I spoke with Pete Serio of Precision Pontiac regarding this topic and he is quite a Hurst expert. He told me the OEM's stopped using the white ball with the pattern around 65. After 65 the black ball with pattern was used on non- console cars. He also said that cars like Camaros with a console got the Chrome ball since the pattern was on the console He also said that it was a federal requirement that the manufacturers have a pattern on the ball or on the console so that you knew the pattern.
