Still, if you are experienced with reading engine sound and/or a tachometer (which comes standard on most of the Japanese cars), you can shift down even before the AT does.
My first ten cars starting at age 16 were all manual, loved shifting for myself. Old track injury to my left knee started bothering me with the constant shifting in heavy stop and go traffic, so I finally broke down and got my first automatic in 2000. Bought nothing but since. Still have a manual trans Maxima that I take out into the country when I feel like rowing through the gears. Got a pretty fast Subaru LGT Limited wagon with a “sport shift” auto that does a pretty good job of mimicking a manual sans clutch. But, unless I’m in really hilly, steep country I generally just let the auto do it’s thing. The novelty has worn off, if I want to shift I have a manual car.
My first car was a 2 Dr 70 Chevy Nova. 6 Cyl, 233 Ci, 3 on the tree with 2nd gone. Put in a Hurst floor shifter and accidentally got the pattern backwards 1st and 3rd were back to the bench seat. A lot of girlfriend hand lap time plus a great place to hold a soda :)
I found a 4 Bbl intake and put an old quadrajet on it and we welded up a header for it. Had to weld the sub frames together. I still have it and will be working on restomodding it with better brakes and body and paint. Straight pipes with a glass pack make it sound badder than it is and it gets pretty good mileage.
Not bad for $50 at a fire dept auction in 76.
It’s a bit of a rat rod at present POR-15’d it a couple years ago.
My granddaughter decided to paint skulls and skeletons she made stencils all over it for a birthday present. Tempted to let her do it again with some help after I hang some new quarters.
She calls it the death-mobile ( Ah the joys of a teenage goth Who wants a zombie apocopypse living with you.) But I have honorary cool points when I pick her up anywhere.