I [Heart] Dash Shifters
Ever wondered what it looks like to row through the gears in the amazingly-C-pillared Honda Z600? Wonder no more, friends! Some Z/AN600 navel-gazing after the jump, if you care to join me in my revelry.
Before Civics grew to monsters proportions (hell, before Civics even existed), the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it AN600 was the fourth production vehicle with more than two wheels to roll out of the Sayama factory in Saitama prefecture. The Z360/Z600/Z-Act (note that the Honda worldwide naming schizophrenia has its roots at the beginning!) was surprisingly capable in real-world urban situations, utilizing a 598cc air-cooled 2-cylinder type EH engine and a 5-speed transmission. It weighed 1,300 lbs soaking wet and made a claimed 36 hp, a power-to-weight ratio of about 36lbs/hp – only a little worse than a modern Prius. Throw in the ski-mask rear window trim and the aforementioned dash-mounted shifter, and it was certainly a unique ride for any American in the ’70s.
A much more in-depth walkaround, view of the engine compartment, and obligatory glasspack-enhanced revving in the following video:
Related posts:
I [heart] shifting vids in general. Gave me a [raging] clue as to how these things work.
[youtube -ZmGZnmvSCM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZmGZnmvSCM youtube]
I still want one of those.
I had something intelligent to say, but then I saw the picture and all I could come up with was TINY HONDAS OM NOM NOM.
I'm sorry! I'm a failure of a commenter!
I think that Citroën in the second picture also sports a dash mounted shifter.
Famous last words. "Watch this. See any cops?"
"Here…. Hold my Beer!"
It's pretty fast… downhill… with a tail wind…. on the back of a truck.
You would be surprised. I'm a Professional Truck-Driver, and we name almost every little hill and grade, the more classic ones getting the verbal equivalent of "all caps" ie, Wolf Creek, Cabbage, Fourth of July, Donner and Independence as well as a host of others. My little car pulls Ash Fork Hill at 70mph with very little problem, but as the guy in the video states, parts can be a bit expensive, so you don't want to push it to much.
Before I scrolled down the mention of dash shifters I immediately thought of my Honda 600. Mine was the "Sedan" "N600" of 72 vintage like the one in the video. by the tim I got it someone had lowered it by cutting the coils up front and fllipping leaves out back. It amde for a pretty crappy ride. Since the coils up front originally had parallel ends the resulting pigtail end didn't fit in the struts spring seat very well and could get messed up on really big bumps.
Shifting it was interesting R required a rolling technique it wasn't over and down. Even the plaque on the dash shows the curved pattern. I had driven a few before I got one and always struggled getting into R and it took a few weeks til I had it down where I could do it in a natural motion.
The coolest thing about it is the clutch set up it is under a cover on the drivers side. The entire job can be done in less than 1hr.
When I owned my early CRX, I once parked next to a Z600 coupe. It actually made my car look big. It seemed most of the ones I've seen were orange.
That's just funky and cool as hell. It reminds me of the dashboard of the '60 Rambler that a buddy of mine had long ago. The steering wheel came right out of the dash, no column to speak of, and the shifter (three speed, of course) came out of the dash right next to it. Freakin' weird, but way fun. http://blog.collectorcarads.com/wp-content/upload…
The 2002 – 2005 Honda Civic Si had the same shifter location:
http://images.automobilemag.com/reviews/justdrive…
Wow, I had no idea how different the Sedan and the Coupe were, I just assumed they were identical except for the body bits.
I had a good friend who had gotten in line to get one of the first of the Mini Coopers a few years ago when they first came out as a sort of Mid-Life Crisis/ Boyfriend Who Won't Ask Me To Marry Him Gets Kicked Out gift. When I had first gotten my CoupeZ and was fueling it up, she pulled up next to me in her ratty old beat-up Toyota P-U.
"Where's the Mini?" I asked, thinking we could go thrashing around together.
"Your days of driving around with a Beer between your legs are over!" she yelled out the window.
"Huh,…..What?"
"Every Tom, Dick, and Harry is going to be looking at you, and every time you stop, they'll come over, or yell out the window some pithy comment that they think is brilliant, but you've heard a thousand times before…."
She sped off, and was absolutely right.
Alfa Romeo Spider was halfway there.
http://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/attachments/alfa-…