Can you drive a stick shift ?

[Laughing Coyote]

Good thing the tech didn't try anyway and destroy your clutch and do other damage. Another reason I do my own maintenance if I can. 

Edited August 26, 2023 by Laughing Coyote (see edit history)

[Andy J]

Sure.I learned to drive in my daddy's '46 Ford p/u.All my cars were standards until I got married.My wife drove a VW for years,if you call that a standard.I drove fire engines,ladders,and rescue trucks for years,all manual transmissions.

 

I'm not very fond of automatics. I've had several quit on me through the years and they were all costly to have rebuilt. I will drive standards until I am no longer physically able to do so.

[Oldsmobile 83]

On 11/15/2021 at 8:40 AM, Racer-X- said:

 

Quoting someone from redit (I don't remember who, and I can't find it now):   Most Cavaliers will run like crap longer than other cars will run, period.

 

 

 

 

I used to love to take things with really weird shifters to restaurants and other places with valet parking.  Usually, the car doesn't move until I get back. 

 

In the mid 1980's, I had a neighbor with a Hurst Olds with the lightning rod shifters in it. See the video. 

 

 

We'd go out for dinner every few weeks to someplace in Buckhead (Atlanta) with valet parking.  The valet attendants would take one look inside and just walk away.  That one was "normal" if you ignored the extra rods and knobs, but the valet guys rarely made it that far.

 

Later, around 1990, I had a 1975 Cutlass Salon with a Lenco transmission and shift levers in it.  That was even wierder, with 3 levers that you pulled back for the forward gears, another lever for reverse that you pushed forward for reverse, but was locked out unless the 3 forward gear levers were pushed forward (which was neutral), and a separate knob you pulled for the mechanical parking/trans brake.

 

I've never driven a Ford Model T or any other pre WWI cars, but I've been told that if you take those to the valet parking, they'll always be right where you leave them.

I have an "83 Hurst/Olds with the Lighting Rod shifters and have been asked many times at car shows if my car is a 4 wheel drive (4WD).  

 

Tim

[marcapra]

My dad tried to teach me to drive his 64 Mustang coupe in 1965 when I was 15.  I wasn't very good at it, and I think he only gave me one short lesson.  My parents were divorced so I didn't see him that much.  In the 80s I drove a 1950 Plymouth business coupe.  It was a three speed and I hated it.  On the freeway, it screamed for a 4th speed or overdrive at just 55 mph.  My 48 DeSoto could cruise easily on the freeway, but it had the fluid drive semi-auto 4 speed.  I think my Plymouth had a 4.1 rear end and the Desoto has a 3.73.  I bought a 2000 Hyundai Tiburon hatchback new, and it had a nice shifting 5 speed trans, but it's gone now.  I once landed at LAX and struck up a conversation with a man who said he had an early meeting in LA in the morning, but he had to drive his wife and daughter back to Temecula first.  I offered to drive them, and he said fine.  As we started out, I realized I was dead tired after the long flight.  I told them if I fall asleep, be sure to roust me.  I looked on the sides of the freeway for a fast food place to get a cup of coffee.  I wondered if I could ask one of them to drive even if they didn't know how to drive a stick.  I could say you don't have to know how since I will shift from the passenger seat.  All you have to do is step on the clutch and lift slowly.  But I just kept on driving as we finally found an open Jack in the Box around 1 am, and the coffee revived me somewhat.  

[dship]

I learned to drive a stick with my first car, a '56 Mercury 3 speed on the floor...previous owner converted it from a column shift.

[STEVE POLLARD]

14 hours ago, Laughing Coyote said:

Good thing the tech didn't try anyway and destroy your clutch and do other damage. Another reason I do my own maintenance if I can. 

Your right Martin.....same here !

 

Steve

[Sunchaser]

First car I owned was a 1947 Jeep, had three shift sticks to play with.

[58L-Y8]

Approximately 2% of all new vehicles sold currently are manual shift, a situation that has developed over the last few decades as the percentage of manual shift vehicles sold steadily decreased.   Not surprising young techs have never even had the opportunity to learn to drive a manual shift. 

[cudaman]

My current cars are a 2007 Honda Element with a 5 speed manual with synchros, a 1912 Flanders 20 with a 3 speed manual with no syncros, and a 1924 Model T Ford with a 2 speed planetary transmission and a Ruckstell 2 speed rear axle with no syncro. 

