Posted on 07/28/2026 10:22:15 AM PDT by big truck
M y first car was a 1980 Volkswagen Rabbit. It was a hand-me-down from my mom, manual transmission. You never forget popping clutches, stalling left and right. The car was, let’s say, semi-end-of-life when I got it. It was a classic Volkswagen that, mechanically, ran forever. But it had roll-up windows and the handles had popped off. God knows where the real handles were. We had these vise grips I would use to roll down my window, then hand it to my high school buddies in the back so they could do the same. I’ve got 4,000 memories from inside that vehicle.
(Excerpt) Read more at rollingstone.com ...
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Nice
No rust/ very little rust
Chrome bumpers
Even rocker protection
✅
Next month’s Rolling Stone cover story: Get off my lawn!
Push or roll start a car if battery dies, or starter dies.
Won’t upshift early and leave you lugging the engine.
Less costly to fix. Less complex.
Disengage engine from wheels without shifting gears.
“I’ve always said that the manufacturer who brings back a manual shifting, naturally aspirated, non- electric windows and locks car/truck would not be able to keep them on the lot.”
The reason we have most of the tech in a car is related to environmental standards. You can’t have most of the old tech because it was too polluting to meet the new standards. Bench seats were done away with by a government safety regulation. Your feet are most likely to survive a collision if they are in the floor pan directly in front of you. We are locked into a narrow seat because the government wants you ready for that collision 100% of the time. No, you’re not allowed to move, wiggle around or stretch out. You’ve got to be ready for that collision.
The fancy keyless entry and electric windows are there to justify the high price. You’re not coming back for a new car for anywhere from five to ten years, so they need to soak as much money out of you in this one transaction as they can.
Additional software allows for renting features like heated seats, self-driving instead of a onetime buy. Also, many new cars require you to have the dealer change brake pads and other items because the computer recognizes the new part and won’t let it work unless the dealer unlocks the software and prints the new part in the code. Add $600-1000 for each maintenance part. These are some of the reasons you can’t just have a machine that moves you around anymore.
I remember a friend who had his car window broken by a thief. He had left the car unlocked, but the thief was too stupid to try the door first.
As I recall, the thief tried to steal his radio but couldn’t figure out how to get it out of the dashboard!
Must have been a democRat.
I tell everyone I know, "DO NOT LOCK THE CAR."
They can't steal it, but they will certainly break the window to see if there is anything inside worth stealing.
My wife came at me with a broken window last year and I said "Did you lock the car?"
"Yes."
"See what happened? Don't lock the car. Fixing the window is a lot more trouble than some "thievy wonder" looking around in the car."
Regards,
Because they are fun. Also because younger people can't drive them.
I bought a Tahoe LT new in 2001.
That was the beginning of the spaceship era, I’m fairly sure.
My niece is still driving it at 290,000 miles. And the AC will allow it to double as cold storage.
Amazingly there are no rattles lol
reliablility ...
Because the dealers wouldn't want them.
For the final front-engine generation (C7 Corvette, model years 2014–2019), the overall manual transmission take rate started at about 35% in 2014 and dropped to roughly 15% to 20% by 2019.
That's car enthusiasts buying new Corvettes, and barely 1 in 5 want a manual!
Touch screens are the most anti-safety feature put in cars in years, maybe ever. Every car has them because they are incredibly cheap, and features can be added just by supplying different programming to the underlying computer.
You can’t operate touch screens without looking at them, taking your eyes off the road sometimes for a shockingly long time. Some features even will just tell you “You can only operate this when parked.”
Controls should be operable when you can’t see them, and with gloves on.
When the GOP Congress voted down Rep. Massie's amendment.
On January 22, 2026, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 268–164 to defeat an amendment offered by Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY) to H.R. 7148. The measure aimed to block federal funding for implementing and enforcing the vehicle "kill switch" mandate originating from Section 24220 of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
This is the guy the zionists ran out of office because in addition to opposing government spying, he doesn't want the government borrowing money to send to foreign nations.
Jeep Barn Finds....!
Sweet !
Ha ha. I wish I had a dollar for every time my dad said, “Get out. We gotta lock the hubs.” before heading up the mountain to our favorite elk hunting spot. I learned the hard way to keep your thumbs out of the steering wheel while in 4-wheel drive and walking Ol’ Blue up rock lined trails. Yeeouch!!!
You forgot the /sarc tag.
Agree. Don’t leave anything of value in it.
My wife's car has an electric parking brake. I guess a handle with a button on the end of it is too much for people to comprehend these days.
Ditto. We had '65 Chevies with 3 on the tree in driver's ed.
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