https://newatlas.com/automotive/ac-cobra-back-sweden/
https://fordauthority.com/2025/02/ford-powered-ac-cobra-sports-cars-to-be-built-in-sweden/
Posted on 03/29/2025 7:37:23 PM PDT by Red Badger
In my younger years, I always preferred cars and trucks with manual transmissions. I learned to drive on a manual transmission, and always liked them; in a car, such as the '65 Mustang I had for a while, there was nothing more fun that opening up the four-barrel on that 289, smoking off a line, and slamming through the gears. In a 4x4 truck, I always preferred a manual when off-roading, as it made it easier to ensure your motor was in its best power-band, keeping the RPMs right where you wanted them while climbing up a steep trail or fording a creek.
Manual transmissions have pretty much disappeared from American cars nowadays. But, in an interesting move, Ford Motors - my brand of choice - is bringing them back.
Sort of.
Ford has just filed a patent to bring back a classic driving experience - but only 18 percent of Americans would know how to use it.
The automaker has submitted paperwork to bring stick shifts to electric vehicles.
Manual transmissions have all but vanished from the American new car market. Last year, less than 1 percent of new vehicles sold in the U.S. had manual gearboxes.
In 1990, that figure sat between 25 and 30 percent.
The patent application, published on March 20, outlines a system designed to replicate the tactile experience of shifting through gears – even though there are no actual gears to shift.
The setup includes a traditional-looking shift lever mounted in a raised console, similar to the ones found in gas-powered sports cars.
But instead of mechanical linkages, the system uses electronic signals to adjust the EV's driving feedback based on how the driver moves the stick.
I'm inclined to ask, "What's the point?" I mean, at the end of the day, what is Ford trying to accomplish here?
'Electric vehicles lack operator to vehicle physical feedback that is advantageous in conventional motor vehicles,' the company wrote in the patent.
The filing arrives at a time when fewer drivers in the US know how to operate a stick shift at all.
That much is certain; one of the best theft deterrents you can have in a car now is a manual transmission.
I'll agree that driving a car, especially a high-performance car, is a lot of fun with a manual transmission, and yes, you're more engaged with the vehicle. In everyday driving, you get so used to shifting gears that you don't even think about it; it becomes reflex. You are, essentially, the automatic transmission. But for an EV? I just don't quite see the point.
But, then, as my grandfather was fond of saying, "Every cat its own rat." Maybe Ford will sell some of these. Maybe they'll catch on. I'm inclined to think that they'll be a bust, but who knows? I could be wrong - I mean, it's bound to happen eventually.
Many years ago, I had a great truck - a 1974 Bronco, the original small, tough Bronco, all steel outside, all steel and vinyl inside. It had manual everything; you even had to get out and turn the hubs to "LOCK" by hand. It would go up and down trees, or very nearly, and at the end of elk season, I could take it into the car wash, open the doors, and just hose out the interior. One summer day in 1995 or so, My Dad and I were crawling up a jeep trail in that electric-green Bronco - we called it the Green Machine. Dad commented that if Ford would make that exact truck then, all metal, no frills, manual everything, and sell it for $10-15k, he reckoned they wouldn't be able to build them fast enough. I know I'd buy one.
But that's not the technological world we live in now. Ford is bringing back a semblance of the famous old stick-shift, but not really. And that, while interesting, is kind of sad.
Give me the 63 1/2 Ford galaxies 500 with the 427 four speed
Insane. Just actually build manual transmissions.
And I would be one to use one. Learned how to drive on a stick shift.
Some of these companies got caught putting it in their piston engine cars. When I first heard about that, I didn't believe it. The more I found out about it, the more disgusted I became. It showed what the owners of Stellantis/Dodge/Chrysler/Fiat/Jeep think of those who buy their products. Then I thought about it, and maybe they're correct - for every gear head who appreciates a car, there are a few thousand wannabees and posers who want the attention but don't care about the car itself.
It's like the 1980s all over again - no muscle cars and things like the single muffler with twin exhausts on the Chevy Z-28s with 305 engines. All show. They're back to selling cars to peacocks, not gear heads.