[CChinn]

Learned manual shifting on my oldest brother’s Datsun 240 Z in San Francisco in the mid 70s. Hills?  Not an issue now.  My current 40 Chevy is a 3 on the tree manual transmission. Great fun to drive except during parades. Was behind the marching band last time.  Not fun!

[metalbender]

here is what i first learned to stick shift on/ 9 years old

[EmTee]

I had lots of practice in my early teens on a '59 Apache stake bed lot truck.  Also lots of practice schlepping gas and jacking/digging it out of the mud... 

[LARRYCAROL]

I learned in our driveway on my 57 metropolitan. In the mid 70s I tried to teach my wife on our vw squareback. Thought she had gotten it so one day I insisted she drive . She was not happy, possibly because she had skirt and high heels, but I insisted. Doing 35 mph we hit railroad tracks and car launched into the air. She down shifted into first gear and let out the clutch .  My poor engine was screaming and so was I 😳. She never tried again. Car and I survived. 

[JACK M]

22 hours ago, STEVE POLLARD said:

truck is still up on the lift today, the store manager ordered the wrong parts, he didn't realized there was a difference between 1/2 ton and 3/4 ton.... 🙄

This sounds like a place to not have any work done.

[28 Chrysler]

I got my son a Suzuki X90 - they are a little 4 wheel drive 2 seater coupe.

He had a heck of a time when I first took him to the school parking lot. I was glad it had a good battery.

My wife took him there and got the same results but got a burn out or two.

He did get the hang of it and later he got a newer VW bug with a 4 speed.

[zepher]

I learned how to drive a manual trans in my Dad's '72 Datsun pickup.

After driving that for a few months I was hooked on rowing through the gears and I owned nothing but manual transmission cars for decades.

I was about 19 when I drove my Grandfather's Pierce for the first time and it was tough at first to shift that non-synchronized trans.

After that, I think I was the only grandchild to drive his Pierce, and I eventually ended up inheriting that wonderful car.

 

In my early 20's I was an equipment operator and I drove a lot of strange shifting vehicles and equipment.

Everything from excavators to pumping trucks and even tractor trailer type vehicles with everything from 10 speeds, 13 speeds, 18 speeds and even stuff with a brownie box.

Although I have not driven anything with that many gears in decades, I still have my Class A commercial license.

I still keep my CDL mainly because I don't want to have any issues when towing one of my cars in an enclosed trailer.

[Bob Roller]

On 11/10/2021 at 7:48 PM, 1935Packard said:

I learned to drive a manual on my '35 Packard when I was about 35.  When I turned 16 and got a license, I really really wanted to buy a '66 GTO with a 4-speed, but the parents nixed that idea.  (They claimed that a manual was a bad idea because they didn't know how to drive one, and might need to drive it in an emergency.  No fun.)

My FIRST car was a 1935 Packard convertible with wire wheels and a "rumble"seat.Three speeds and weak brakes.After that,various MG's and several Model J Duesenbergs with 3 speeds and one with a 5 speed that gave the benefit of overdrive.

Bob Roller

[dodge28]

A transplanted colonial, it was always manual (standard) gear box) either stick or 3 on the 3 in my former homeland. In Canada I drove a 69 Buick 4 door manual , 3 on the 3. My last car was a 1995 Jeep Cherokee 5 speed stick. When I removed the gear box to replace the rear main seal I replaced the clutch after 19 years and 140 K miles. There was still enough lining left to go another 50 thousand miles. At work all the trucks were stick.  A drivers test in the old country requires to face uphill . Stop the car and move forward without rolling backwards by using the hand brakes. Remember all the G M cars ordered By Sadam Hosain of Iraque and he  did not take them ?  Well I bought one of those. They were manual. 

[DrumBob]

Yes, I can. I learned at 17, when I had a summer job delivering meat and groceries for a butcher shop in town. The delivery car was a bomb of a '57 Plymouth. My father took me to the local park, and with great difficulty, I learned to drive a stick.

 

When my daughter leased a Subaru WRX several years ago, I had to drive the car home from the dealership, because she couldn't. I took her right to the local church parking lot and taught her, the way my old man taught me. After twenty or thirty minutes, I said, "Now, drive the car home." She did. 

