A few days back it was a glorious sunny morning so I felt the Viva deserved a run in the country- well 'running' was a permitted exercise under the lockdown wasn't it? - and stopped to take a piccy as we neared home.
Tried to engage reverse to turn round, but as I lifted the knob the gear lever came to pieces in my hand!! Took the gaiter off to have a look and found this. I was a bit chilly after the drive but surely it couldn't be brittle fracture induced by the cold weather? Anyway I was able to push it in second gear and potter slowly home, where on closer examination I found that there is a cylindrical anti-vibration rubber between the two halves which had just come apart. (Maybe you all know that but I had no idea)
Well I guess I could glue it back together as a temporary fix, and have another go at rebuilding the ripped rubber cover (where the lever enters the box) but if anyone has a spare HC gear lever in one piece, I'm in the market!
Curiously the gear lever on my old Vectra failed in a similar way, but I was able to drive and change gear OK.
Sorry I'm too dozy to get the photos in the right places
Mike