"the world needs wannabees ...hey hey do that brand new thing" - 'Pretty Fly For A White Guy' by The Offspring
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtTR-_Klcq8
They ha e finally made cvt’s that work well. It took awhile but from what I have heard, the new ones out now work well.
I always tell the oil change guys I have a stick now. I didn’t tell one guy and he backed my car into a pole. Didn’t tell me. I found the damage just before I left their parking lot. The company (Sears) ultimately paid for the repair.
Manual trans have many advantages. Less complex, lighter, can roll start them, better mileage (if not trying to race them). Generally no problem unless one rides the clutch.
My guess is that there is a huge market for a simple , solid car, or truck with a stick shift in it.
I always thought that fake v-8 motor sounds would be cool on a 1.1 liter turbo diesel hybrid car...like the VW XL1 car. So instead of sounding like a sewing machine the car would sound scary. Tongue in cheek humor.
Europe had column shifts in the 1960s.
Driving 35 miles each way to work &back through Chicago traffic, the automatic tranny was a god send.
A coworker had a 1987 Chevy pickup truck, from the factory, that had a manual three speed column-shift. Apparently they offered them that late for customers who wanted a manual transmission but also to seat three adults.
https://www.autoweek.com/car-life/classic-cars/a1882751/new-detroit-trucks-3-tree-column-shift-manuals-1986-yes/
For regular cars, I believe 1979 was the last year you could buy an American car with a 3-on-the-tree shifter. (Chevy Nova, Olds Omega, and Pontiac Phoenix)
https://www.autoweek.com/car-life/classic-cars/a34566051/what-was-the-last-3-on-the-tree-column-shift-manual-car-americans-could-buy/
I feel cheated that I never got to own a manual transmission, 5 speed, column shift. If I ever build a custom car for just motorvating around, I'd be tempted to put in a 5-speed manual on the column - maybe an old Mercury chop top.
Apparently, due to the high number of vehicles being leased first, companies don't want to manufacture cars with manual transmissions because it restricts the number of lease customers as well as the after-lease sales.
Jeremy Clarkson shared an interesting piece of car ownership/leasing information - 80% of British drivers lease their cars while only 3% of French drivers lease them. The 97% of French drivers who buy their cars don't resell them but instead drive them into the ground.
I would like to see manufacturers build cars where one could readily swap out an automatic transmission for a manual one, where the manufacturer had all the proper components, body punch outs, sensor cut-offs, computer reprogramming, wiring harnesses, and cable runs, etc. It was easier back in the day when a car had an option for either.
A corvette would be a good one to start with. Pickup trucks would be candidates too.
https://newatlas.com/automotive/ac-cobra-back-sweden/
https://fordauthority.com/2025/02/ford-powered-ac-cobra-sports-cars-to-be-built-in-sweden/
One does have to adjust one’s driving style when using standard shift in heavy traffic.
My technique is 1) to allow longer intervals between me and other cars in my lane. 2) I’ll let an idling engine move me along with an occasional tap on the brakes to slow down.
The latter technique is not ideal and neither is the first, as others will cut in front; however, their gain in heavy traffic is seldom worth the effort. You’ll see them jump into dedicated merging lanes to speedily pass on the right. (While they have to accept their higher risk of collision).
This is pretty much the same as electric cars that have noise generators that make them sound like they have a real engine.
In other words, useless and stupid.
I have never owned a car that is not a stick shift. When I had to replace my last car which I kept for 18 years after the previous one I kept for 12 years, I knew which one I wanted and I had decided to buy a used car to get better value. I learned they stopped making it in stick 4 years ago so...a 4 year old car it is. I found one in good shape with low mileage.
I call the clutch/stick my “Millenial antitheft device.” Of those 18% of Americans who know how to drive one, they are overwhelmingly people over 40. Younger generations have no clue. Worldwide, stick shifts still dominate. It is only in North America that practically everybody drives an automatic. If you take a trip to Europe and want to rent a car, better know how to drive a stick.
I drove a manual transmission for 35 years until I finally got an automatic in 2013. In a high traffic environment, they are a pain in the butt...... I’m never going back to a stick......
They’ve already done that.
I would MUCH prefer manual transmissions over the automatics of today; that being said, the 10-speed automatic in today’s F-150s are slick as all get-out and pull like a dream.
You described my driving style with automatic transmission 😂
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