I was wondering if any has seen or heard of a ratcheting column shifter. I would really like to put one in my car to keep the stock look and comfort. I would have to be hunched over when I need to shift due to how low and far forward a floor shifter would have to be located.  

i can see that...  but with a solenoid or cable activation...  so it could act normal except when it is in race mode...

it would have to for safetys sake... have a double neutral area... so there is less of a chance of going into reverse while moving forward at speed... unless you are running a reverse valve body...

the easy way is to have a rotating drum with  a groove that a yoke follows like a fishing reel rewinder...  or a motorcycle shift drum..  

this could  be mounted to the pan rail bolts..        a custom nut for the shift shaft could have a bearing mounted disc to attach the factory shifter to so the relay motion could be made without extra custom shifter rods parts...  the unit would have its own either short cable or rod to its own shift shaft lever... since the angle of the flats on the shaft are all at the same angle... ( the various factory shift levers are all at different angles and lengths to match the shaft throw...)