At a Hy-Y dance back in the '60s, I remember being told by a cop that we couldn't have 3 people in the front seat of the coupe because of the floor shift (I was in high school and had 2 buddies in the car at the time). I can still remember the look on his face when I lifted the shifter and moved it over by the choke rod! He just shook his head, mumbled and walked away! True story.
You can lift it out and swivel it in high gear, but it's hard to do without popping it out of gear.