Shift knob origin, help please?

[tschall]

Evening all, in our world of special cars, stories abound. This one is small, but interesting. Does anyone have any knowledge about this shift knob. It has been part of our M491 for over 34 years and maybe more. Any info appreciated. The body shows a rubber, lightly textured 915 (non threaded knob), with upper and lower vertically inter-locking plastic inserts. The bottom part bears the word PATENT and MADE IN ITALY. The top a Porsche crest with PORSCHE inscribed on the top edge. It is a finger molded shift. I will share the story if/when we get some solid facts on the origin, for those interested.
Thanks!

[GH85Carrera]

Back in the 1980s there were tons of people making Porsche branded "stuff" and none of them had permission. I remember the days of all sorts of things with Porsche crest and script on them. Then Porsche sent out their lawyers to seek out everyone from the smallest mom and pop to large companies to stop using the crest or logos, and they took many to court, and won damages.

Likely it was made in that era, and I not made anymore. I have never seen a shift knob like it.

[tschall]

Glen, neither have I. It is not known among any of my Porsche friends. All this makes the "legend" of this knob all the more interesting. Stay tuned and we'll see if anyone can point us in a factual direction. The backstory involves the original buyer, and his lifetime friend, some guy named Enzo... this particular car just gets more and more interesting on every level.
Thanks for the contribution.

[76FJ55]

Looks very reminiscent to this Corvette sift knob listed on eBay. Appears yours may be missing the leather cover, evident by the groove up the back of your knob to account for the seam in the leather. Can't tell if the Vette knob has the finger grooves molded into it from the angle of their pictures, but the "PATENT", "MADE IN ITALY" molded into the plastic on the bottom looks pretty similar. THis doesn't get you any closer to the actual manufacturer of the knob but may support it being an aftermarket company.

Edit: you bay be able to contact the eBay seller and ask for better picks to confirm if the finger ridges are present on his knob.

[tschall]

76FJ55 thanks for the heads up! I have reached out to the Seller and requested answers and better pictures. His description states, "Wood" and it is the first "close" knob noted. Thanks! Will respond when/if I learn anything.
Small things matter!

[tschall]

Good Seller. Just answered back, "No finger grooves, it’s just tapered. Yes it’s leather, and plastic inside. It’s centered on top (Corvette) medallion."
Not close except for the bottom shift sleeve "Made In Italy" marking, Shape/material/finish is all wrong. Someone, somewhere has gotta know something...
In case you missed it, yes the original buyer of this M491's lifetime friend, was THAT Enzo...

[GH85Carrera]

With a friend like Enzo, it could easily be a one of kind modified Ferrari knob, with a changed logo.

It will be interesting to find out the real origin of it. Now days there are many custom builders that could make something like that. It would be silly expensive, but for some people cost is no object.

[tschall]

Glen, what you state falls inline with the "legend". I believe the Logo is definitely the oddity here. Yes a "friend" like that could do anything. More intriguing to me is the "legend" the friend had it installed in the car at manufacture (more likely than not). Check you PM's... after a bit.