1971 Johnson 6hp handle slide shift?

Well I bought another motor today and I was thrown off a little by the shifter attachment that was on it. It looks like it came from the factory this way but I don't ever recall seeing one like this. It is a Johnson 6RL71G and has this big slide shifter on the tiller handle with a shifter cable that goes around to the shift lever on the side, so that you don't have to reach around the motor to shift it. Really kinda cool actually. Anyway for $140 plus 2 original fuel tanks and fittings I couldn't pass it up. Hadn't ran in 15yrs but she fired up after 3 pulls and good fuel. I need a new impeller though....

If you have seen this before please feel free to chime in.....maybe Pappy is lurking in here today

Johny,
I never seen it before, but its way cool. 8)
Is the push button for shifting?
i.e. push button and slide handle fwd or reverse?
The paint still looks good too. Good find.

Yeah you push the button with your thumb and it slides forward or backward. You don't have to push it in to get it back into neutral though. It really does work pretty darn well and is smooth as can be. It really looks like it came from the factory like this too, but I have just never seen this sort of setup on a motor this old #-o Well I have never seen a tiller model shift this way to be honest :shock:

I will take some up close pics of it

Well not that there was much interest in this thread but I found out on another forum that this is an accessory that you could buy back in those days. And it is was sometimes called the "shotgun shifter kit" but apparently did not sell very well. Not sure why because 41 years later this one is still working good. I can't load the pic on here off the other website for some reason #-o