Posted on 04/10/2022 3:21:08 PM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
I’ve always preferred a stick, though they’re getting pretty hard to find. You have to pay attention and think ahead a little to drive one smoothly.
I jumped into the driver's seat put it in first pushed the useless clutch and hit the starter. It chugged forward and started. I was surprised it did (especially since it was still attached to the trailer) but then I gave him a lesson in clutchless driving back to the house. Since I have had a lot of junkers I learned to to that a long time ago.
“ I learned to drive on a manual transmission (stick shift), back in the mid-1960s. I love them. Most of my vehicles have been manual trans (though my current Ford pick-up is an automatic).”
I am the same way. My 04 F-150 is automatic, my GTO is a 4 speed.
A REAL WOMAN should also know how to drive a stick shift!!
It's just not the same to me. :-)
When I was a state copper working in Cook County I was in Chicago in the Greektown restaurant area when my partner and I monitored a Chicago Police Dept flash message about a car jacking that had just occurred in the area within the last few minutes.
Just moments after we made note of it, we heard cars honking at a late model import that was moving slowly in the left lane, jerking and stopping as other cars swerved around it. Since it matched the description of the suspect vehicle, we made a felony stop, detained three suspects who had two pistols in the car, and notified CPD Tactical officers to meet us at the scene.
These suspects were subsequently identified as the offenders in the car jacking, and the reason for the erratic driving that had captured our attention was the fact that the ringleader driver couldn’t operate the 5 speed manual transmission in it very well. One of his accomplices was an 18 wheel truck driver who was entirely capable of driving it, but the boss said that he had always wanted to drive a stick shift and this would be his first chance, so he ordered his buddy to stand down and took the wheel himself.
We wouldn’t catch so many of these clowns if so many weren’t so damn stupid.
As a result of this experience, my 2010 Hummer H3 has a 5 speed manual trans. The transmission also helps me to get the most performance from a relatively heavy vehicle with a relatively small engine. (3.7L 250 hp, but moving 4800 lbs).
—”Interesting that it’s still 80% in Europe.”
The price of gas is crazy in the EU; better MPG with a stick.
Some of my wife’s kin from Norway visited driving a huge Lincoln, a special deal from the rental agency!
No crackerjack box for them.
Asking about the gas? They said GAS IS CHEAP IN AMERICA!!!
The proceeded to compare the price...
“Guess I’m dating myself”
At least you know who gets the check.
When I was a country boy, the stick shift made sense. I’m now an old city dweller, and a stick is more of a nuisance.
Perfect!
Not since they remo0ved the rear pumps from them 60+ years ago!
I've also, at 18YO, in a VW Beetle, had to start in 1st gear, because the clutch cable broke; then speed shift, until I could get it to the shop to replace the cable.
Drove it that way on the old 2-lane 101, from Crescent City to Eureka CA, cussing logging trucks, and timing stop lights as much as possible in towns.
Something similar happened when I was riding with a friend in his Audi sedan. He was going to call a tow truck, but I told him how to shift without the clutch and we got where we were going.
When I drove VWs, sometimes I’d drive around for a week or more with a broken clutch cable before bothering to replace it.
—”I tore my left Achilles’ tendon and had to wear an air boot for a while.”
Long ago, ankle in a cast...go into work extra early and use cruise control on the expressway.
When I got my license back in the 50s if you took your driving test on an automatic you were restricted to automatic…..stamped right on the license.
..
I learned how to drive in a 1950 Mercury. It was more like a tank than a car. I still remember coordinating clutch and shift.
When my son was in the Navy, the carrier had stopped in a port in Spain where they spent a few days.
Some sailors needed to be picked up at a location and couldn’t get a ride or taxi. All that was on the ship was an old, white, van, stick-shift.
He knew how after purchasing a Mustang with one, so he was the only one that could drive it. They went to go pick them up and he earned and an extra day off.
That's for sure. Accept no substitutes!
O Come O Come Emmanual..
Uh, automatic transmissions are the exception rather than the rule in Europe and Latin America - which is the main thing I hate about traveling to those regions. Stick shift is sooooooo 100 years ago.
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