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Thread Number: 79779
/ Tag: Other Home Products or Autos
About cars... Am I THAT old? |
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Post# 1036775 , Reply# 1 7/1/2019 at 03:58 (1,753 days old) by DADoES  (TX, U.S. of A.) |
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Post# 1036776 , Reply# 2 7/1/2019 at 04:53 (1,753 days old) by Yogitunes (New Jersey) |
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My Dad would only own a stick shift, but it was more so us kids wouldn't ask to drive it since he figured we couldn't figure it out...
hence there was no internet/youtube/google back then....probably better off, as I have yet to find a millennial with a Smart Phone show one bit of intelligence...take away their phone and their lost...lol a good friend showed me how to drive his VW Bug with a stick shift....in which I also used this to take my driving test..... got home that same day, asked Dad for the keys, and showed both of my sisters how to drive a stick shift.... Dad had a Grand Wagoneer with a three speed on the tree....I'll save you the time to look that one up, Stick shift on the steering column I preferred a shifter on the floor myself...and every car I ever owned until the Jeep was a manual...I have the AutoStick option, but its not quite the same... my first automatic was a 1988 Chrysler Lebaron Turbo with UltraDrive, a tranny that would send you running back to a stick shift fast....but in any case, when your so used to pushing the left pedal, NOW hitting the brake instead, and always a hand on the floor shift, ready to select a gear....somethings you can't get out of your head... there was also a time when if you didn't know how to drive a manual, car dealers socked it to you for the pricing of an automatic.... remember Hillerosis, the fear of rolling backwards on a hill with a manual.... I think the best part of today, we have up to 6 speed manuals.... | ||
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Post# 1036787 , Reply# 5 7/1/2019 at 07:33 (1,753 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Standard? What's that?
My dad knew how to drive manual, all his trucks were "3 on the tree" until 1970, when he got his first automatic truck and never looked back. For cars, he went automatic as far back as 1954 (Chevrolet Power-Glide). As for me, I sorta' attempted with a manual Ford F-100 back when I was 14. Never got the hang of it, and never liked it. I was like, "but WHY?. "There's Turbo-Hydramatic...screw this." When I went to Europe for the first time in 1987 I was amazed (among other things) that virtually every car was standard, the complete opposite of the U.S.. In 1988 I returned and rented my first car and discovered I had to pay extra for the luxury of an automatic.
We may had been forced to drive smaller cars in general, but we still love our comforts, one of them being automatic transmissions. | ||
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Post# 1036789 , Reply# 6 7/1/2019 at 07:45 (1,753 days old) by Lorainfurniture (Cleveland ) |
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I grew up on manual transmissions, one of my larger box trucks is still a 6 speed manual. I certainly can appreciate the nostalgia, but I don’t think I will ever have a mt car as a daily driver again. | ||
| Post# 1036790 , Reply# 7 7/1/2019 at 07:50 (1,753 days old) by toploader55 (Massachusetts Sand Bar, Cape Cod) | ||
My 2004 Tacoma is a 5 speed.
Manual is getting harder to find. When I priced a New Tacoma with a 5 speed, (and nearly had to call the EMTs when I saw the price) there are only 1 or 2 models that you can get a 6 speed. Everything else is Automatic. I don't think you can get a Tundra with a Manual. I think in 1972 was one of the last years you had to take your driving test on a standard. | ||
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Post# 1036791 , Reply# 8 7/1/2019 at 08:03 (1,753 days old) by foraloysius (Leeuwarden, Friesland, the Netherlands) |
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Post# 1036799 , Reply# 10 7/1/2019 at 10:06 (1,752 days old) by DaveAMKrayoGuy (Oak Park, MI) |
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Ben McPeek
Okay, I think I'm sold on a manual transmission thanks to this guy:
(Though it looks like a Mercury Marquis is his other car) I'll take a NEW Fiat 500 in that red, then, maybe for my next vehicle... -- Dave CLICK HERE TO GO TO DaveAMKrayoGuy's LINK | ||
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Post# 1036801 , Reply# 11 7/1/2019 at 10:12 (1,752 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.) |
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My parents mostly had stick shift cars when my Dad was still alive, he didn’t like automatics, although we did have a few cars with AT. When my Mom used to drive us to school in the mornings down San Pablo Ave., the kid that was riding shot gun got to shift when Mom clutched, it was great fun and my brother and I used to fight over who got to rid in the front. This was either in first her Jaguar 3.8 sedan then the last car she had before Dad died in 62’, a 62’ Studebaker Gran Turisimo Hawk, both with four on the floor. She had extensions installed on shift lever and blocks on the brake and clutch pedals because she was only 4’9”.
