Pluggers by Rick McKee for November 20, 2014

I’ll bet Moet got this idea from the news as such a story was on TV here in CA a few weeks ago. A couple of young punks pulled a little old lady out of her car and then had to abandon it because they had no idea how to drive a stick. She just laughed and laughed. A great “generation gap” there!

impressive

We have two cars. One is a stick. When my son gets his learner’s permit next year, he will first learn to drive the automatic (less to learn, easier). When he gets comfortable driving it should take about 15 minutes to learn the stick. I don’t know how I’m going to teach him to use the parking brake to start on an incline since both cars have hill hold technology. Maybe it can be disabled so he can learn. On a side note: there are many countries that do not have automatic transmissions.

I never lock my old van, but, occasionally, I worry someone will steal the hula girl off the dashboard.

Especially confusing is the old three-on-the tree. Most kids (under 40) can’t even recognize one.

I went to Brazil to visit friends a few years back and my friend living in Brazil had hurt her ankle and had to go to work at the embassy. Another friend who was visiting said she would drive her to work. As she got in she looked at the floor of the car and said, “What’s the third pedal for?” I looked at my hurt friend and said, “I’ll go get dressed and be right back to drive you to work.”

I love driving stick- floor or column-doesn’t matter.

I enjoy being involved with the forward motion of the vehicle, and when I have to use one with an automatic transmission I have no idea what or where to put my left foot.

I grow frustrated about the greatly diminishing number of vehicles where can get a manual transmission. All my vehicles have been manuals because I really actually enjoy the feel and sense of greater control I have during the driving process. My wife only has had automatics, so I do drive them (grudgingly). But the last time I bought a vehicle (in 2008) the choices were VERY limited. It is rather annoying. Many of these same vehicles I look at ARE available with a manual in Europe, where manual transmissions are much more popular.

never mind a stick shift, how about seeing if one of those "Gen X (or Y) -er’s can start a car with a CARBURETOR!!!! especially in winter! lmao!!! “i can’t keep it running” wah wah!!!

Maybe you could buy him a Snake Bit Kit for Christmas or his Birthday, and then explain your Reasoning. Not sure he would teach you to drive the Stick, but at least you would have a chance of getting back to Civilization!

Learned to drive a stick at age 12. Ford tractor on the farm.First car had the three on the tree. 1965 Ford Custom with a straight six.

Cars that shift for themselves for people who can’t; shiftless cars for people who match; manual choke, no problem. On the other hand, I never could get the hang of farm tractors with a spark advance control.

Growing up, my sister and I learned to drive stick but my dad bought us a gutless Toyota little pickup. We were going somewhere with our friend Janine and we pulled onto a busy road where the traffic was going fast. My sister was driving. Janine hollered at my sister as she pulled out into traffic, “SHIFT, SHIFT!” because we were not picking up speed as we merged. My sister’s response: “I CAN’T. IT’S AN AUTOMATIC!”

I learned to drive in a ‘58 Rambler with “three on the tree”…I think everyone should know how to drive a standard…they’re really easy to drive and a lot of fun…some people say you can’t get out of a standard and into an automatic without having problems, but that’s not true!!

Unca Jim said, about 19 hours ago@neverenoughgold“their parents are both out of town on business and she is leaving me at home!.All alone…”~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~And yet, here you are without your leash and chain anymore, unable to run and dash beyond where you couldn’t before.Tamed and shamed. Been there, done that.. Here’s to a toast of milk and maybe a cookie if we sit up right and don’t bark and scare the cat………….. (sigh).Thanks, Jim! I am still chuckling over this post. Oh, and by the way, Grandma returned home this morning, exhausted and cold. Apparently our kids like to keep their house a bit colder at night than Grandma and me…

I never ventured inside a “Costco” store; but if that is the place he is visiting, I doubt he’ll be parking that close to the entrance door!.He could, of course, if he visited my old hardware store…

I leave mine in all the time. I don’t know how to drive an automatic.

I learned to drive in a stick (1987 Pathfinder), and it was also in a pinch. My father and I were at the hunting camp, and he got drunk. He realized he left his insulin at home, so he told me I had to drive him home (~60km of back roads). I was 15 years old. He figured my driving was safer than his, plus the fines would have been much lower if we get pulled over – I"d have gotten a $60 fine for driving without a license, while he’d have gotten $2000 in fines, a criminal record, and possible jail time. The clutch of that poor Pathfinder took a beating, let me tell you, but once I got the hang of it I loved it. Every weekend after that we went to the camp, I grabbed the keys, and burned off all of his gas refining my skills on the old logging roads. Happiness is a 15 year old kid driving a 4WD vehicle on old logging roads with his father’s blessing.

Several months later one of his friends bought his first brand new vehicle, a 1987 Ford Ranger. He was very proud of it, and he wanted me to take it for a little spin. While driving down the road I went to put my foot on the clutch, which wasn’t there. What was there was an extra wide brake pedal (or at least much wider than I was used to). I put that brake pedal to the floor, stood that li’l Ranger on its nose, and launched my father’s friend, who was unbelted, right into the dashboard. Memories…

It is sad that manual transmissions are going away. A manual transmission can make what would otherwise be a boring, gutless car into something somewhat fun. Manufacturers are eliminating them because they claim there is no demand, but I think the manufacturers themselves are forcing demand down by only offering manuals in the most basic models. For example, when I bought my 2011 Sonata with the manual transmission, the only way I could get that manual was to buy the absolute bottom-of-the-ladder trim – GL. Had I wanted any options at all, even aluminum wheels, I’d have had to step up to an automatic. I bought my stick, though, and made up for the lack of options by buying aftermarket aluminum wheels and a set of factory-style fog lights…

The only problem will come next year when I go to trade it in on my new Mustang – because it’s a 4-door midsize sedan with manual transmission it is almost sales-proof. I’ll take a bath on the trade-in value…

“Yup, I shore do be a better person than dem younger folks who ain’t into lousy old trucks,” says Mr. Waddlebear.

Kids were stealing cars for an adult ringleader here. They stole a BMW warming up in the driveway. It wasn’t hard to find, the police followed their noses to the burnt clutch.

I saw a video clip of a guy in Australia who tried to steal a stick shift. He got about 12 feet with the truck, gave up and ran away.