[Restorer32]

I only stopped driving stick regularly when I had both knees replaced. Still drive stick on occasion and wish my daily driver, a Ram Diesel, was stick like my previous one. Taught me Daughter to drive stick and she loves doing so.

[CHuDWah]

Can I drive a stick shift?  Yes and no.  I know how and have driven them in the past.  But a leg disability has progressed to the point I no longer can.  Even when I could I preferred automatic - shifting is work and I'm lazy. 😁 Anyway, around the time I got my license, an aunt took me out on a country road and taught me to drive grandma's 53 Ford straight six 3-on-the-tree.  I rabbit-hopped it a couple times before I got the pedal coordination right - every car seems a little different in that respect.  My part-time job during high school was driving a delivery van with stick shift and my first car, at least one that actually ran and drove, was a Model A.  I got lots of stick shift practice on it but never quite mastered double-clutching - course, the gears were so worn it didn't make much difference. 🤣

[zepher]

53 minutes ago, CHuDWah said:

Can I drive a stick shift?  Yes and no.  I know how and have driven them in the past.  But a leg disability has progressed to the point I no longer can.  Even when I could I preferred automatic - shifting is work and I'm lazy. 😁 Anyway, around the time I got my license, an aunt took me out on a country road and taught me to drive grandma's 53 Ford straight six 3-on-the-tree.  I rabbit-hopped it a couple times before I got the pedal coordination right - every car seems a little different in that respect.  My part-time job during high school was driving a delivery van with stick shift and my first car, at least one that actually ran and drove, was a Model A.  I got lots of stick shift practice on it but never quite mastered double-clutching - course, the gears were so worn it didn't make much difference. 🤣

 

Hope you're doing OK in FL.

That storm surge is pretty big.

[CHuDWah]

22 minutes ago, zepher said:

 

Hope you're doing OK in FL.

That storm surge is pretty big.

Thanx, but I'm out of the hurricane/surge zone - got a little rain and wind but nothing serious.  You guys got the double whammy hurriquake - you OK?

[zepher]

18 minutes ago, CHuDWah said:

Thanx, but I'm out of the hurricane/surge zone - got a little rain and wind but nothing serious.  You guys got the double whammy hurriquake - you OK?

 

Glad to hear you are relatively unaffected by the storm.

We were OK for the most part during Hilary.

But, my step son did spin out on the freeway and ended up totaling his car.

He had to drive home from work in some of the worst parts of the rain and SoCal freeways are not made for heavy rain.

Driving to go pick him up after his car was towed off the freeway was the only time I have had my traction control light flicker while doing normal driving in the rain.

My car was dancing all over the lane, it was a white knuckle ride.

[CHuDWah]

1 hour ago, zepher said:

 

Glad to hear you are relatively unaffected by the storm.

We were OK for the most part during Hilary.

But, my step son did spin out on the freeway and ended up totaling his car.

He had to drive home from work in some of the worst parts of the rain and SoCal freeways are not made for heavy rain.

Driving to go pick him up after his car was towed off the freeway was the only time I have had my traction control light flicker while doing normal driving in the rain.

My car was dancing all over the lane, it was a white knuckle ride.

I hear ya.  The road from town to our house is a straight but narrow two-lane blacktop banked high on one side.  Even without hurricanes, FL has frequent short but heavy downpours.  I was driving our pickup in one and could barely see the yellow line.  Like most trucks, ours has lousy weight distribution and the rear can get squirrel-y when empty.  Course it was rush hour with a lot of traffic - yeah, white knuckle!

 

Too bad about your stepson's car but coulda been worse - I take it he's OK?

[zepher]

3 minutes ago, CHuDWah said:

I hear ya.  The road from town to our house is a straight but narrow two-lane blacktop banked high on one side.  Even without hurricanes, FL has frequent short but heavy downpours.  I was driving our pickup in one and could barely see the yellow line.  Like most trucks, ours has lousy weight distribution and the rear can get squirrel-y when empty.  Course it was rush hour with a lot of traffic - yeah, white knuckle!

 

Too bad about your stepson's car but coulda been worse - I take it he's OK?

 

He was uninjured and is fine.