Then, when I was a teen and we moved to the country after Dad died, the neighbor down the road taught me to drive stick in a 39’ Chevy Flatbed Truck. It was the most forgiving clutch ever and perfect for learning to drive a stick. I haven’t owned a stick now since 97’, when I had to trade my 95’ Tacoma with a 5 speed because the arthritis in my left hip was getting so bad that driving in the stop and go commute traffic after work was excruciating. Unlike most here, I actually prefer a three on the tree. There is a lot less shifting. To me that 5 speed in the Tacoma was at least one gear too many. Better an old school 3 speed with overdrive. And the thought of having to go thru 6 or more gears is something I have no interest in. Around here now, with the terrible traffic, the only manual transmission car I would be interested in as a daily driver would be ideally a 3 on the tree with OD, or 4 speed, anything else would be just too much unnecessary hassle IMHO. All that being said, I would love to take a nice long country road drive with a stick shift car, just for old times sake. I know it would be just like riding a bike, you never forget that coordination required once you finally master it. Eddie | ||
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Post# 1036811 , Reply# 12 7/1/2019 at 12:46 (1,752 days old) by RP2813 (Sannazay) |
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 My dad tried to teach me manual shifting on the '50 GMC, which has a column shift, when I was around 17. The clutch pedal on that thing has a really strong spring, and I couldn't get the hang of it. I know he was disappointed at the time.
Then my sister had me give it another try with her super stripped down '65 Chevy Biscayne going back and forth on our long driveway. I think it was her instruction, along with a more forgiving clutch pedal, that helped me catch on quickly, and I conquered the GMC after that. It just so happened that her friend's '72 Datsun 510 was parked out front, so after I mastered the Chevy, she had me try the Datsun. Wow! No slow release required on that clutch! I've appreciated Japanese clutches ever since.
25 years later, Dave bought a VW Passat GLX wagon with a 5-speed. He was murdering both the transmission and the engine (not shifting into 5th on the freeway until I finally told him to, etc., etc.) and after a year or two I told him to buy something with an automatic and I'd take over the Passat. That was a great car to drive, and I loved the stick -- except in stop-and-go traffic on the way home from work.
I got my 2003 Subaru Baja a few years ago. I decided a stick wasn't such a bad idea since I had test driven a Baja with an automatic and it was pathetic about getting up to speed while climbing an on-ramp up to the freeway.
I pride myself on being able to make a manual shift feel like an automatic to anyone else in the car. That is flatly impossible with the Subaru. I even went onto a Subaru forum and asked about the jerky engagement and and general sloppiness. More than one responder advised that I was experiencing normal behavior. I have killed the engine on the Baja more than on any other manual I've ever driven. It's the exception to every other Japanese stick I've experienced, but it's such a handy car that I continue to deal with it. At some point I'm going to take it in and have it checked out. I simply can't accept that its behavior is normal.
Also, Subaru offered a "hill holder" clutch for a while. Why they ever dropped it, I don't know. It wasn't anything new, though. Apparently the "hill holder" was available as far back as the '40s on certain American makes. I wish the Baja had that. I avoided underpasses with signals at the top for many months after I bought that car, but at this point I'm fairly confident even when navigating serious ups and downs in San Francisco.
Tom is spot-on with his description of driving a manual. I've been driving the GMC for 47 years now. That's longer than my dad did. I know that truck like the back of my hand and can sense the slightest issue it might be having when I'm behind the wheel. It truly is like being one with the vehicle when I drive that truck, and it's something I'll continue to enjoy until I'm too weak to hold the clutch pedal to the floor. | ||
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Post# 1036812 , Reply# 13 7/1/2019 at 12:54 (1,752 days old) by LowEfficiency (Iowa) |
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>> The link is more than laughable. Some of the "features" I'm very glad they no longer exist.
The list was a mix... I'd love to see T-Tops make a return. On transmissions, when a person says a manual is "complicated" to drive, they are forgetting (or unaware of) an enormous amount of history. We forget just how far things have come, and how nice *modern* manual transmissions actually are. Low pedal effort, synchromesh gears, hill-holder, starter interlock, long life roller throw-out bearings, modern clutch friction materials, 6+ speeds, etc, etc. By contrast, a Model T's manual transmission is immensely more complicated to drive. And that's assuming that a modern driver could even get the car started, or keep it running well with the lever-operated fuel and spark advance controls. Even some of the intermediate "automatic" manual transmissions were difficult. Take the Preselector gearbox for example. More elegant for sure, but you have to think ahead more than you do with a more basic transmission. Different vehicles had their quirks, too. The Trabant, for example, had a two-stroke engine, with the engine oil being mixed with the gas. In a Trabant, you couldn't coast for long at all, or engine-brake, as the engine was starved for lubrication if the throttle was closed, and doing so could seize the engine. The Trabant was fitted with a special freewheel to allow coasting, but only when in 4th gear! Any other gear, and you needed to either be on the gas, or in neutral, to avoid causing engine damage. | ||
| Post# 1036815 , Reply# 14 7/1/2019 at 12:58 (1,752 days old) by Iheartmaytag (Wichita, Kansas) | ||
I learned how to drive on a 4 speed
A 1973 Vega. It could do zero to 60 in 3.5 years.
