[AFreeBird]

How the F* do you crash a car downshifting at 35MPH - In Florida? Wet or icy roads, possible. Florida?

And why the F* did you buy a $250K supercar with a stick if you can’t drive one?

[Advil000]

Gentlemen, the jokes about difficulty driving a stick don’t hold water anymore and have not for decades.

I built my own hot rod because I wanted to nearly 20 years ago. I had to learn to drive it... never driven anything with a stick before it.

Manual transmission is mostly a thing of the past outside of commercial trucks.

Every production road car I’ve ever driven from 1995 to today? Auto.

Diesel Pickup? Auto.

Mower? Hydrostat.

Tractor? Hydrostat.

Hot Rod? Manual.

So yeah, being in my mid 20s back then at the time and trying to learn how to drive the only manual transmission vehicle in my family or any of my friends... yeah. You gotta do what you gotta do. Big open parking lots and a lot of quiet swearing while you feel like an idiot with two left feet.

It’s fun as heck once you get it down, but it’s a niche skill now.

And that was then. Today? Half the drivers on the road today have never even thought about what a manual transmission is. They’ve never encountered one.

[entropy12]

This dude paid $705,000 for the hot rod jalopy.

But I thought the steering controls direction of car, not the tranny.

[RedMonqey]

My question exactly.

Has more dollars than sense.

[Hot Tabasco]

The driver also told R&T the crash occurred as he shifted up into second gear from first, not while downshifting, as the official report says.

...and he just purchased the car for $704,000.

I'm probably one of the few here who actually read the posted articles...