The part that really eats at him is his accident was exactly 30 days after he had made his last car payment.

[Ed Luddy]

I have my 99 Miata 5 speed standard for sale. Had a young guy ask me a lot of questions about it, and made a rude offer through his buddy.  Told them to get lost. A few days later he tries again under a different email. Told him price is non negotiable after I dropped the price.

 This so-called savvy Miata expert shows up finally with his mega smart fast 'n furious buddy for a test drive. Turns out Joe Cool can't drive a stick, neither can Vin Diesel buddy, nor did they even bring a deposit. 1st line in ad and headline " 5 speed standard shift"

"Duuuddde, didn't see that" 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gunsmoke]

I haven't read the whole 4 pages above (AACA members should by rule have to be able to drive a manual) but surmise 99% of AACA members can not only drive manual transmission cars, but prefer them. I've only ever driven manuals and currently have a 6 speed Volvo C30 Turbo and a 6 speed Infinity G35, both great runners. However, the future may be short for manual shifts. My son last year was shopping for a new mid sized manual shift SUV, and the only one he could find was the Subaru Crosstrek. Virtually all others were only available in Automatic, which seemed such a shame to me as one would think SUV's of all  body styles would have manual shift as an option. I suspect there may be some SUVs still offering manual shifts (Jeep maybe), but down the road I expect there to be very few.

[dlmyers]

My story is like a lot of the ones posted earlier. I've been driving stick shift cars and trucks since 1960.

The problem is now I'm trying to sell my 2007 GMC pickup and everyone that has looked at it says they would buy it if it had an automatic transmission.

I can understand why almost no-one is building standard transmission vehicles.

[oldcarfudd]

1 hour ago, Gunsmoke said:

(AACA members should by rule have to be able to drive a manual)

And a steam car, of course!

[PONTIAC1953]

My first manual transmission car was a 1962 Hillman Minx four door sedan, it had the four on the floor, my second manual transmission car was a 1956 Chevrolet 150 series two door sedan business coupe, 235 Chevy six and the three on the tree. I spent 22 years driving semi trucks cross country, was trained with a 9 speed trans, once graduated from truck driving school I was shifting a 10 speed eaton trans, my over the road trainer was surprised how quickly I became good at "floating the gears" which is shifting without using the clutch, I once got to use a truck with a 13 speed road ranger trans, which was like the 10 speed but the last 3 of the 10 could be "Split" by the splitter switch on the shift knob, when the new trucks started coming out with the automatic transmission, I told my Boss to let me keep my assigned truck with the 10 speed as long as possible, knowing eventually the whole fleet would be just trucks with the automatic, finally I had to turn in my assigned truck for a newer one, and was surprised myself how quickly I became used to shifting the automatic, plus the the auto shifter being dash mounted made moving from cab to sleeper berth and vise versa much easier for a big guy. I've been retired from trucking for almost 4 years now, still miss the driving and being paid to see the country.

Edited September 1, 2023 by PONTIAC1953 (see edit history)

[Farmallregular]

Learned to drive in an old International pickup with four speed (three plus granny low).  Have had an assortment of both manual and automatic cars over the years, cars that other family members drive are all automatics.  Made sure the kids could at least drive a manual, even though several of them were never good at it.  One adult daughter actually prefers a manual. 

[Paul S]

How about a twin stick and don't use the clutch!!

 

Edited September 1, 2023 by Paul S (see edit history)

[pfloro]

In high school (1973), a friend had a '57 Chevrolet "210" with 3 on the tree.  I really liked mastering double clutching into 1st while slowing down.  I learned how to judge engine and vehicle speed and being rewarded with no gear clash (well..., almost)...  

 

I later drove my brother's '68 stock Firebird with a 350-2bbl and 4 speed. Even though the clutch was a bit heavy, it was fully synchronized and a piece of cake.   The car was "goat vomit green" and when it was old & dinged up, his wife called it "the pickle"... LOL... 

 

Paul

 

 

 

[PWN]

Never owned anything but, except for a brief flirt with a 91 Dodge Cummins D250.

 

Currently two 5-speed VWs - 96 Passat TDI Variant, 98 Jetta TDI, a 5-speed 92 Dodge Cummins Power Wagon W250 and my 3-speed Chandler.