Where I got into the biggest trouble was my second car, a Mercury Marquis with 400 cu in engine and auto. I was used to driving the Vega with manual brakes and manual trans. On the test drive mistake #1. I pull to a stop sign, being very careful of the power brakes. Everything was fine until I hit the clutch, which it didn't have. What it did have was a very wide brake peddle. Drew lots of attention to myself on that one. Mistake #2, I start to pass a car where I am used to putting the accelerator to the floor, praying and hoping you get around the car. I stomped the Merc and it went Woompft and I was doing 85. I've owned one manual since then, a 5 speed that time. Now the Jeep has a 5 speed but it's automatic/overdrive. | ||
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Post# 1036818 , Reply# 15 7/1/2019 at 13:14 (1,752 days old) by wayupnorth (On a lake between Bangor and Bar Harbor, Maine) |
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I learned on a 65 Galaxie how to operate "3 on the tree" to a 69 Fairlane to a 72 Vega POS to a 72 Celica also POS, 77 280Z, 81 Subaru, 83 Subaru (both with the hill holder clutch) to an 85 S-10 truck to an 88 Blazer, which was the last standard I owned. Many new ones today do not even offer a standard shift as an option.
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| Post# 1036819 , Reply# 16 7/1/2019 at 13:17 (1,752 days old) by Iheartmaytag (Wichita, Kansas) | ||
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Post# 1036822 , Reply# 18 7/1/2019 at 13:38 (1,752 days old) by foraloysius (Leeuwarden, Friesland, the Netherlands) |
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All our manual transmission cars came with a hill holder... lol
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Post# 1036824 , Reply# 19 7/1/2019 at 13:59 (1,752 days old) by RP2813 (Sannazay) |
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My One-Track Mindedness Kicks In | ||
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Post# 1036828 , Reply# 20 7/1/2019 at 14:19 (1,752 days old) by foraloysius (Leeuwarden, Friesland, the Netherlands) |
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| Post# 1036830 , Reply# 21 7/1/2019 at 14:50 (1,752 days old) by Xraytech (Rural southwest Pennsylvania ) | ||
I learned to drive grandpas 79 GMC Sierra that had a 3 on the tree Manual transmission, I found it fairly enjoyable. However I couldn’t get the hang of dads 95 F-150 with 5 speed floor shift manual.
I’ve not much worried about the difficulty driving manual, as I’m not a sports/small car or truck person. I’ve always favored full size American Luxury, and as far as I’m aware cars like Town Car, Fleetwood, Electra/Park Avenue, or a Ninety-Eight haven’t had a manual transmission in a few decades prior to the models being dropped. | ||
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Post# 1036832 , Reply# 22 7/1/2019 at 16:09 (1,752 days old) by thomasortega (El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora de Los Angeles de Porciúncula) |
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Hahahaha Martin... I drove Chevrolet Opala and Chevrolet Veraneio (suburban here in the USA) and Ford Galaxie Landau that had manual transmission on the tree. | ||
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Post# 1036834 , Reply# 24 7/1/2019 at 16:29 (1,752 days old) by Yogitunes (New Jersey) |
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we drove mostly American Motors in our family....
too many foot pedals at times.... Gas, Brake, Clutch, Foot Pedal Emergency Brake, and below that, the Hi-Beam switch... had a cousin with I believe a 52 Ford pickup....add in the starter button on the floor next to the gas pedal, and the manual choke... got to drive a Chrysler Newport once.....ignition and push button automatic on the left side of the steering wheel....that alone will throw you off track... | ||
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Post# 1036854 , Reply# 26 7/1/2019 at 17:35 (1,752 days old) by RP2813 (Sannazay) |
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A while back, due to a faulty fuel gauge the GMC got stuck at a gas station that I pulled into just a matter of seconds too late. It didn't want to start after I filled the tank, and the battery crapped out.
I called AAA road service and this dude around 25 to 30 years old came out to give me a jump start. He went to pop the hood and I called to him while pointing inside the cab at the floor on the passenger's side. I had already removed the access panel for the battery. He had never seen a battery that wasn't under the hood. I also advised that it was a 6-volt system and that he would need to disconnect ASAP after the truck started.
