In the beginning, there was a manual transmission and it was shifted from a shift lever that came up through the floor. As the "age of automatic transmissions" arrived, the "column shift" became the rage, as moving the shift lever to the column was more upscale and "automatic transmission"-like. Later on, for many people "floor shift = common car", but "column shift = upscale car". Plus, in those earlier times, a car could be entered from the passenger side, parked at the curb on a busy street, then slide across the front seat to the driver's side, so a column shift was much better for that. In a time well before center consoles!
With the "performance orientation" of the middle 1950s, floor shifts became more in vogue as a high-performance item. Corvettes and T-birds had them, for example. If you happened to see one in a normal Ford or Chevy, you'd know there was a "hot rodder" that owned it. But if it was a 6-cyl pickup truck with a floor shift, it was usually the "Granny 4-speed" for pulling. Where normal driving only used the top THREE speeds.
On something like a '68 Buick Skylark GS400 convertible, the price can double when the (normally) automatic trans is converted (factory style) to a 4-spd manual trans. No doubt the price of the Coronet would increase by a lesser amount, though. BUT it would depend upon the ultimate buyer of the Coronet of how they might perceive which trans/shifter ought to be in it. Anybody who was going to be serious about "racing" would need to have the floor shifter, no doubt.
It needs to find a good and loving home, no doubt. It'd make a neat car, especially after replacing the fuel line rubber and such, for dependable durability.
Just some thoughts,
CBODY67
With the "performance orientation" of the middle 1950s, floor shifts became more in vogue as a high-performance item. Corvettes and T-birds had them, for example. If you happened to see one in a normal Ford or Chevy, you'd know there was a "hot rodder" that owned it. But if it was a 6-cyl pickup truck with a floor shift, it was usually the "Granny 4-speed" for pulling. Where normal driving only used the top THREE speeds.
On something like a '68 Buick Skylark GS400 convertible, the price can double when the (normally) automatic trans is converted (factory style) to a 4-spd manual trans. No doubt the price of the Coronet would increase by a lesser amount, though. BUT it would depend upon the ultimate buyer of the Coronet of how they might perceive which trans/shifter ought to be in it. Anybody who was going to be serious about "racing" would need to have the floor shifter, no doubt.
It needs to find a good and loving home, no doubt. It'd make a neat car, especially after replacing the fuel line rubber and such, for dependable durability.
Just some thoughts,
CBODY67
Like the lyrics of Hotel California..."You can checkout any time you like, but you can never leave".
