Sad news... Ed “the Coupler Whisperer”

[tirwin]

Sorry if this has been posted already but I just learned about the passing of Ed “the Coupler Whisperer” Mitchell. Pelican username: Ivangene.

According to a post on Facebook by his sister, Ed suddenly and unexpectedly passed away last weekend.

Ed was a great guy that I had the great pleasure of meeting in person. He used to be very active here back when he was making replacement shift coupler bushings.

Other than sorting out my CIS, fixing a worn out shift coupler was one of the first projects I did on my car. Back then I traveled to Seattle very regularly on business. When I contacted Ed about my coupler he gave me his address to ship my old coupler which was in Bellevue. I said “I’ll be there next week. Why don’t I just bring it to you in person?”

We met up at a local watering hole — The Pump House if I recall — and had a great time. I swapped my old coupler for a fresh one, we had some beers and talked cars for a long time.

Ed was very active in his PCA community. If I remember correctly he was a DE instructor and a coordinator.

Ed was a super guy and I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to have met him. I believe he was the first of many Pelicans I’ve had the pleasure of meeting in person over the years. He will certainly be missed by his friends, family and the Porsche community.

Godspeed, Ed!

[mfiazzo]

Rest In Peace, I also use his coupler

[Danimal16]

Very sad indeed. RIP Ed

[4flyboy]

He was a great guy to deal with,

Used his coupler until shelling out $200 for a JWest piece. Noticed little if any difference.....he really was the Whisperer.

RIP Ed

[uwanna]

Have had his bushings in my coupler for years, still shifts like buttah.
I was disappointed when he gave up on his beautiful interior mounted
gated spring unit that did what a Seine unit does but was installed
on the inside of the shifter housing. He showed the prototype here
as well as some production units, but then it seems the whole project died. I think back then he started having health problems.
Great guy and he will be missed!

[Mahler9th]

Rip

[Cairo94507]

Always sad to lose a valued member of our community. RIP Ed.

[911pcars]

Sorry to hear. RIP

[pete3799]

Very sad to hear this.
RIP Ed.

[ssupman]

Sad news for our community. Prayers sent to his family and friends. RIP Ed.

[tirwin]

Originally Posted by uwanna

Have had his bushings in my coupler for years, still shifts like buttah.
I was disappointed when he gave up on his beautiful interior mounted
gated spring unit that did what a Seine unit does but was installed
on the inside of the shifter housing. He showed the prototype here
as well as some production units, but then it seems the whole project died. I think back then he started having health problems.
Great guy and he will be missed!

I believe it was called The Secret Shifter. I think one or two people actually had them installed in their cars.

[boyt911sc]

Tim,

I had numerous communications with Ed in the past and actually has his home address & phone number. But never met him in person. How old was Ed? Thanks.

Tony

[lsf911]

Very sorry to hear the sad news about Ed.

[tirwin]

Originally Posted by boyt911sc

Tim,

I had numerous communications with Ed in the past and actually has his home address & phone number. But never met him in person. How old was Ed? Thanks.

Tony

Tony,

He was probably in his late 40’s or early 50’s when we met in person. Way too young.

He had two sons and one of them (I don’t recall if he was older or younger) was just learning to drive. Ed had a video of him driving his ‘84 911 for the first time.

Ed seemed like a very healthy and active person. It is very shocking. From his sister’s post, it sounds like they don’t know what happened yet.

Such a tragedy.

[Jeff Alton]

Well ****... RIP, Best wishes to the family and close friends. That sucks.

[midnight911]

Thank you for sharing the news. Very sad. RIP. His bushings will continue to live in my car together with his spirit...

[timmy2]

Originally Posted by midnight911

Thank you for sharing the news. Very sad. RIP. His bushings will continue to live in my car together with his spirit...

Mine too. Ed was a great guy to talk to.

[proporsche]

R.i.p................;-(

[cabmandone]

Only way I know him is from his youtube video on changing coupler bushings. I probably wouldn't have tackled it had it not been for his video. RIP

[SkunkWorks]

Very sad to hear. RIP Ed.

I remember looking to pick up a set of his couplers but he had already stopped production by then.