Then he noticed there was no stick shift on the floor and asked about that. I pointed to the steering column. He had never seen that either. Finally, he pointed to the starter pedal and asked what it was, and I told him.
I think he learned more that day on the job than he ever had before.
I recently took the truck out on a run with son-in-law Steve. He had previously expressed interest in driving it. He had never driven a manual column shift, but has owned a number of Hondas with a stick. I made sure the truck had been sufficiently warmed up and then pulled over to let him give it a try. He did really well for a first-timer. The only thing he couldn't remember was that neutral is between each gear, so when he'd shift up, he'd free-wheel. With practice, I know he'll figure it out. | ||
| Post# 1036874 , Reply# 30 7/1/2019 at 20:27 (1,752 days old) by liamy1 (-) | ||
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Teach me Not to try and read fast, you've answered my question in the blooming op :s That's crazy that you're not required to sit a test in a manual to be allowed to drive one. | ||
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Post# 1036875 , Reply# 31 7/1/2019 at 20:30 (1,752 days old) by LowEfficiency (Iowa) |
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>> Is it right that's not the case in the US, you can drive a manual even if you didn't sit a test in one?
In many places in the USA, you can get your license without ever having a driving test - Just pass a written test (computerized now) and you're good to go for the rest of your life. What kind of vehicle you would drive is a distant concern, save for things like the categories of commercial vehicle licenses or having your motorcycle endorsement... | ||
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Post# 1036876 , Reply# 32 7/1/2019 at 20:30 (1,752 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.) |
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Post# 1036879 , Reply# 34 7/1/2019 at 21:05 (1,752 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.) |
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When I got my first drivers license I was one month shy of 17. We lived on the Northern California Coast. I took my behind the wheel test in a little town called Point Arena. The DMV sent an examiner up there from Santa Rosa on the third Tuesday and Wednesday of every month. He stationed himself in the little Public Library. I just had my papers transferred up there and the neighbor let me drive their 1961 Chevrolet Nomad station wagon with a 348 V8 and Turbo Glide.
That little town had zero traffic, no traffic lights and one stop sign. I performed my parallel parking between posts. The examiner was jacked about the car, he’d had a 61’ Chevy station wagon himself, and thats all he talked about. At one point I looked at the speedometer while in a 25 mph zone and realized to my horror that I was going 35 mph, thought I’d failed for sure. The examiner noticed my concern and slow down, he just said, “ Kid I like the way you drive, most of the people up here just dawdle along, take me back, you just passed with a 100%! Was I ever surprised. Eddie | ||
| Post# 1036880 , Reply# 35 7/1/2019 at 21:11 (1,752 days old) by liamy1 (-) | ||
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Haha Like it. Could've done with your examiner when sat mine :) | ||
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Post# 1036882 , Reply# 36 7/1/2019 at 23:52 (1,752 days old) by RP2813 (Sannazay) |
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Around here, we have people from distant parts of the world driving badly, everywhere. I'm pretty sure most of them never owned or drove a car until they got here.
I don't know how many languages they're up to now at the DMV for the written exam. Anyone who has trouble or speaks a language that the DMV doesn't (yet) support can have a "translator" friend or relative assist, completely unsupervised.
The UK's process is sounding pretty good to me. | ||
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Post# 1036931 , Reply# 39 7/2/2019 at 10:22 (1,751 days old) by philcobendixduo (San Jose) |
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I rode the school bus to school for many years. I always sat near the front where I could watch the driver shift the gears. I practiced using the pedals on my piano.
When it came time for my first car, I bought a 1974 Honda Civic with a 4 speed manual transmission. I had NO problems driving it even though all I'd driven during driver training were automatics. My 1980 Accord had a 5 speed manual. My 1992 Chevy S10 pickup also had a 5 speed manual. My 2003 Passat GLX wagon has a 5 speed manual - and I still enjoy driving it although it does get a bit wearisome in heavy traffic (which is the norm in this part of the country....) My newest car has an 8 speed automatic and I quite enjoy not having to shift for a change! | ||
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Post# 1036969 , Reply# 40 7/2/2019 at 16:12 (1,751 days old) by JustJunque (Western MA) |
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I've owned lots of cars. All different types.
