Nate Shelton, Chairman of the B&M Companies, announced the acquisition of the Hurst Shifter Division, a Mr.Gasket Inc. brand since 1987.
Hurst is a leading manufacturer of performance and racing shifters for the manual and automatic transmission markets. Known as “America’s Number 1 Shifter Company”, Hurst has been an OEM supplier of performance shifters since the 1960’s, and in more recent years, has offered “Hurst” branded factory packages. Hurst also offers a wide range of shifter accessories and a rebuild program for early classics outfitted with original Hurst shifters. B&M Racing & Performance Products has been in the shifter business even longer than Hurst and it has an excellent understanding and reputation in the marketplace.
It is a sad day for fans of the Hurst Shifter. I cannot see B&M designing and marketing a shifter under both brands for the Corvette market. It is too early to tell which product line will live on, but I expect to see B&M and Hurst shifters merging into a single product line sometime very soon.
Who has the better brand name in Corvette market B&M or Hurst?