He shoulda learned to drive stick

[SfanGoch]

Nah, just kidding. Good thing he didn't.  

Teens charged after manual transmission thwarts Nashville carjacking

[Tom Geiger]

Not the first time this type of story has been reported!

I cannot tell you how many times someone has asked me if they can take my Geo Tracker for a spin.  I'm always happy to oblige, but several guys I would've assumed could drive a clutch couldn't!   And to add to the story, one of those guy's girlfriend drove the Tracker! 

[espo]

My brother-in-law sent us a picture of a spare tire cover that shows the shift pattern for a 6 speed manual on it and says something about auto theft prevention. I have to get one of those covers for our JK since it's a 6 speed. I have taken it to the dealer for service and the lot boys can't drive it up from service since non of them can drive it. 

[Renegade]

Back in my younger days the first standard I learned to drive was three on the tree followed by granny 4 speed. Some of the younger members may not know what those are.

[tbill]

It is amazing how many people can’t drive stick, I too learned on the 3 on the tree. My only gripe now, is that some of the 6 and 7 speeds have a very vague neutral gate.

[Tom Geiger]

I learned on a brand new Toyota 5 speed!  I was to receive a company car, a 1978 Toyota Corolla wagon. I was dropped off at the Toyota dealer to pick it up.  Back then people got on a wait list for Toyotas, no decision on car, color or options.  You either took the next one that came in or you went to the back of the line.  The salesman gave me the 5 minute lesson in the lot, and I took it out on the highway.  I soon figured it out, sink or swim.

I learned to love that Corolla!  It was a great little car.  And it started my love for manual transmissions as well.  My '65 Barracuda was a 3 on the tree,  My Saab 95 was a 4 on the tree!  And there were several 5 speeds in my future!   

 

[426 pack]

My grandpa taught me to drive a standard when I was about 12 on a 64 dodge D400 grain truck with a 225 slant six and 4 speed. I have driven his geo tracker with a 5 speed, a 76 Ford with 300 six and 4 speed, a few other old trucks with 4 speeds and my lawnmower has a 5 speed transaxle.

 

Edited August 5, 2018 by 426 pack

[cobraman]

My first job was at a Texaco gas station. My boss needed motor mounts for a 57 Chevy. He sent me to the parts store with his new Scout. I get in  and BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH ! A stick shift. Never drove one but knew what to do. I think I only killed it twice.

[Little Timmy]

I learned to drive at age 6 , in my grandfathers  late 60's Diamond T Dump truck.

It had 2 gearshift lever's and you needed four hand's and a trained monkey to shift the silly thing.

I now drive truck's for a living, and  usually I'm dealing with 18 gear's . I have driven a truck with 21 gears before, It was great fun to go through 9 gear's ... just to get through an intersection ! 

[OldTrucker]

I learned in a 54 GMC cabover grain truck when I was 11!

The older guys got ticked off about it making wise cracks because the farmer had to put blocks on the pedals so my short legs would reach!

[OldTrucker]

2 hours ago, Little Timmy said:

I learned to drive at age 6 , in my grandfathers  late 60's Diamond T Dump truck.

It had 2 gearshift lever's and you needed four hand's and a trained monkey to shift the silly thing.

I now drive truck's for a living, and  usually I'm dealing with 18 gear's . I have driven a truck with 21 gears before, It was great fun to go through 9 gear's ... just to get through an intersection ! 

In the mid 70's I drove a short time for a company hauling liquid asphalt in non-baffled tankers The tractor they assigned me was a early 60's twin stick Mack!

Lesson #1...... NEVER miss a gear lesson #2.... slow smooth starts with no jerk between gears and lesson #3.... NO sudden stops!

[Little Timmy]

14 minutes ago, OldTrucker said:

Lesson #1...... NEVER miss a gear lesson #2.... slow smooth starts with no jerk between gears and lesson #3.... NO sudden stops!

L O L !

I'v driven a few Tanker's. I "Quickly" learned to up-shift with the flow.

[MrObsessive]

Back in 1982, I wanted badly a 1965 Dodge Dart convertible with a 3 speed on the column and the slant six. I had never drove a manual before, and I asked my Dad if he could show me. He said rather bluntly........"Bill, if you want that car bad enough, you'll learn to drive it!"

Well, I bought the car, and literally drove it home in first gear as I had no idea how the shift pattern went. The next day, I drove all around the neighborhood (quiet in those days with no traffic), and within a day I had it down pat. I even figured out how to go forward on a hill with very little rollback.

Later on, I learned why Dad was so reluctant to show me. 20 years earlier he tried to show my Mom how to drive stick in his '55 Plymouth Savoy, and she wrecked the trans. Needless to say he would never show anyone how to drive a stick again, so I was on my own. Sad how a lot of people today won't take the time to learn. Everything has to be 'easy', and I've wondered if more folks had to learn to drive a manual, would we see a reduction in 'inattentive' driving such as texting and such?

Kinda hard to shift gears with a phone in your hand huh??

 

 

[PARTSMARTY]

I've been driving stick forever and still love it !!!

[TarheelRick]

As most have said I learned to drive in a stick-shift.  My father was a rural mail-carrier and swore by 6-cylinder, three speed Chevrolets.  Now my Dad was only 5'9" but he could sit in the middle of the seat and drive those cars with ease.  I used to drive his cars around the yard and the fields around our house. My driver's training was in a '64 three-speed Ford Galaxie.  First car a 6 cylinder three speed '56 Chevrolet, followed by a 283 3 speed '65 Chevelle, and that one was replaced by a 283 4 speed '65 Chevelle SS.  Nowadays it is much easier on my knee joints to drive an automatic, although I really miss shifting gears. 