Mostly inexpensive, mostly automatics. I understood the mechanics of driving a manual transmission, but had very little if any real world experience with it. For some reason, when I was around 21, I let myself be talked into buying a three year old Camaro IROC-Z with a five speed. I had to learn pretty quickly, since it was my only car! I guess I did okay, but I can't say that I enjoyed it. And I always avoided having to start up on hills! I thought I'd try to teach my then girlfriend how to drive it once. Once. I think I went a few shades whiter when I said; "Okay...give it a little gas, and start to let out the clutch." She had it up to about 6,000 RPM, and was about to let out the clutch. Not especially wanting to launch through the front of the house at the end of the street, I said, as calmly as possible; "Okay...don't let out the clutch right now." That was the end of the lesson. We always meant to try again some time, but it never happened. Then, the car got stolen and destroyed. So that was the end of that. Years later, and quite the contrast, I owned a late '70s Pinto with a four speed. People love to hate on those cars, but I thought it was a fun little car. I've driven a few other manual transmission cars, but those were the only two that I've owned. And I've never driven a "three on the tree", although it's something I think I'd like to try some day. Barry | ||
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Post# 1036971 , Reply# 41 7/2/2019 at 16:34 (1,751 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.) |
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My maternal grandma was born in 1900 and was one of the very first women in Kansas to drive a car. Her father owned a hotel in Sharon, Kansas, and he bought a Hupmobile in I believe around 1911, and he taught his daughter how to drive it. I’m fairly sure that the Hupmobile had a clutch. When my grandparents were married in 1919, grandpa had a Ford Model T, which is more like an automatic than a standard shift. The far left pedal was the gear selector, all the way to the floor was first gear, half way out was neutral and all the way out was second gear. Contrary to the You Tube link posted earlier, there was no clutch pedal as we know it in a Model T. The transmission had bands and planetary gears. Anyway, grandma mastered the Model T and she would load her four daughters into that Tin Lizzie and journey the 50 or so miles on the dirt roads of 1920’s rural Kansas, to visit her parents in Sharon, all by herself, without giving it a second thought.
Then in about 1933, grandpa got rid of their last Model T, and replaced it with a 1929 Chrysler, which had a 4 speed transmission with a clutch. Apparently, grandpa didn't trust that grandma would remember her earlier experience with her Dad’s Hupmoblie, so he took her out an a a training expedition, before he would turn her loose with the 29’ Chrysler. He had little patience and they got into an argument and grandma stopped driving that day, and never drove again. I always thought this was very sad for her, because she lost a little of her independence that day, she who had been a Suffragette. Eddie www.carstuffshow.com/blog... www.caranddriver.com/features/a1... www.fordmodelt.net/how-to-drive-... | ||
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Post# 1036976 , Reply# 42 7/2/2019 at 17:07 (1,751 days old) by RP2813 (Sannazay) |
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Barry,
Three on the tree is a lot like four on the floor, at least from the passenger's perspective when looking at the steering column. The "H" pattern is the same.
I've attached some pictures from the textbook Sportsmanlike Driving. We actually used this 1940s book when I took driver education in high school back in 1971! When I saw a copy in a thrift store for 50c many years ago, I bought it just for the illustrations.
Thinking back, it seems that in my experience textbooks more than 20 years old were quite common from first grade all the way through 12th.
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Post# 1036978 , Reply# 43 7/2/2019 at 17:51 (1,751 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.) |
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I had this same book in HS Drivers Education class too Ralph. Back then it was common to use the same textbooks for many years, no new editions every year. We were required to always keep a brown paper cover on each of our textbooks, and during the last day of school every year we had book repair day, when we erased any pencil marks on the pages and mended any tears with glassine paper strips and paste, not scotch tape, because it yellowed. In fact, in Catholic School we had some textbooks from as far back as 1932, and I attended that school from 58’ thru 63’!
Eddie This post was last edited 07/02/2019 at 19:19 | ||
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Post# 1036984 , Reply# 44 7/2/2019 at 19:13 (1,751 days old) by RP2813 (Sannazay) |
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For sure Eddie. The Catholic school I attended from first through third grades was built in 1924 and we still had the original three-on-the-skis wooden desks with holes for inkwells, a lot of the books were old, and we were taught the Palmer Method for cursive writing.
From fourth through eighth grades, that Catholic school was built in 1951 and had newer stuff.
Even public schools seemed to use the same ALM Spanish book for decades. I hit Spanish class the first year that ALM published a completely new edition, and it was welcomed by all.
Here's a rendering that still holds true today:
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Post# 1036985 , Reply# 45 7/2/2019 at 19:28 (1,751 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.) |
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Ralph,
my Catholic school was built in 1936, and we had those same desks too, screwed to the runners, seats that folded up and inkwells. The school was heated with steam heat and we had radiators in the classrooms. As you know steam heat is not very common in California, even then it was a rarity. Once, the boiler broke down and we received a call in the early morning that there was no school that day, because it was winter and too cold without the heat working.
