Learned to drive on a 72 Dodge D100 pickup. 318 with “3-on-the-tree”.
First car was an automatic Oldsmobile Cutlass.
2nd car was a 1984 Ford Temp, 5 Speed manual.
3rd car was a New 1985 Ford Escort, 4-on-the-floor.
4th car was a Ford Ranger Pickup, 5 Speed manual.
5th car was a 1993 Honda Civic LX. 5 Speed manual. Best vehicle I will ever own. 38 MPG for 17 years and would top out somewhere in the 125 MPH range. Got rear-ended and totaled. Still got $4400 for it being 17 years old and 254,000 miles.
Owned 2 Honda Odysseys. Both Automatics, both good vehicles.
Currently own a 2010 Honda Accord, automatic.
My daily drive now is a 2020 Ford F-150 with a 10 speed automatic. Crew cab with 2.7 Eco-boost, getting 22-23 MPG.
I learned to drive manual on farm tractors by the age of 7. No syncronizers on those old John Deere, JI Case, and Olivers. Shifting on the go was handy when going down the road with a full load of hay, but if you missed a gear, you would often have to stop and start over.