[MrObsessive]

12 minutes ago, TarheelRick said:

Nowadays it is much easier on my knee joints to drive an automatic, although I really miss shifting gears. 

When I let my Saturn go and then bought my Challenger, I thought I'd never want an automatic. However, my knees aren't what they used to be, and at least mine is one of those 'manumatic' trans, so I can shift gears if I want, without the knee aching clutch pedal.

I thought I'd never buy another auto car again, but time marches on and my knees are thanking me for sure!

[OldTrucker]

I taught our youngest two (twin boys) how to drive a stick shift.

Both bought cars with a stick shift without knowing how to drive one. (got tired of sharing our old Ford Escort LOL)

Had them each driving like a pro in an afternoon!

A ROUGH afternoon!!!

I made sure that they learned to stop and takeoff on a hill without riding the clutch or rolling back! I don't know how many guys I have seen that will ride the clutch to hold them on a hill rather than using the brakes and easing the clutch out as you quickly get to the gas. Also showed them a little trick with the hand brake on a really steep hill back in the industrial area where I had taken them to learn to drive before they got their license!

Told them unless they wanted to be replacing clutches.........

[iamsuperdan]

When I first learned to drive, I wanted to learn to drive a manual so that I never had to limit my options when buying a car. Worked the opposite way. Since I was 16,  I've avoided automatic transmissions as much as possible. 

And it makes me sad seeing how many manufacturers are getting rid of manuals. Haven't been able to buy a three pedal Lamborghini or Ferrari for almost 10 years. Porsche have eliminated manuals from many of their models. And it's very hard to find a nicely equipped manual transmission family car now.

#savethemanuals

 

 

 

[Rob Hall]

I learned to drive a manual in the 80s--in an '84 Ford Escort diesel.  Learned basic car control, parallel parking, etc before that, though w/ a  couple of my Dad's vehicles w/ automatics---a '79 Dodge Power Wagon pickup (numbest power steering ever?) and an '84 Lincoln Town Car (fun to parallel park).  Took my driver's test in the Escort.  Drove it in high school and college, and my next 4 cars were all manuals---'86 Mustang LX, '87 Mustang GT, '88 Bronco II, '96 BMW M3..didn't get an automatic until I got my first Grand Cherokee in '00.  I do want to get something with a manual again in the next few years, as a weekend fun car..

Edited August 6, 2018 by Rob Hall

[SfanGoch]

Manual transmissions in cars driven in a congested urban environment are as useful as lightbulbs with left-handed threads.They're simply not practical. I like driving stick; but, with the traffic conditions here in NYC, I'd be wearing the clutch out every six months.

[Rob Hall]

1 minute ago, SfanGoch said:

Manual transmissions in cars driven in a congested urban environment are as useful as lightbulbs with left-handed threads.They're simply not practical. I like driving stick; but, with the traffic conditions here in NYC, I'd be wearing the clutch out every six months.

The years I had my Mustang GT and BMW M3 at the same time, I enjoyed them the most on back country Colorado mountain roads...they were less fun in stop and go traffic in Colorado Springs and Denver (at one time around 2000 I think the Springs was considered the most congested US city of it's size for freeway traffic).  At one point, I had 3 manuals--then traded the Bronco II on a Jeep w/ an automatic. 

[Jim N]

When my wife and I got married, she had a manual and I had an automatic.  Her car was newer, so we took it on most trips.  We went to an outdoor concert in K.C. and there were about 40,000 people.  Getting into the stadium was not hard, but leaving was awful.  That night we both swore we would never buy another car with a manual.

On an unrelated note, my wife's cousin is a long haul trucker and his company bought him a new truck.  It has an automatic in it.  In fact, he says this is likely the wave of the future in trucking as well.

[PierreR89]

Over here almost everyone knows how to drive a manual transmission.
Most drivingschools here only have manual transmisson cars because they kind of go by "if you learn in a manual car and pass the drivinglicence in a manual you are also allowed to drive an automatic if you want"
But if you do the other way around you are only ever allowed to drive cars with automatic transmissions.
Some choose to do that not because they are lazy but because they have some kind of illness or other problem.
My girlfriend is going to get a licence for an automatic just becuase she has MS and sometimes her legs goes numb and stay that way for an short time.
So she is thinking that if that happens when she is driving it is easier to get an automatic to a safe stop by getting the foot of the gas and in the worst case use the parkingbrake to get it to slow down and stop.
Do that in a manual trans and you kill the engine and end up with no power nothing to help her get it to stop and turn off the road.

I know how to drive a manual and sometimes it is nice to drive in one just to get a break from the automatic trans in my jeeps and trucks..
When i worked as a truck mechanic it was also good to know how to drive a manual as most trucks that came in were manuals, but many of the brand new ones was automatic.

[Earl Marischal]

The UK is much the same as Pierre quotes in Sweden. The driving licence conditions are also the same. Pass in a manual, drive either.

Only ever owned manuals. No desire to have an automatic unless I'm forced to for health reasons. Wife feels the same.

Drove an automatic Ford Granada hire car once and nearly put myself through the windscreen when I thought I could use my left foot on the brake...

steve

[PierreR89]

9 minutes ago, Earl Marischal said:

Drove an automatic Ford Granada hire car once and nearly put myself through the windscreen when I thought I could use my left foot on the brake...

steve

I do that almost everytime after i have driven an manual for a few days and jump in to any of mine
Also do the opposit sometimes when i forget about that clutchpedal in a manual when trying to take of in one..
Only done that twice sofar..