The teachers desk also sat on a platform, about a foot higher than the rest of the hardwood floor. This way sister could gaze out on the sea of 52 students before her and keep an eye out for any Tomfoolery. Todays kids heads would explode if they traveled back in time to the way we were “schooled”. It was the teachers that ruled the classroom, NOT the students OR the parents. BTW, sorry to go so far off the track of the thread. Eddie | ||
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Post# 1036997 , Reply# 46 7/2/2019 at 22:33 (1,751 days old) by petek (Ontari ari ari O ) |
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I learned a stick at 14 by "borrowing" my sisters bf's VW bug he'd left in my parents driveway, no one was home so I drove it around the block and didn't do too badly. It was some years later my first husband bought an old mid 60s Chev Biscayne or something with 3 on the tree and I managed to drive that a few times around New Westminster where we were living outside of Vancouver. I had a motorcycle so shifting wasn't too foreign. Somewhere in the next year or two, I'm forgetting, but after our "divorce" I had my bike and picked up an old mid 60s Fargo (dodge) shaggin wagin for rainy days. That was 3 on the tree as well. Couldn't kill that thing. Nextly I got myself a new demo 82 Volvo GL.. new hubby (and still current hubby) exclaims on seeing it. "You only bought that because you know I can't drive it" and I said I'd teach him and I did. Parts of metro Vancouver/Burnaby/North Vanc.have very hilly streets, similar to San Fran. Well that was fun teaching him..he'd be watching the streetlights a block or two ahead so he could time it to get through and avoid stopping on a red on a hill LOL.. if he timed it wrong,, he'd make a right turn wherever to keep going. Anyways long story short, he got the hang of it and ended up buying a standard Datsun pickup. Me, my back got worse and when the Volvo went that was my last stick shift,, but I still and always will have a bike to shift.
Fast forward to last week, our neighbor has a little Jeep CJ standard and he asked her if he could drive it. Its been about 20 years since he last drove a stick, but he just lit up driving that thing around the neighborhood while we sat on our front porch having cocktails .. So today as a matter of fact we went looking for a used Jeep Wrangler for a summer fun toy and found one, he gets it hopefully on Thursday.. We looked at a couple of other jeeps but they were automatics,, can't have that. So with this Jeep coming that effectively ends my hope of getting my boat tail Riviera or Electra.. but I'm good with it. Unless of course one shows up dirt cheap and in good condition LOL. | ||
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Post# 1037008 , Reply# 47 7/3/2019 at 04:33 (1,751 days old) by askolover (South of Nash Vegas, TN) |
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 I've been shifting gears since I was 16 and I'm 48 now. Oh sure I've had automatics too but usually at least one stick in the fleet...two times I had two in my fleet. I've never driven a three on the tree. My dad used to drive my grandfather's old GMC and I'd watch him but by the time I was ready to learn to drive they were just few and far between around here. My first shifting experience was in a 1984 VW rabbit. It was at the car lot up the street. We went to test drive it and he pulled over on a non-busy road and let me have it. I did just fine. And I was hooked. So my first new car was a 5sp. My mother couldn't drive it so I taught her just in case she ever had to drive it in an emergency. I enjoy driving them until the interstate gets backed up in Nashville and then I curse them. Tony can drive them too...but I'm better haha My manuals were: 1980 VW Rabbit diesel 4sp (get out and push...52hp) 1987 Chevy Nova (aka Toyota Corolla) wish I still had that car as it got 43 mpg 1993 Chevy S10 Tahoe 1995 VW GTI VR6 2001 VW Beetle TDI | ||
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Post# 1037054 , Reply# 49 7/3/2019 at 17:59 (1,750 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.) |
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My most memorable experience driving a stick shift was in the 71’ Ford Maverick that I owned from Nov. 81’ until April 86’ It was a great little simple car with 3 on the tree and a 200 cu in inline six.
Once when I had gone to Santa Rosa on an errand, and on my way home in downtown rush hour traffic I was stopped at a red light, first in line. The light changed and when I started to let my left foot rise off the clutch, the pedal remained on the floor! I was already in 1st gear, so I just gave it the gas and started to move, when the revs sounded right for the upshift to 2nd, I slide the lever up and towards the windshield to 2nd with my foot off the gas, once in gear I gave it the gas again and continued on. I thought, well I need to get home to Petaluma, about 10 miles away, so I just drove it this way, without the clutch all the way home, shifting up and down between all three gears as usual, just without the clutch. And amazingly, since I was familiar with how the engine should sound for each up and down shift, I didn’t even grind the gears once! The next day I took the car into my mechanic to have the clutch repaired. When I told the guy that I drove all the way home this way, without any problems, he told me it was because I was an experienced stick driver and because I knew how the engine should sound at each shift I was able to accomplish the drive sans clutch without damaging the transmission. And the fix was a simple one, the clutch linkage had just become disconnected, and once reattached it was as good as new. That little Maverick was the only 3 on the tree car I ever owned, and I loved it! Shifting was easy and very little shifting was required. So simple and dependable and it got 25 mpg too. Plus, if I ever had a dead battery I could easily push start it. Todays cars have so much complicated electronic stuff, that when something goes wrong you are SOL until the tow truck arrives. Eddie | ||
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Post# 1037055 , Reply# 50 7/3/2019 at 18:10 (1,750 days old) by Yogitunes (New Jersey) |
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for every vehicle I have driven, the transmission gears are syncro-meshed...
