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Manual Transmission Foils Carjacker
Yahoo | AP ^ | 9/26/05

Posted on 09/26/2005 6:50:32 PM PDT by LibWhacker

SHAWNEE, Kan. - A would-be carjacker got away with nothing more than the keys Monday after he apparently was thwarted by the vehicle's manual transmission.

The thief was armed with a shotgun when he ordered a 26-year-old man out of his Chevrolet Camaro in a suburban Kansas City parking lot. The driver complied, but when the robber got into the car he was unable to manage the stick shift.

The robber fled the scene in a four-door car that someone else was driving.

Police are investigating whether the attempted theft is linked to four similar robberies in Johnson County during the past week.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: carjacker; foils; manual; transmission
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1 posted on 09/26/2005 6:50:32 PM PDT by LibWhacker
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To: LibWhacker

Wait a second, brandishing a loaded firearm in public is illegal in Kansas!


2 posted on 09/26/2005 6:52:04 PM PDT by xrp (Executing assigned posting duties FLAWLESSLY, zero mistakes)
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To: LibWhacker

Some people just can't perform in the clutch.


3 posted on 09/26/2005 6:52:13 PM PDT by N. Theknow (Kennedys - Can't drive, can't fly, can't ski, can't skipper a boat - But they know what's best.)
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To: LibWhacker




LOL, I can't drive the stupid things either.


4 posted on 09/26/2005 6:52:15 PM PDT by SouthernFreebird
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To: LibWhacker

Saved by Hurst.


5 posted on 09/26/2005 6:53:13 PM PDT by RightWhale (We in heep dip trubble)
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To: SouthernFreebird

When I got my first Chevy, and first automatic, I spent about two years trying to not pound my left foot through the floorboards when I thought it was time to shift.


6 posted on 09/26/2005 6:55:30 PM PDT by RightWhale (We in heep dip trubble)
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To: LibWhacker

Heh! I had a mean dad. Although we had a perfectly good automatic, he made me take my drivers test using the "other" car--which was a stick.


7 posted on 09/26/2005 6:55:54 PM PDT by TNdandelion
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To: LibWhacker

I drove my cousin's Jetta last week. It was the first time I drove a stick in years. At first, I couldn't get the car to go in reverse and I felt like a wimp and an idiot. Turns out you have to push down on the stick to put it in the reverse gear.


8 posted on 09/26/2005 6:58:15 PM PDT by Welsh Rabbit
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To: LibWhacker

That car's owner must have been laughing his tail off (once it was over, anyway).


9 posted on 09/26/2005 6:59:25 PM PDT by LongElegantLegs (Fines for excess bleeding.)
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To: SouthernFreebird
Remember Hugh Jackman's character in Swordfish?

Jackman: I can't drive this thing!

Travolta: Learn!

10 posted on 09/26/2005 6:59:50 PM PDT by Stonewall Jackson ("Those who fail to study history are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.")
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To: LibWhacker

LOL! I love this story. I personally can't stand driving an automatic (owned one for a year; never again!) and get two benefits most don't think of: 1) I never have to deal with a mechanic (auto transmissions being about the only car part I wouldn't try to fix myself) and 2) my girlfriend doesn't ask to borrow my car! :-p


11 posted on 09/26/2005 7:01:15 PM PDT by Turbopilot (Nothing in the above post is or should be construed as legal research, analysis, or advice.)
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To: LibWhacker
LOL, good story.

Learned to drive on a motorbike, then an old VW bus.

When I was getting ready to take my first license road test in VT, my sister's boyfriend asked me (without knowing me) if I'd ever driven a bike. I guess I used the gears to decelerate like a bike.

12 posted on 09/26/2005 7:01:37 PM PDT by benjaminjjones
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To: SouthernFreebird

i taught the wife to drive stick in my Z/28, just practice letting the clutch out slowly WITHOUT giving it any gas until it's all the way out and you are moving... so long as it's tuned up, it shouldn't stall. once you get used to getting it moving, you'll be able to use the gas as you let the clutch out. shifting the gears is the easy part... 8^)


13 posted on 09/26/2005 7:02:21 PM PDT by Chode (American Hedonist ©®)
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To: LibWhacker

One reason I like stick shift vehicles.

My old Ford van has a shifter so sloppy that if you are not familair with it, you will get it "stuck" in a gear in a matter of minutes.

Getting it emissions tested is always fun. Only one person has ever got it through the test without having a problem. And that was because he listened to my advice and stayed out of 4th gear and was very gentle with the shifter. : )


14 posted on 09/26/2005 7:03:59 PM PDT by Peace will be here soon (Liberal definition of looting: " Self-help Humanitarian Aid.")
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To: N. Theknow

lol... Last time I got my oil changed in my truck, the kid who changed it said, "you like standard transmissions, huh, gramps" (well, 'gramps' was implied)? I think he remembered changing the oil in my other car a few weeks earlier. Definitely made me feel like an old fogey, lol!


15 posted on 09/26/2005 7:08:25 PM PDT by LibWhacker
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To: LibWhacker

Manual transmissions is all we own. I can't drive an automatic without spiking the brakes.


16 posted on 09/26/2005 7:09:00 PM PDT by cripplecreek (Never a minigun handy when you need one.)
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To: RightWhale

I hate automatics


17 posted on 09/26/2005 7:09:30 PM PDT by Uncle Joe Cannon
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To: LibWhacker
For the would be robber

Now watch the sales of autos with Standard Transmissions go up!

18 posted on 09/26/2005 7:10:00 PM PDT by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
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To: Uncle Joe Cannon

I have grown to appreciate the cruise control. 50. Up hill, down hill, headwind, tailwind. 50.


19 posted on 09/26/2005 7:13:03 PM PDT by RightWhale (We in heep dip trubble)
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To: RightWhale

I spent about two years trying to not pound my left foot through the floorboards when I thought it was time to shift.


And it sucks when you catch the corner of the brake pedal when doing so


20 posted on 09/26/2005 7:13:39 PM PDT by al baby (Father of the beeber)
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