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.
Back in college, I used to occasionally get assigned to drive an old '48 International for one employer I worked for. The stick shift was broken and if you let go of it, it'd just flop over onto the floor and roll up against the firewall. You could manage with practice, but I bet that would've really tripped up a carjacker!
Never did that. My sister did though, a lot. She seems normal, but there is something about cars that escapes her.
I once owned a vehicle which was famous for being a theft target, for parts perhaps. I always wondered if the reason it never got stolen is because I had the stick shift version.
Our first car was a little Rambler and the linkage had broken and my husband was able to fix it by putting 2 of the gears on the column and 2 on the floor.
Your dad is a man after my own heart! I did the same thing to my kids with a '67 Ford p/u, what a hoot, couldn't hurt the dern thing.
"2 of the gears on the column and 2 on the floor."
Ive done that too.
Police described the man as thin and in his late teens or early 20s. He was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt. He fled the scene in a silver Chevrolet Cavalier with Missouri license plates.
Camero to a Cavalier Huh? ROFLMAO!
"trying to not pound my left foot through the floorboards when I thought it was time to shift."
That has happened to me when I owned standard transmission cars, but got automatics for rentals on business trips.
LOL. Same here. I hated that big, wide brake pedal on my first automatic. I 'bout threw myself through the windshield 2-3 times.
I like manual transmissions for the same reason. The pool of people who ask to borrow your car are greatly reduced!
The young man went out and got in the truck to pull it into the bay. He struggled for a while after he got into the vehicle and came into the waiting room to enquire how to get it out of "Park."
I laughed and told him what "three-on-the-tree" means.
He was younger than the truck.
I still use the truck, BTW but it is wearing "Farm Use" tags now because the horn doesn't work and I haven't got time to fix it.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
For some reason I hit the brake pedal with the edge of my boot on the Toyota. There is just enough room to get to the accelerator and that brake pedal just comes a little sooner. If I drove properly instead of cruising on cruise control at every opportunity my right foot probably would be in the right place to begin with. This is the kind of stuff that we have to deal with that proves our superiority over our ancient ancestors. Right.
I reached for something one time, and knocked it out of fifth gear. The engine started to rev up, and I quickly hit the
clutch to disengage the cc (safer than tapping the brake on an interstate)
When I was still learning how to drive I had the VW in third gear near the top end, on the Autobahn, and slammed into high gear. Problem was, I missed and got 2nd. In an instant we lost about 15 minutes of hard work accelerating that dog.
For three generations in our house, it is REQUIRED that you know how to drive a car with a standard transmission. I learned to drive a 12 year old 1947 Willys Jeep at the age of nine. At the age of 55 I drive a 5-speed Beemer. Prior to that a 6-speed Corvette... I've never owned a car with an automatic transmission.
Guess you're not a biker either.
BTW, it's not the equipment, it's the rider/driver that is 'stupid' if they can't manage a clutch.
Reminds me of the (true) story of the guy who escaped from incarceration, but didn't realize that automobiles had improved while he was locked up. He was caught, still trying to figure out where the crank handle to start the car was.
You don't have to touch your girlfriend while driving, either. With an automatic, you'd be stuck with a free hand, you poor guy. ;-)
...not that I'm recommending holding hands while driving or any other dangerous behaviour... ;-)
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