The biggest disadvantage a vehicle with a manual transmission has is that they have virtually no resale value, a point that was driven home several times in negotiations for a car trade.
But it is a GREAT anti-theft device, as the perpetrator has little chance of learning the nuances of disengaging the clutch, moving the gear lever to the proper gear, and releasing the clutch in such manner as to pick up speed more or less smoothly, without killing the engine or causing excessive overrevving.
If you are good with the operation of a manual transmission, it is not necessary to even use the clutch once you are underway. Just let up slightly on the accelerator, slip the transmission into neutral, then with the throttle, match the engine speed to approximately that of the ground speed in that next particular gear, and the gears will slide into the next higher or lower ratio like a hot knife through butter. Double-clutching without the use of a clutch.
Syncro-mesh was the wussie’s way out, and destroyed the practice of this fine art.
True,.but when I was young and broke, I had a Honda Accord with no clutch for the better part of a year. It can be done.