^I've never had that happen.
FDSpirit wrote:What is so hard about making the automatic shifter setup like it is in smaller cars? This pertains mostly to luxury vehicles. It looks confusing as hell with the way they are setup. Zig zag column gear selectors. Why not just a straight vertical column?
There used to be only two kinds of automatic shifters until the marketing department took over. There is very little logic or technical validity to any of the newfangled designs...they're just there to sell cars to people who would rather look cool or just have no idea why it matters.
Until those came around, everything was a straight line PRND{whatever}. PRNDL, PRND2L, PRND321, etc. It was either on the column or the console/floor. Regardless it was always a straight line and all it had was a single lockout, either a button/lever or (for column shifters) having to pull it back while moving it up/down. (Well, many also had a brake lockout for P.) The lockout on many only affected P, R, and the rear of D letting you shift from N<->D without operating the lockout. If you knew how to operate one car, you knew how to operate them all without even looking.
There were exceptions but what I describe was in 99.9% of automatics.
While googling up pictures for this, I found some interesting stuff...
What's the deal with this thing found on an Oldsmobile 442?
I tried to find out but failed; but I did learn of the Hurst Dual Gate shifter:
http://hrst79.tripod.com/79hrst/id11.html
Dual shift patterns provide the ultimate in street/strip control. It's strictly automatic on the left side and as precise as a fully sychronized manual control on the right. Hurst's positive latching mechanism and Neutral lock-out takes the guess work out of gear changing, going up or down. There's no possibility of missing a gear. No chance of overshifting into Neutral and maybe blowing an engine.
Guess what it looks like? The newfangled oddball ones we're dissing!