the clutch is basically for idle/stop, and pulling out/reverse.....if you wanted from there, just let go the gas, shift and reapply the throttle....smooth shifts all the way out...some call it floating gears to down shift, you just pull into neutral, a quick rev of the gas, and then shift to the lower gear... I know, for some I just blew their mind, too much info into operating a vehicle...explains too why some buy a car that self parks! if you can't parallel park, should YOU have a license? I also think anyone with a license, should have to drive a MACK truck for one hour, bet you wont dart in front of one, and then slow down...ever again!!!....you know who you are! | ||
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Post# 1037056 , Reply# 51 7/3/2019 at 18:35 (1,750 days old) by wayupnorth (On a lake between Bangor and Bar Harbor, Maine) |
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My Silverado is just like driving a MACK but much nicer. Parking it is not easy with its size and no way would I try to parallel park, even with the beep beep sensors. All my manual transmission vehicles were syncromesh and you could shift without using the clutch if you knew how. We had a 51 Plymouth that was totally non syncromesh as a kid, use clutch or grind.
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Post# 1037086 , Reply# 55 7/4/2019 at 02:12 (1,750 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.) |
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Hill Holders were first introduced on Studebaker’s
in 1936. When the car is stopped facing uphill the driver depresses the brake and holds it, then depresses the clutch fully and releases the brake and the brake will remain engaged as long as the clutch remains depressed. Then to move forward, the accelerator is depressed while releasing the clutch just as usual and the brake is slowly disengaged as the car begins to move forward and is prevented from rolling back.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill-hol... When I was new driver I taught myself to start out on hills without rolling back and without using the emergency brake in a Volkswagon. It’s really pretty easy once you get the hang of it, and the confidence that you won’t roll back if you coordinated the clutch and brake properly. Basically, you have to release then both perfectly simultaneously to prevent the car from rolling back. And even though it’s possible to hold the car in place using both the clutch and gas, its a real big mistake, your clutch will wear out very quickly this way. Eddie This post was last edited 07/04/2019 at 02:27 | ||
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Post# 1037089 , Reply# 56 7/4/2019 at 02:49 (1,750 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California) |
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Ralph,
I remember seeing that GMC truck about 20 years ago when I came to visit. It's a classic. As I dimly recall, I took my driving test in college in Davis with a manual VW squareback that another guy in the dorm lent me. I think I passed. It was a little more challenging for me because I had grown up in SF with no car, so nearly all my driving experience was in a driver's ed class in high school. On automatics. I have always much preferred stick shifts. But my first car was an automatic. A 12 year old ' 64 Plymouth Valiant. Still have it. Pushbutton tranny. I do appreciate having an automatic, however, in heavy traffic or when I have a lower limb injury. Seems to me automatics have improved dramatically over the past decade. Up to 9 speeds, and little to no difference in gas mileage vs a manual. Then there are the dual clutch autos, which offer the fuel efficiency and direct connection of a manual with the freedom from a foot clutch. Don't have one of those. Currently 2 of my 3 registered and insured rides are manuals, both three on the tree. A '50 Plymouth and a '67 Chevy Van. The auto is a Chrysler 300m. Four speeds, about right for 1999. It's my daily driver, mainly because the other two have restricted collector car insurance. Have some other cars in storage, including a five speed Mitsubishi made '79 Plymouth pickup. Once I fix the motor (it probably needs a new head, they tend to crack and suck oil) I may get that back on the road. Some day. I am thinking, now that I'm effectively retired, of fixing up the '67 Chevy Van and going on a long vacation with it, camping along the way as much as possible. But it's kind of awkward, mainly because the front suspension is leaf spring and very rough riding. And getting in and out of the thing gets harder every year, LOL. | ||
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Post# 1037090 , Reply# 57 7/4/2019 at 03:11 (1,750 days old) by foraloysius (Leeuwarden, Friesland, the Netherlands) |
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Post# 1037093 , Reply# 58 7/4/2019 at 05:56 (1,750 days old) by askolover (South of Nash Vegas, TN) |
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I'm good enough to keep from rolling backwards on a hill too in my Bug. Believe it or not, 269K miles and still on the original clutch! It's all interstate commuting for me (until the past couple of years that is...now traffic is a little worse). I'm so used to shifting sometimes I won't even realize I had to down/upshift for a traffic situation until after it's over and done with. I've been driving the car for so many years I know exactly how it will respond. My grandfather, who was an old semi driver, told me how to shift without using the clutch. I used to do it some but now I just clutch and go.
