Do you still drive a stick shift? Did you ever?

Only
1st was '64 Mustang
fconvertible
Fiat Spider convertibble
last was Acura Integra
 

Dad didn't think I needed to learn how to drive a stick even though I wanted one, so he had automatics by the time I started to drive.

Learned to drive a stick shift pick up truck that my husband had when we were dating. Loved that truck. Replaced it with an automatic, but the next vehicle we get I want another stick.

@Silver Turtle is correct that it's also an anti-theft device. As a side note, back in the late 80's a guy held up a fish market & demanded keys from the clerk. He thought he would drive the car to getaway, but gave up & left on foot because it was a stick. The deputies caught him on foot. :LOL:
 
I drove manual until I came to the USA in 1977. After that I drove automatic, except for 2 cars that had a manual transmission. One was a Miata convertible. I loved to drive it!
 
In the UK, most fossil-fueled vehicles are shift-stick (we call them 'manual'). We did, as a family, have two automatic cars(Volvo) but I was taken with them. I don't know the arrangement in electric cars; I suspect they must have an automatic gearbox of sorts.
 
Because I was a driver specialist in the army, I've driven with almost all kinds of gearboxes: manual, pre-select, semi-automatic, and automatic. I've also driven with strange gear constellations that were not H-shaped.
 
learnt to drive in the forces,crash gearbox,gear stick was about 2 and half foot tall,6 forward gears,30 mph flat outunnamed (1).jpg
 
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I learnt to drive in my father's Morris Minor no synchromesh on first gear, but you rarely had to use it once you were moving. My first two cars were also Minors. There are still a few around 50 odd years after they ceased production. I've rarely driven an automatic car except in the USA. I suppose that electric cars must be a little like driving an automatic, but I'll stick to manual for the time being.
 
We've had predominantly manual transmissions over the years but there are pros and cons to both. We currently have a 6-speed manual pickup truck and an automatic (whatever you call these amorphous lumps that pass for cars these days).
 
I have always driven Manuals, I have also driven
double-decker buses with crash gear boxes when
you need to double declutch.

You can also drive an automatic like a "stick shift",
as soon as you start to move, shift the gear stick
into "L", low, it will hold that gear, till you want to
change, shift back to "D", drive, till you get the gear,
then back to "L", to hold that gear, you only feel the
car change gears around 3 times when driving an
automatic, but they usually have around 7 or 8 gears,
unless they have changed, anyway changing gears
manually will always save petrol.

Even the large 18 wheelers over here have gone to
automatic!

Mike.
 
My first car was a stick shift Red Toyota, then a red and white Impala, and I had to drive my husband's stick shift truck a few times long ago, and it all came back to me quickly.

Now I have a Jeep , my second Jeep, and I love it.
 
Pappy said:
Learned on this. Need I say more?
Click to expand...
IMG_0876.jpeg
Jessica-on-the-Quay-2.jpg
Whilst I didn't actually learn on this, it's mechanics are not too dissimilar from the car that I did learn to drive on.

y-dash.jpg
You can clearly see the gear lever in the centre, just to the left of the steering wheel.
There are, by today's standards, some amusing controls. Look at the "Y" shape that
the spokes of the steering wheel make, at the end of the left fork is a handle, you wind
that handle and the windscreen opens from the bottom outwards. That, believe it or
not, is your demist control. The dead flies come free. The two black buttons either side
of the winding handle are for opening air vents. in the centre of the dash, obscured
by the steering wheel is the indicator switch, the indicators are something else..........
trafficators.jpg
They are not self cancelling, they didn't even have some sort of audible warning
so that you don't forget to turn them off, I had one fitted. I don't know if you can
see the pedals. From the right they are, accelerator, brake and clutch. My instructor
referred to them as the ABC of driving.

Christchurch 02 sept 2023 007.JPG
Here is my MG posing with the other beauty in my life. Don't they both look like they are out of a time warp?
 
The deciding factor on purchasing an automatic was the cost of repairs. With almost everyone buying automatic, the costs were lower and there were more options to purchase. If I’m sitting behind someone on a snowy hill and their car starts to slip back, I’m thankful for my automatic.
 
The fun part of having a manual transmission, is when the clutch goes out
Drove a '67 VW that way for six months
Tricky part is stopping (completely) and starting
 
I've owned two stick-shifts....a Ford Pinto and a VW Rabbit. I was good at shifting but I hated it. I had to drive to work in stop-and-go traffic and the constant shifting drove me crazy. I was always going too fast for first but not quite fast enough for second, too fast for second but not quite up to third......

It's been 40 years since I've driven a stick, but I think I'd pick it up quickly. I don't want to, though.
 

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