Automakers feel the need to reinvent the wheel in order to make a splash in the market, but I don’t think anyone has ever lamented their car’s traditional gear selector for being too boring. Especially in cars with automatic transmissions, it’s important for OEMs to make things clear and simple to avoid owners accidentally brushing the wrong button or a child pulling the wrong lever and sending the car into an unintentional situation.
Over the years, many parts of cars have transitioned away from mechanical operation and moved toward electronic operation, which has allowed for OEMs to reimagine their designs. The gear selector is one of those frequently reimagined parts — and here you’ll find 15 of the weirdest shifters and gear selectors.
BMW i3’s Bop-It Shifter
The BMW i3 was a funky little car that was ahead of its time. From the unusual styling and the half-size rear-hinged rear doors to its then-strange gear selector, the i3 did most things a little differently. This Bop-It looking shifter protrudes from the steering column, and operation required twisting the knob to select a drive gear or pushing the P button to return the car to park. The stalk also housed the car’s start button.
Tesla’s Terrible Touchscreen Shifter
Tesla used to use Mercedes-Benz column shifters in its cars, but that made way too much sense. Newer Teslas like the Model S and Model X have done away with the traditional shifter and moved this function into the touch screen, where drivers swipe up to put the car in drive. The updated Model 3 Highland will adopt this change, too. This is possibly the least-intuitive shift mechanism on the market, and honestly seems dangerous.
Oldsmobile Hurst Lightning Rods
The Oldsmobile Hurst Lightning Rod shifters look the most foreign out of all shifters on this list. There are three gear knobs; the knob farthest away from the driver handles first and second gears, the middle knob handles the shift to third gear, and the main knob shifts the car into overdrive. It also could function like a normal automatic if the two shifters farthest from the driver were pushed forward and the main shifter was in overdrive.
Audi Q8 E-Tron
The Audi E-Tron has a truly unique gear selector that is operated by pushing a rectangular toggle on a larger handrest forward or backward to select reverse or drive respectively. Its uniqueness comes from the fact that the whole handle doesn’t move, just the little rectangle portion closest to the driver. It’s intuitive and operates smoothly, but is still a fun and innovative take on the traditional gear selector.
Koenigsegg CC850
Koenigsegg’s engage shift system (ESS) can function as a traditional gated 6-speed manual transmission with a clutch pedal, or it can be put into automatic mode and operate like a normal automatic transmission by moving the gear selector into D.
Honda Element’s Dash-Mounted Manual
The Honda Element’s manual gear selector itself isn’t the weirdest part about this transmission, the location of it is. Since the Element didn’t have a floor-mounted center console, the shifter had to be perched high on the dashboard just below the climate controls. Its location is a space saving solution that keeps the shifter close to the driver’s hand, and allows for the spacious interior to remain unenclosed.
Lincoln Navigator Piano Key Mechanism
Lincoln ditched the console-mounted gear selector with the Navigator’s 2018 redesign, making the gear selector a row of beautiful piano key–style buttons instead. Most push-button shifters bother me, but Lincoln did a great job of integrating this interface and making it look and feel premium.
Toyota Prius’ Joystick Shifter
The second-generation Toyota Prius was introduced with a strange gear selector that returned to its original position after the desired drive gear was selected. Much like a joystick, drivers had to pull the small stalk toward them and push forward for reverse, pull it backward to select drive, or pull the knob straight down to select B mode.
Citroën 2CV’s Wacky Push/Pull Arrangement
The Citroen 2CV has a wacky shifter that juts out of the dashboard and looks sort of like the end of a cane. Instead of operating like a normal floor-mounted shifter or even a column shifter, the 2CV’s shifter must be pulled away from the dashboard and toward the driver for first gear, pushed forward into the middle position for second gear, pulled straight out of the dash for third gear, and pushed into the dash and to the right for fourth gear. It operates like a dogleg manual aside from the push into or pull away from the dash actuation.
Lamborghini Urus’ Cartoonish Shifter Array
Automatic-equipped Lamborghinis usually have non-traditional gear selectors, but I chose to focus on the Urus because it’s the brand’s most mainstream model, yet it still has an unconventional shifter. The entire shift system in the Urus bucks from the norm, with an unusual console-mounted set of three toggles, none of which put the car into drive. To put the car into drive, you have to pull the upshift paddle on the steering wheel, while to engage reverse you have to grab the middle lever on the console and pull toward you. The other levers control drive modes and other vehicle functions.
Jaguar Land Rover’s Rising Rotary Knob
Jaguar Land Rover shocked the world when it introduced its pop-up rotating gear selector. I remember being mesmerized when the XF was launched with this shifter. Nowadays rotary shifters are a dime a dozen, but the way this shifter electronically rose from the center console when the car was started and retracted when the car was turned off was captivating. Unfortunately, a shifter that disappeared when the car was off didn’t bode well when things got buggy. The shifter would break and get locked shut causing headaches.
BMW E46 M3 SMG Joyless-Joystick Situation
The E46 M3 was available with a manual transmission, but those who sprung for the then-exotic SMG transmission got a weird little shifter. To put the car into automatic mode, you had to push the lever to the right twice. With one push the car entered manual mode, allowing users to either shift with the paddles or using the gear knob sequentially.
Volvo’s Crystal Shifter
Volvo is no stranger to weird shifters — look at the notorious “space ball” manual transmission in the S60R, for example — but I wanted to show some love for the more modern crystal gear selector. Unlike many electronic gear selectors, Volvo requires users to do double inputs to select a gear. To select drive, you have to pull the crystal shifter toward you once, let it return to center, and pull it toward you again. The same goes for reverse, but pushing forward twice to engage the gear.
Honda And Acura’s Push-Button Nightmare
Push-button gear selectors have been around for a long time, but Honda’s is the ugliest. I find it especially offensive in the Acura TLX sport sedan, where it’s located in a long row in the middle of the center console, taking up as much space as a regular automatic transmission shifter. The buttons are all different shapes to help avoid mishaps, but it just looks ugly.
Ferrari Roma’s Laser Shifter
Ferrari’s automatic transmissions, much like Lamborghini’s, are often unusual, but I love the Roma’s artful metal shifter. When you shift between automatic and manual drive modes by pushing the center lever forward or pulling it backward, light beams shoot toward the gear indicator letters making a fun little animation that makes the car feel more special, which is what a Ferrari is all about.