referring to the drawings and particularly fig1 reference numeral 1 designates an automatic shifting mechanism for an automotive vehicle which is especially adapted for controlling a lockout mechanism ( not shown ) of a common and conventional design well known in the industry . such lockout mechanism locks the steering wheel when the ignition key is in &# 34 ; lock &# 34 ; position and prevents the withdrawal of the key when the shifter is out of the &# 34 ; park &# 34 ; position . such mechanisms are conventional and well known in the art . as disclosed in fig1 , and 7 , the shifter is connected to a cable 2 which in turn is connected to the lockout mechanism at the ignition key . as previously stated , this cable 2 prohibits the shifting of the shift lever out of the &# 34 ; park &# 34 ; position unless the lockout mechanism , which is controlled by the ignition key and which prevents turning of the steering wheel , is released to permit the turning of the wheel . further , the cable 2 prohibits the withdrawing of the key from the ignition unless the shifter is in the &# 34 ; park &# 34 ; position . as disclosed in the drawings , shifter 1 includes the housing 10 which has an inverted u - shape and includes the side walls 11 and 12 and the top wall 13 . a serpentine - shaped detent slot or opening 14 is located in the top wall 13 which includes a series of notches represented by the letters &# 34 ; p , &# 34 ; &# 34 ; r ,&# 34 ; &# 34 ; n , &# 34 ; &# 34 ; od ,&# 34 ; &# 34 ; d ,&# 34 ; &# 34 ; 2nd ,&# 34 ; and &# 34 ; 1st &# 34 ; which designate &# 34 ; park ,&# 34 ; &# 34 ; reverse ,&# 34 ; &# 34 ; neutral ,&# 34 ; &# 34 ; over drive ,&# 34 ; &# 34 ; drive ,&# 34 ; &# 34 ; 2nd ,&# 34 ; and &# 34 ; 1st .&# 34 ; thus , as is well known in the art , shifting the shifting lever designated by the reference numeral 21 will shift the automatic transmission to such gear positions . the housing 10 is adapted to be secured to the floor pan of the vehicle by flanges as designated by the reference numeral 15 . a shifting lever assembly 20 is pivotally mounted inside the housing 10 about axis &# 34 ; x .&# 34 ; lever assembly 20 includes the handle or rod 21 extending upwardly through the serpentine opening 14 and pivotally secured about axis &# 34 ; z &# 34 ; at its lower end to a base 22 which in turn is secured to a saddle bracket 23 . base 22 is secured to the lower ends of the legs 24 and 25 ( fig1 and 4 ) which are connected together at their top ends by a platform 26 . as best disclosed in fig3 and 4 , the base 22 includes the cylindrical flanges 27 and 27a at each end . the flanges 27a extend through the openings 24a and 25a of saddle bracket 23 ( fig3 ) while the flanges 27 abut against the inner surfaces of the lower ends of the sides 24 and 25 ( fig4 ). a spacer 28 extends from the flanges 27a and extends into the openings 16 and 17 of housing 10 ( fig5 ) wherein they are riveted or bolted to establish the space between walls 11 and 12 . lever assembly 20 is pivoted about the axis &# 34 ; x .&# 34 ; the handle or rod 21 includes a flat end portion 30 extending into a recess 31 of base 22 in which it is pivotally mounted on the pin 32 . the handle 21 also extends through an elongated opening 33 ( fig3 ) extending lateral of the fore and aft direction of the shifter assembly which permits the pivoting of handle 21 . a cam 40 is pivotally mounted on platform 26 about axis &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; by means of pin 41 secured in the opening 34 in the platform 26 ( fig3 ). the cam 40 includes the slots 42 and 43 . the rod or handle 21 extends through slot 42 . a pin 44 extends through the slot 43 and is secured in the opening 35 in the platform 26 . as will be explained hereinafter , slot 42 controls or governs the pivotal movement of cam 40 while the pin 44 extending through the slot 43 provides a guide for such pivotal movement . cam 40 includes a finger 45 which engages a second cam 50 . cam 50 is an actuating cam pivotally mounted on the wall 12 of housing 10 about the axis &# 34 ; y &# 34 ; ( fig1 and 5 ) by means of the pin 51 secured to the wall 12 of housing 10 . cable connector 52 is attached to cam 50 above pin 51 and axis &# 34 ; y &# 34 ; for attaching cable 2 to the cam 50 so that pivotal movement of cam 50 is transmitted to cable 2 for controlling the lockout mechanism ( not shown ) in the steering column . as disclosed in fig3 , and 7 , pivoting of cam 40 by the rod or handle 21 pivots cam 50 for actuating the cable 2 . this is achieved by the shape of the top edge 53 of cam 50 which includes a recess 54 in which the finger 45 is located when the rod or handle 21 is located in the &# 34 ; park &# 34 ; notch &# 34 ; p .&# 34 ; in this position of the finger 45 , when the ignition is off , cable 2 prohibits pivoting of cam 50 in a clockwise direction , and accordingly , cam 40 is prohibited from pivoting which locks the shifter in the &# 34 ; park &# 34 ; position with the rod or handle 21 located in the &# 34 ; park &# 34 ; notch &# 34 ; p .&# 34 ; as best disclosed in fig8 the recess or notch 54 includes a ramp 54a which , when the ignition key is in the &# 34 ; on &# 34 ; position and as the rod or handle 21 is pivoted laterally out of the park notch &# 34 ; p ,&# 34 ; the handle 21 cams against the surfaces of the cam slot 42 in the cam 40 causing cam 40 to pivot in a clockwise direction . as cam 40 pivots , finger 45 rides on ramp 54a causing cam 50 to rotate downwardly to the position as disclosed in fig7 after which the finger 45 rides on the surface 53a which holds cam 50 in the pivoted position of fig7 . in this position , cable 2 is actuated causing the ignition mechanism to lock the key in the ignition thereby preventing the withdrawal thereof while the shifter is out of the &# 34 ; park &# 34 ; position . it should be evident in the pivoting of cam 40 , the pin 44 extending through the slot 43 assists in guiding the finger 45 as it rides over the edge 53 of cam 50 . as disclosed in fig1 , and 4 , a spring 5 is provided for biasing the handle or rod 21 in a direction to the right as viewed in fig1 , and 4 . spring 5 along with the shape of the cam slot 42 in cam 40 exerts a resisting force against the movement of the rod or handle 21 out of the &# 34 ; park &# 34 ; notch &# 34 ; p .