I bought a van one time and it had a St. John the Baptist shift knob.  It
was clear plastic with a picture of John in the middle.  The guy that sold
me the van, would not let me keep it, he took it with him as part of the
deal.  I have no idea where he got it and if you could ever get another
one.  When driving a Vanagon, you need all of the help you can get :-)

Ken Wilford
John 3:16
www.vanagain.com

On Wed, Feb 12, 2014 at 7:06 PM, Jim Felder <jim.felder@gmail.com> wrote:

> I once had an Austin Healy Sprite. You reached more or less down to reach
> the know from the driver's position. The handle was mushroom shaped and fit
> perfectly into your palm. I later had a triumph with a manly shift lever
> that you reached up to to engage. It had a knurled brass (not stock) one
> inch or so diameter "knob" that was about three and a half inches tall. It
> fell perfectly into my hands grabbing it like a subway pole. Very vertical.
>
> I had a Renault Dauphine with a little teardrop-shaped white porcelain knob
> that made one stick one's little finger out to operate the gears like a
> demitasse cup.
>
> I had an MGA with a stitched leather ergonomic kidney bean with the car's
> logo in the top.
>
> Each was perfect for its task whether it was original or a replacement.
>
> What is the perfect shape for a vanagon, especially something that could be
> turned on a lathe but not limited to that?
>
> It could be shaped like the oarlock on a Venician gondola for all I care.
> It's too cold and snowy to get out and take measurements, just in the
> thinking stage. Think about how you reach down to engage the Vanagon shift
> knob (unless you are my wife the time she literally fell off the seat and
> onto the floor in traffic reaching for something).
>
> Jim
>

--
Thanks,
Ken Wilford
John 3:16
www.vanagain.com