There has a been a shift in the business of shifting, B&M Racing and Performance Products has acquired the legendary Hurst Shifters, formerly a division of Mr.Gasket Inc. The deal, which finalized on Wednesday January 17th, is rumored to have been in the works for over a year. FordMuscle has met with representatives from both companies, and they all expressed optimism over the deal. B&M, which also acquired McLeod last year, plans to announce some exciting product offerings under the Hurst brand in 2007.
Here is the official announcement:
January 17, 2007 - Chatsworth, CA - 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 Companyâ€Â, 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. B&M is in a perfect position to take good care of the Hurst brand and it’s legacy.†Both Mr. Gasket and B&M are committed to making the transition of the Hurst brand to B&M as smooth, and seamless as possible, with minimal disruption to business. B&M Racing and Performance Products is headquartered in Chatsworth, California and has been a pioneer and leader in the racing and performance automatic transmission and shifter market since 1953. With the acquisition of the Hurst brand, B&M will be THE undisputed industry leader in the manual/automatic transmission shifters and accessory market. The impressive lineup of B&M Companies now includes B&M Racing and Performance Products, McLeod Industries and Hurst Performance Products, quite a dynamic group with over 125 years of automotive performance history!
http://www.bmracing.com
I feel the same way,I used to love b&m products. but in the last 10 years things change, more for the worst.
By 4banger. March 10th, 2008 at 4:47 pmIf they re-tool hurst shifters, you can kiss it goodbye.
I’m scared that Hurst will disappear a little. B&M doesn’t know a thing about external rail shifters!!! Them guys at Mr.Gasket were really doing a good job.
By Shabazz. February 7th, 2007 at 8:13 amI REALLY HOPE the quality of hurst products doesn’t go down the drain !!!!! O-Well you know the rest of the story
By TV. January 24th, 2007 at 8:16 pmI guess if Hurst was in trouble than it saves jobs through this buyout. But then what happens if say in 30 years , everything is owned by one company??
By 71hotrodpinto. January 24th, 2007 at 7:04 pmBrand a company buys brand b. Brand c buys brand d. brand e buys brand f. Then brand a buys brand c, then then e . See where this could go?? I hope there are more Edelbrock type companies to come. Owned by the family and thats it.
I guess B&M’s logic is….if you can’t Beat ‘em….Buy ‘em!!!
By FATNFAST. January 24th, 2007 at 2:55 amCan someone say monopoly and price jacking? I hope this doesn’t result in the disapearance of Hurst and hopefully they aren’t forced to use B&M designs (not to say B&M is bad but I’d ather have a Hurst over B&M any day). Also, where the hell did B&M get all this cash from all of a sudden? Seriously, did they sell their souls to the devil? I definately don’t recall any recent massive sales boom for B&M only products…
By bassman97. January 23rd, 2007 at 7:14 pm