&# 34 ; in other words , spring 5 and the angle of the cam slot 42 and the shape thereof requires a predetermined force to move the handle out of the &# 34 ; park &# 34 ; position . this is important in that it prevents the handle from accidentally moving out of the &# 34 ; park &# 34 ; notch &# 34 ; p .&# 34 ; cam 50 also includes a portion extending upwardly above the cable connector . this portion has an opening 55 for securing a magnetically - actuated latch mechanism ( not shown ) actuated by application of the brake of the vehicle . such mechanisms are like those disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 275 , 065 and u . s . patent application ser . no . 08 / 331 , 358 , filed on oct . 27 , 1994 , now u . s . pat . no . 5 , 494 , 141 . the design of this shifter makes it very easy to convert or redesign a shifter designed to be actuated by a driver sitting on the left side of the vehicle to a design in which the driver is sitting on the right side of the vehicle as in foreign countries such as great britain . the only requirement is to change the shape and position of slot 42 and the shape of the serpentine cutout 14 in the top wall of the housing 10 . fig1 illustrates this by a simple sketch in which the serpentine cutout 14a is reversed so that the notch &# 34 ; p &# 34 ; extends to the left as compared to the notch &# 34 ; p &# 34 ; extending to the right as disclosed in fig9 . it should be evident , as disclosed in fig1 , when the handle 21 is pivoted to move to the right through the &# 34 ; park &# 34 ; notch &# 34 ; p &# 34 ; as indicated by the arrow , the cam 40a is pivoted in a clockwise direction so as to pivot the cam 50 in the same way as previously described . having described the transmission shifter mechanism of this invention , its operation should be evident from the above description . nevertheless , the following is a brief description of the shifter mechanism . assuming the ignition key is turned to the &# 34 ; off &# 34 ; position , the shifting of the lever shifter from the &# 34 ; park &# 34 ; position in the notch &# 34 ; p &# 34 ; to another gear position is prevented by the cable 2 extending from the steering lockout mechanism located in the steering column . in other words , cam 50 is prohibited by cable 2 from pivoting . therefore , the shifter is locked in &# 34 ; park &# 34 ; position . once the ignition key is turned &# 34 ; on ,&# 34 ; the steering lockout mechanism releases the cable permitting the rod or handle 21 to move in the notch in a direction where the handle can then be pivoted about the axis &# 34 ; z &# 34 ; out of the notch &# 34 ; p .&# 34 ; as the handle or rod 21 is pivoted in a direction out of the notch &# 34 ; p ,&# 34 ; it engages the walls of the opening or slot 42 of the cam 40 . spring 5 and the shape and angle of the cam slot 42 applies some resistance to the movement of the rod or handle through the cam slot 42 but nevertheless , handle 21 causes cam 40 to pivot about the axis &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; and in so pivoting , pin 44 riding in the slot 43 guides the pivoting action of the cam 40 . as cam 40 pivots in a clockwise direction , finger 45 located in the recess or notch 54 rides on the ramp 54a then 53a causing cam 50 to pivot clockwise about the axis &# 34 ; y &# 34 ; which exerts a tensile force on cable 2 . this tensile force on cable 2 is transmitted to the ignition key locking mechanism which is constructed to prevent the key from being removed from the ignition while the force is exerted on cable 2 . a comparison of fig6 and 7 illustrates when a tensile force is exerted on the cable . it discloses that when the shifter is in the park / locked position of fig6 sheath 2a of the cable is located against the connector member 4 . however , when the shifter is out of the &# 34 ; park &# 34 ; position ( fig7 ), the pulling force of cam 50 on cable 2 provides a space between the sheath 2a and the connector member 4 . in this position , the finger 45 continues to exert a pulling force on cable 2 by holding cam 50 in the pivoted position . when the shifter is returned to &# 34 ; park ,&# 34 ; finger 45 returns to the position of fig6 and cam 40 with the assistance of a biasing force on the cable at the ignition key locking mechanisms returns cam 50 to the position of fig6 . it should be noted that in actuating the lever mechanism , the entire saddle bracket 23 and the lever assembly , including the handle 2 and base 20 , are pivoted within the housing 10 about the axis &# 34 ; x .&# 34 ; in so pivoting , the transmission is actuated by a cable attached to the cable connector 38 which is mounted on a flange 39 . from the foregoing description , it should be readily evident by those skilled in the art that the present invention provides a novel park / lock mechanism for a serpentine type of automatic shifter wherein the shifter is locked in &# 34 ; park &# 34 ; position until the ignition key of the vehicle is turned &# 34 ; on .&# 34 ; the structure of the invention is relatively low in cost and the operation is accomplished by two relatively low - cost , molded cams . thus , the mechanism includes a minimum of parts which are easy to assemble , thereby resulting in cost savings not only because of the reduced cost of the parts themselves but also in the labor costs . those skilled in the art will , of course , appreciate the many advantages of the present invention over that shown in the prior art and will also recognize that many modifications can be made without departing from the concept and spirit of the invention . it is , therefore , intended that equivalent arrangements are to be included as part of this invention .