GeorgiaDragRacing.com - Information about Georgia drag racing history, personalities, activities and events.
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Gene Cromer Installed My New Gold ShifterGene Cromer Installed My New Gold Shifter. by Terry Hunt Enjoyed your article on Gene Cromer. (See Gene Cromer: The Invader from South Carolina.) Boy, was that a name from the past! I moved from Monroe, Georgia to Anderson, South Carolina at the end of my junior year in High School in 1965. I had a decent '57 Chevy that was plagued with a lousy shifter that the former owner had installed. I think it was out of a Corvair. Like most all guys at this age, I had no money. I used to fill out the order forms from my Honest Charlie catalog, but never send them in because I had no funds to speak of. Finally, I scraped together enough money to get myself a Hurst shifter. The day it arrived was a major event. I didn't even open the box, because I knew that installing it was beyond my then modest talents. I had heard of Gene's Speed Shop, so I made a beeline there to ask Gene if he would install my new prize. When we opened the box, I was dumbfounded. Having a new Syncro Loc shifter was plenty cool by itself, but this one had a gold stick! I was already imagining how cool I would be cruising through the Shining Tower (the local curb service hang out), but when the rest of my pals got a look at this gold stick, I would truly be King of the Cool Cars! Gene got my Chevy up in the air in no time and went to work. He asked me to make a run to the NAPA store for him while he installed my shifter. I considered this an honor, especially when he told me to take his shop truck, a very cool '58 Ranchero with three on the floor. Seems like I recall it having an Eelco shifter. When I returned, my shifter was almost installed, but I got the shock of my life. My one-of-a-kind gold stick was now chrome. I finally regained enough composure to ask Gene what happened. He took me over to his workbench and showed me the gold tinted shrink wrap that had been put on at the Hurst factory to protect the stick from scratches during shipping. This was a huge disappointment at first, but the thrill of seeing that very wicked flat stick protruding up through the floor soon made up for the initial let down. I remember Gene's Willys very well. It was a metallic blue, with the undercarriage painted white. It had the compulsory galvanized pipe with end caps for a rear bumper. I think it was running the 427 side oiler at this time. (Also, see Gene Cromer: The Invader from South Carolina by Marvin T. Smith in our Articles & Stories section.)
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