Back in the heyday of hot rodding, when drag strips dotted the American landscape, a Southern California mechanic and engineer had an idea for a high quality side detent shifter on a modern automatic transmission. It would keep the original look of the manual shift stick, but shift the automatic transmission.
From this idea over 50 years ago, Gennie Shifter was born, creating an iconic line of hot rod accessories including shifters, knobs, hand brakes, pedals and cables that would become the standard of the industry.
Gennie Shifter officially launched in 1980 in West Covina, California. After 20 years of serving the hot rod industry, Gennie changed hands and was moved to Colorado with further innovations in products. These include the original 2-piece shift stick (for easier installation and maintenance) and the industrial and sleek Commander Series of shift sticks and pedals.
Gennie Shifter then changed hands in 2020 during mandatory lock down, and is now owned by Nick and Sonya Peterson and their children in Granby, Colorado. In a time of shortages and uncertainty the family focused on the tradition that all Gennie Shifter products are designed and built to the highest standards, using the finest materials, and all proudly made in the USA. Gennie Shifter continuously upgraded parts and stocked shelves with the help of a committed community of suppliers, right here in the United States. From flawless welding to precision machining and hand polished stainless steel sticks and hand brakes, Gennie Shifter includes some of the finest individuals and businesses to bring you the best products in the industry.
Gennie Shifter’s Lo-Stick Shift Assembly has our Original side detent system. Kind of like pulling back on a column shifter to shift out of park, you pull the shifter to the left against spring tension, and back, across the reverse detent, then neutral, and it stops at Drive. Pull to the left and back again to get to your lower gears. Going back forward, you have to pull to the left and forward in order to go to reverse, then lock it into Park. Once you’ve shifted a Gennie a few times, you always know what gear you are in. The lateral movement of our original side-detent design, with its positive stops, virtually eliminates shifting errors. The Lo-Stick Shift Assembly also includes a neutral safety switch, which allows for starting in park or neutral.
This design allows for a huge variety of “Perfect” solid stainless shift sticks, or the “Commander” I-beam aluminum shift sticks with unlimited choices of knobs. Check out our new hand painted Nostalgia Series Knobs.
Not only does Gennie Shifter carry numerous mount kits for most modern transmissions like the TH350, 700R4, C4 and C6, but Gennie also carries a line of Polished stainless Tremec Style, 2 bolt shift sticks for those with manual transmissions as well. The Index-15 and The Index-30 has the bend indexed towards the driver, and Gennie Shifter also carries an array of bench bend shift sticks.
Building your personal Gennie kit is easy.
- Add your Lo-Stick Shifter to the cart - Choose GM or Ford/Mopar
- Add your mounting kit based on your transmission. Pick a mid or rear mounting kit.
- Choose your shift stick, either the Perfect Shift stick in Raw or polished Solid Stainless Steel, or our iconic Commander series.
- Add your favorite knob from our extensive choices including the Nostalgia Series, or use your own.
- Select a boot kit.
For further customization you can add a handbrake, cables, pedals and more. For ordering and browsing the many items we offer, visit the website at www.gennieshifter.com or call (303) 623-1963 and we can help.
Along with the commitment to industry standards, Gennie Shifter is also committed to the car community. Gennie services everything from Hot Rods, Street Rods, Customs and Classics to Low Riders and Muscle Cars. Gennie Shifter has the fundamentals for the perfect build whether you have made building cars your occupation or your hobby. In the last few years, there has been a significant increase in customer support and enthusiasm. Many decades old customers have returned, but the surge of young builders is steadily on the rise. The importance of showcasing what made America stand out from the rest of the world in early car history is now being embraced by a much younger generation. Supporting youth in the car industry is also a passion of Gennie Shifter, since the family made the decision to step into this together.
As a family, Gennie Shifter has loved getting back to shows, meeting with customers, gaining new ones and finding Gennie parts in all kinds of rides.
Even the children have enjoyed working shows and bringing friends to share the car culture enthusiasm.
You might have as much fun as we do finding Gennie Shifters “out in the wild in their natural environments”. Once you spot a Gennie Shifter, you spot the Original and Still the Best. Be sure to share your rides with us at customerrides@gennieshifter.com or tag us @gennieshifter on social.
Article by Nick and Sonya Peterson
Photos provided by Gennie Shifter
