It's a small detail, really. A knob. That little doo-dad that resides at the very top of your shifter stalk. But for all the thinking the average gearhead puts into their ride, it's often the one thing that gets overlooked. That's what led Debbie and I to start HotRodShiftKnob.com a couple years ago.
Our goal was to offer the largest selection of shift knobs found anywhere, and we're certainly getting there. But when you have that many choices, what do you run on your personal ride? Well, my Dodge Magnum seemed to get a new knob every month or so until just recently.
I think I've found the perfect knob, thanks to my thoughtful wife. I now run a knob with sentimental value.
When my dad passed last year, we got a small box of his keepsakes. As my dad was a very practical person, it was mostly little functional trinkets. Paper clips and Chapstick and Tic Tacs and nail clippers and such. But in the midst of all those useful items was a little medal medallion. Was it a coin? A charm? Something he got a long time ago in Korea while on R&R? I have no idea and probably never will.
But knowing I quite liked that little trinket, Debbie embedded it in a marble red knob and it is one-of-a-kind and wonderful. I immediately screwed it onto the Magnum and now I think about my dad every time I drive.
It makes me happy, having a small piece of my dad's life, still part of mine. And that, as far as I'm concerned, is what makes for a perfect shift knob. Love you, dad. Hope you're watching the play-offs
today.
