Can You Drive A Stick Shift ?

Like most older guys, driving a standard is pretty much a given. It constantly amazes me how many young people can only drive an automatic. When I ran the cleanup department in a car dealership for most of a decade, one of the challenges was hiring service washers who could move manual-shift customer vehicles when they came out of the service department. I figure if you can't deal with a stick, you shouldn't tell people you know how to drive.

 

This is what I learned to drive in my younger (Class A) days. 5 and 4 transmission

 

I've been driving for over 50 years. Only driven an automatic once -- and that was almost 20 years ago.
My first car was a 1934 chain-driven Morgan three-wheeler -- 1000cc v-twin motor-cycle engine on the front, three-speed crash (no synchromesh) gearbox, two pedals (brakes and clutch), hand throttle and manual advance/retard ignition timing levers both on the steering wheel.
Co-ordinating the hand throttle, foot clutch and gear lever for a double-declutch change down from third to second (while steering at the same time) demanded a degree of manual and mental dexterity long since lost in this modern world. Driving a vintage Moggie was the craziest, most invigorating thing you could ever do on a public road. At anything over 50mph you were all set for take-off!

 

We had a Citroen 2CV 30 odd years ago. It had a weird "umbrella handle" gear stick that slid in and out from the dash board. Also the handbrake had a little round gizmo that you could turn 90 degrees and lock the lever as an anti theft device.

 

The only reason I didn't get a manual in my newest car was a particularly bad day of traffic on my way home from work on the night I was going to buy the car.

I had the internet sales manager hold both a manual and auto version of the same exact car for me; I was dead set on manual but my wife got in my ear about it so I had the manager hold the auto for me as well.

It took me nearly two hours to drive 38 miles on the 405 and that was it. I bought the auto.

I guess I made a good decision though because my mechanic buddy told me that Subaru automatics are more reliable than their manuals

 

It's the clutch that goes on Subies. Probably because of the AWD.

 

I have owned 30+ cars with manual transmissions, and am somewhat ashamed to say that my last 6 have had automatics. I really made an effort to find a nice used Corvette convertible with a stick a few years ago, but gave up after realizing that good ones were not easy to find locally. I bought a Crossfire with an automatic, which I still have. Over the past decade I have come to understand that there really wouldn't be any great enjoyment to be obtained from driving a car with a manual transmission on our straight, flat roads in bumper to bumper traffic, so I am now on the hunt for a C7 convertible with an automatic.

My wife absolutely refuses to sell her 17 year old Toyota Celica 5-speed, so I do get a chance to thrash that once or twice a year. It brings back memories of the pleasures of driving a slow car fast.

 

I learned on a '65 Ford p/u with three on the tree then spent the next 20 years driving stick shifts. I didn't own an automatic until I was 36. My college years were behind the wheel of several different late 60's VW's and I learned to shift them without the clutch as they were prone to breaking the clutch cable about once a year!

 

Learned with one of these. It has an overdrive button! 4 gears + electrical overdrive

I never wanted an automatic until I moved to "the big city". Always been driving manual (in my own cars at least) but next time it will be some sort of automatic transmission. It's awful averaging 6-8mph in traffic jams with a stick shift.

 

Oh yeah. I learned to drive on my parents '67 VW Bug. I still miss driving that car...

 

I got to remember to put the auto in park when I get home.... fortunately I park it on flat ground....

then when I go to use it next time it won't start?..... dohh.... put it in park you idiot!....

 

Well, to be truly amazing and ambidextrous, the foot pedals would have to be reversed order.

 

My latest manual transmission car... 6 speed, close ratio 1st through 4th... coupled to 450hp, in a 3300 lb car.

 

when I learned to drive just about all cars had manual gears very easy to suss out and you can then drive any car small truck etc.

 

I prefer a stick shift, both column and floor but prefer the floor. All my cars were stick until the 90's. Driving an hour and a half each way to work in Atlanta traffic finally made me cry "Uncle!". Now semi-retired and working from home. Maybe I'll do the stick on the next vehicle.

 

Hell yeah I can...I drive a tractor trailer for a living so...
BUT I learned to drive a car on a stick shift long before I learned to drive a truck. I actually learned to drive on my fathers van that had a 3 on the column shift.

 

My first car was a 1969 Ford Pinto which my father bought me. If you do some checking you'll see this is the one that turns into a fireball if it gets hit from behind. The fix was to install a plastic shield around the rear of the gas tank. LOL. Back in the day we had to successfully parallel park on our driving license test.

 

Yes, British/ European so it's the norm. I have driven a couple of automatics but it takes me a while to get the hang of them. I used to drive an old Leyland Sherpa van with no power steering (I think it weighed nearly two tons) and the gear stick was about 3 foot long and vibrated constantly so trying to catch it with my left hand was like trying to catch a squash ball whilst driving. So, I could turn a corner or I could change gear but not both at the same time.

I have a campervan ( small RV) I bought off a guy who owned a Morgan. I'm not very interested in cars but seen up close that's just a work of art, truly stunning. Not a pre war three wheeler though.

 

Yes I can, but really can do without the hassle.

 

Automatic cars are very rare and very expensive in Greece so if you can't drive stick you simply can't drive at all.