Vintage Hurst Shifters
Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2021 9:19 pm
So like all good intentions to research something, and like Alice, down the Rabbit Hole I went.
From time to time we see vintage Hurst shifters come up for sale in the various marketplace sites on the internet. While these devices were very plentiful, at least in the 60's and 70's, the original Hurst shifters now seem to be sky rocketing in price. The rarest of all of these shifters are the NOS shifters that occasionally find their way out of someone's secret stash. Whether they are curved, straight, chrome, copper plated, NOS, or show the patina of years of stroking them, they all seem to be desired.
Hurst made a lot of shifters beginning from the early 60's for almost every make and model of vehicle, but my focus was strictly on the VW Hurst shifters. I wanted to know when they started production and whether my Life Time Warrantee would still be honored
So off to Google I went. What I found was that the Hurst Company actually started in 1958 under the name Hurst-Campbell in a repair shop in Glenside, PA. Over the years they produced a number of things including their shifters. In 1970 the company was acquired by Sunbeam Products (yes, the company that made blenders), who sold it in 1987 to the Mr. Gasket Co. In 2007, B&M Racing and Performance Products bought the Hurst brand. B&M Racing and Performance Products now seem to be under the Holley umbrella of companies and they still produce Hurst shifters, just not for A/C VW's. I guess I'd better not try to get warrantee service.
Here are a few goodies I have. Let's see yours.
From time to time we see vintage Hurst shifters come up for sale in the various marketplace sites on the internet. While these devices were very plentiful, at least in the 60's and 70's, the original Hurst shifters now seem to be sky rocketing in price. The rarest of all of these shifters are the NOS shifters that occasionally find their way out of someone's secret stash. Whether they are curved, straight, chrome, copper plated, NOS, or show the patina of years of stroking them, they all seem to be desired.
Hurst made a lot of shifters beginning from the early 60's for almost every make and model of vehicle, but my focus was strictly on the VW Hurst shifters. I wanted to know when they started production and whether my Life Time Warrantee would still be honored
So off to Google I went. What I found was that the Hurst Company actually started in 1958 under the name Hurst-Campbell in a repair shop in Glenside, PA. Over the years they produced a number of things including their shifters. In 1970 the company was acquired by Sunbeam Products (yes, the company that made blenders), who sold it in 1987 to the Mr. Gasket Co. In 2007, B&M Racing and Performance Products bought the Hurst brand. B&M Racing and Performance Products now seem to be under the Holley umbrella of companies and they still produce Hurst shifters, just not for A/C VW's. I guess I'd better not try to get warrantee service.Here are a few goodies I have. Let's see yours.