These days when I take my car in for a service or a windshield replacement I have to ask the person taking my keys if he/she can drive a stick. | ||
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Post# 1037100 , Reply# 59 7/4/2019 at 07:20 (1,750 days old) by DaveAMKrayoGuy (Oak Park, MI) |
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No actual hands-on training for me, just watching it done, from a school bus, to the elementary school principal's Mazda, to my aunt/uncle's VW Rabbit while Dire Straits 1st album played in the tape deck...
And with my cousin's liking, and training from her parents, her cars took a natural taking to nearly everything having a manual transmission, until further in her marriage when both she and probably her hubby all along having automatics... My mom drove the neighbor's across the street's Ford Escort with a stick, trying to turn me on to it, just for the neighbor's sister to buy an Escort with one, so her husband couldn't drive it, but then he bought a Honda we saw driving that had a 5-Speed Man. A couple friends' first cars had sticks, in which one hated it, so he never touched another one, from his second car, onwards, whereas the other one was okay with it, and his was a few cars further down, getting "paid" that car (an Escort) for a remodeling project... Another friend that I worked with, had all-manual transmission cars, but when he could afford to have two cars, in spite being single, his second somehow had an Automatic and it was his first car with air conditioning but rarely drove, just to buy a THIRD, which was a station wagon, a couple years older than the newer, second car, that, he bought used so I joked he started his own "Ford Escort collectors club" as that's what all these cars were, even owning one before I knew him, he had, before that first one that I rode with him in... -- Dave | ||
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Post# 1037170 , Reply# 61 7/4/2019 at 22:43 (1,749 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California) |
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A lot of older American cars do not lend themselves to using the parking brake easily while also operating the accelerator and clutch. Often they are buried under the left side of the dash, and one may have to lean forward awkwardly to activate or release them.
The parking brake lever between the front seats in an easily accessed position, with a push button release, is a relatively recent addition to American cars. I find it easier to just let the clutch drag a little to keep the vehicle from rolling backward, at least on slight inclines. A steep grade will require use of the parking brake, but with some planning (like motoring up to a level spot before stopping) can avoid that as well. It's probably a reason why most traffic laws mandate giving the right of way to cars going up a grade. | ||
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Post# 1037173 , Reply# 62 7/4/2019 at 23:19 (1,749 days old) by foraloysius (Leeuwarden, Friesland, the Netherlands) |
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Post# 1037174 , Reply# 63 7/4/2019 at 23:30 (1,749 days old) by LowEfficiency (Iowa) |
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They are different in both function and form. Here's my take: All emergency brakes are parking brakes, but not all parking brakes are emergency brakes. The lever between the seats is often called an "emergency brake", as in the event of a brake failure, you can hold the button pressed and vary the amount of pull on the lever to come to a controlled stop. Thanks to the ratcheting mechanism, it doubles as a parking brake when not holding the button. The foot pedal variety in SOME cars works the same way, as you can keep the release lever pulled and vary the pressure with your left foot to control your stopping. It's not ideal, as you have to dive under the dash to reach the release, but it's better than crashing. But SOME cars have a push-on push-off style of pedal here, which really makes it a parking brake "only", and not a good emergency brake. With no practical way to modulate the braking force, and no way to release without fully applying, you could find your vehicle spinning out of control after locking up two of your wheels. Better than crashing from having no brakes, but not a good situation. Some newer cars have the "electronic" parking brake, where a single button press applies or releases the parking brake. Basically a system designed around the fact that modern dual-circuit hydraulic primary brakes are reliable enough, that using that center space for cup holders is an acceptable tradeoff. | ||
| Post# 1037420 , Reply# 64 7/7/2019 at 14:48 (1,746 days old) by cadman (Cedar Falls, IA) | ||
Don't forget a lot of those 'between-the-seats' parking brakes also disengage the headlights when applied. VW comes to mind there.
The wife's new toy is a '60 Corvair with 3-on-the-floor and non-synchro first. That takes some planning in situations where you might be pulling into a crowded parking lot, or rolling up to a red light that immediately turns green (with modern cars barreling down from behind). On the other hand, her 6-speed Sonic is a blast to drive. It also has a hill holder function which is handy since our driveway is a steep hill with a blind turn onto a county blacktop. I don't know what we'll replace that with when the time comes...manuals have all but dried up the last few years. | ||
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Post# 1037440 , Reply# 65 7/7/2019 at 20:10 (1,746 days old) by jamiel (Detroit, Michigan and Palm Springs, CA) |
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