Column shift manual transmissions were very common during the 60's and 70's, more so on base model cars, and commercial orientated vehicles. Almost every car came with a column shift, even the Hakosuka Skyline (the 1500 model, that is). Basically, it was done so you could have a bench seat without having to touch the moddle person's funky bits in order to perform a gear change. Of course, automatics are often inappropriate for various tasks, and thus the column shift manual came to be. That said, many cars from the era also used floor shift manuals (all 6 cylinder Hakosuka's had a floor shift). During the 80's, the sort of cars that had column shift manuals became standard with buckets and floor shift, thus they are rather uncommon now.
Working on my Ford Escort again http://www.beamng.com/threads/1325-Ford-Escort-MK1-RS View attachment 40619 View attachment 40620 View attachment 40621 View attachment 40622 View attachment 40623 View attachment 40624 View attachment 40625 View attachment 40626