Editing Manual transmission (section)

=== {{anchor|Three on the tree|Column-mounted shifter|Column shift|Column}} Column-mounted shifter ===

[[File:SAAB96-interior.jpg|thumb|right|Column mounted gear shift lever in a [[Saab 96]]]]

Some vehicles have a gear lever mounted on the steering column. A 3-speed column shifter, which came to be popularly known as a "three on the tree", began appearing in America in the late 1930s and became common during the 1940s and 1950s. If a U.S. vehicle was equipped with [[overdrive (mechanics)|overdrive]], it was very likely to be a [[Borg-Warner]] type, operated by briefly backing off the accelerator pedal when above {{convert|28|mph|abbr=on}} to enable, and momentarily flooring the same pedal to return to normal gear. The control simply disables overdrive for such situations as parking on a hill or preventing unwanted shifting into overdrive.{{citation needed|date=April 2012}}

[[File:Manual Layout 3.svg|125px]]

Later, European and Japanese models began to have 4-speed column shifters with this shift pattern:

[[File:Column4MT.svg|125px]]

A majority of North American-spec vehicles sold in the U.S. and Canada had a 3-speed column-mounted shifter—the first generation Chevrolet/GMC vans of 1964–70 vintage had an ultra-rare 4-speed column shifter. The column-mounted manual shifter disappeared in North America by the mid-1980s, last appearing in the 1987 [[Chevrolet Scottsdale|Chevrolet pickup truck]]. Prior to 1980, the GM X platform compacts (Chevrolet Nova and its rebadged corporate clones) were the final passenger cars to have a column-mounted manual shifter. Outside North America, the column-mounted shifter remained in production. All [[Toyota Crown]] and [[Nissan Cedric]] [[taxicabs of Hong Kong|taxis in Hong Kong]] had the 4-speed column shift until 1999 when automatic transmissions were first offered. Since the late 1980s or early 1990s,{{Vague|date=May 2011}} a 5-speed column shifter has been offered in some vans sold in Asia and Europe, such as [[Toyota Hiace]], [[Mitsubishi Delica|Mitsubishi L400]] and the first-gen [[Fiat Ducato]]. Many European cars had manual column shifts and the Renault 16TX had a 5 speed.

Column shifters are mechanically similar to floor shifters, although shifting occurs in a vertical plane instead of a horizontal one. Because the shifter is further away from the transmission, and the movements at the shifter and at the transmission are in different planes, column shifters require more complicated [[linkage (mechanical)|linkage]] than floor shifters. Advantages of a column shifter are the ability to switch between the two most commonly used gears—second and third—without letting go of the steering wheel, and the lack of interference with passenger seating space in vehicles equipped with a [[bench seat]].