stick shift
 

Yes. Put the shifter in 3rd gear, pull up with a decent effort and rotate it up against the gas tank, near the choke rod.

This can be done sitting in the garage, or going down the road.

Re: Victoria with moveable stick shift
 

Standard with all Model A's not just Victoria

Re: Victoria with moveable stick shift
 

I have heard that it is not good to swing it back and let it bang into place. My '31 RDPU has this feature which I believe was common on all passenger cars.

Charlie Stephens

Re: Victoria with moveable stick shift
 

Re: Victoria with moveable stick shift
 

Bet there were rumble seat going-ons in those days too :)

Re: Victoria with moveable stick shift
 

I use to have a 29 tudor that I would show off this shifter feature to. Everyone got a kick out of it.

Re: Victoria with moveable stick shift
 

It used to be said that everyone learned about sex in the back seat of a Buick. Heck you can learn about that in the front seat of an 'A' too !

Re: Victoria with moveable stick shift
 

The problem is getting the gear shift lever to reengage the shift forks. Also, the Model "A" has a much stiffer gear shift tower spring than the V8 Fords, so it is much more difficult to disengage / reengage the gear shift lever.
I have tried this, and I say, "Don't do it because there is a good chance you will need to remove the gear shift tower to get the lever back into the shift forks!"

Re: Victoria with moveable stick shift
 

Bob B is correct imho

Re: Victoria with moveable stick shift
 

So this was done for decades, but, now it can't.

Re: Victoria with moveable stick shift
 

Not sure it was designed to be done while moving, and I wouldn't try it.

More of a Safety feature, which allowed entry and exit to the car from the passenger side of the vehicle. That's also why the door locks are on the passenger side as well. Safer to enter car from the curb side of the vehicle.

Re: Victoria with moveable stick shift
 

“So this was done for decades, but, now it can't.”

Sure you can.....but with wear, etc. why?
Unless one really needs the middle of the seat space.
You just have reset to shift even if downward.
Is it in the owners manuals? I just don’t know and not bothering to look

Re: Victoria with moveable stick shift
 

The shift lever trick was more of a V8 Ford thing because of the weaker spring. In 2nd gear or reverse, the gear shift lever in a Model "A" is almost up against the gas tank, so snuggling up with your honey is not a difficult thing to do.
For those who doubt me, go ahead and try it. Then let me know your thoughts!

Re: Victoria with moveable stick shift
 

Did this stuff back in the late 60s with my 30 ccpu. Three in the front seat got a little crowded. When you returned the the shifter back to third gear it would SNAP down into gear and baby I mean SNAP.

Re: Victoria with moveable stick shift
 

My '31 Sport Coupe that I drove in High School had the stick shortened. I could pull it up and swing it 180 completely under the gas tank.

Re: Victoria with moveable stick shift
 

I remember an Ol' Timer telling me they used to rotate the shifter an lock it to the parking brake for an anti-theft device. No mention of trouble getting it re-engaged with the shift forks.

Re: Victoria with moveable stick shift
 

Rotating the shifter forward doesn't hurt anything. Do it all the time, has been done for 90 years with no problem. If it doesn't re-engage properly its because something isn't right. Pulling it up takes some practice, lift straight up, don't pull up with any sideways pull. When you swing it back it'll click right in again no problem. Most A's are gummed up from years of drivers not using this feature, use it some and it becomes second nature and easy to do. You're not going to want to do it in stop-and-go traffic, but when out alone on the open country roads, it gives you more room.

Re: Victoria with moveable stick shift
 

I went over the PDF of the owner's manual last night, all 54 pages. It didn't mention being able to move the shift lever, but I'm sure corporate didn't want to be seen promoting immoral thoughts.

That's really interesting info; I will have to tell Ken this one will do the same thing...but at my age I don't have the NEED to move the lever out of the way as often as a teen would. Still it might be fun to see if it'll happen. I wish the humidity would drop a bit here...currently 84 and 70% humidity,,,air you can wear. Its much more fun to drive the A in 70 degrees then 90.