Bemoaning the demise of stick shifts

[Mike Self]

I realize this article is preaching to the choir, but makes good reading.  As one of a dwindling cohort of manual transmission acolytes, it's at least comforting to know we're not alone. 

 

I've owned 23 cars  (8 Renaults, 6 BMWs, 4 Datsun/Nissan pickups, 2 Honda CRXs, 2 Fiats, and a Bugeye Sprite)--all are/were stick.  The only automatics in our garage have been my wife's--and her first three cars (including two 2002s) were stick.  

 

Ironically I learned to drive on automatics, and my first encounter with a stick was in June 1963, driving my first car (one of those 4CVs mentioned above) home from the car lot where I bought it.  In Ft Lauderdale traffic.  At rush hour.  It was a quick education.  Been driving 'em ever since.

 

Enjoy and commiserate...

 

mike

 

The End of Manual Transmission - The Atlantic

WWW.THEATLANTIC.COM

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Stick shifts are dying. When they go, something bigger than driving will be lost.

 

[MurphinDC]

Sad but true, particularly with the popularity of the EV's.  Great article!  

 

Thanks Mike,

Murph

[Charles in PA]

Hit a paywall. 

[autokunst]

Great article Mike.

My wife and I only drive manual transmission vehicles.  New(er), old - everything we have is a stick.  Amy says she doesn't know how to drive an automatic.  And while that may not be factually accurate, I think it is relevant.  I simply refuse to drive an automatic.  I assume I can keep driving non-new cars for the duration of my effective driving existence.  Once I'm done, I suspect manual transmissions will be, too.  I feel sad that the experience and sensation will be lost in favor of an app (or some other proxy virtual curation).

Stephen

[NYNick]

Of course I love a stick. I've been driving them since 1964. I still own 3 of them. I taught my wife and all 3 kids how to drive one. In fact, I wouldn't let them take the driver's test unless they could drive a stick shift first.

 

But they're obsolete and out of date. They'll be all gone before you know it.

[02Les]

In the UK if you passed your test in an auto, then your driving licence only allowed you to drive an auto car. If you passed in a manual box car, your licence would allow you to drive either.

We have 3 manual vehicles and 2 autos. If I drive one of the autos I have trouble keeping awake!

[stapler123]

It's my favorite security feature. (possibly, maybe, okay there is no real data do back this up just local news anchors pointing out specific cases because it's funny) 

 

Still, The kia boys will have to keep looking

 

[conkitchen]

Funny thing: I saw this article elsewhere. Copied the link and quoted it in my ad on Craigslist for a 89 Mustang I'm selling. Which has a 2.3 and 5 speed.  Also stated in same ad about the car being a great platform to teach your kid how to drive a stick.  

sorta shameless promo but you get the gist. 

 

 

[Oldtimerfahrer]

I was a diehard stick fan, but...Well, at least for my Land Rovers I have to say an automatic is a better choice...especially off road. The modern autoboxes are really good, but like most modern cars they are a bit boring or sterile...ok, lame. So it's great transport, on a hot day stuck in a jam I'm happy in the air conditioned auto box wonder, but that's not driving anyway...

Andrew

[aldo.navarro.13]

I'm more concerned about the death of the manual transmission than the death of the internal combustion engine.

But I guess the two facts are correlated. (or maybe not.)

Do Any Electric Vehicles Have Manual Transmissions?

WWW.MOTORBISCUIT.COM

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Few current electric vehicles come with the option of an manual transmission, but a few upcoming EVs aim to add more transmission options.

 

I have a criminal defense lawyer friend who told me that he's represented several clients who got caught stealing cars because they could not work the clutch.

If I was a thief, I would make sure to know how to operate every single kind of vehicle out there.

Edited August 11, 2022 by aldo.navarro.13

[kiva667]

3 hours ago, stapler123 said:

It's my favorite security feature. (possibly, maybe, okay there is no real data do back this up just local news anchors pointing out specific cases because it's funny) 

 

Still, The kia boys will have to keep looking

 

 "A manual car is also less likely to be stolen if fewer people know how to drive it."

I don't even bother to shut my windows, never mind lock the doors, here in Victoria BC.

[walkinfool]

I really enjoyed this article and have often felt that a manual transmission is the only car for me. Yet, as the writer described, it can be an absolute pain to drive a manual transmission in stop and go traffic and with more and more commuters filling our roads, stop and go is more the norm than the exception. Fortunately, I commute to/from work on my trusty bicycle and similarly to my car, I feel completely connected to my bike while going through the gears, dodging potholes and distracted pedestrians and drivers, almost as though it's an extension of myself. My girfriend's car has an automatic transmission and when we take road trips in her car, I feel a mild sense of relief (and guilt) that I'm not as involved in the driving but I'm okay with that.

mitch

[bob02]

Another simple layer of security for manuals is to remove the shift pattern emblem. That will really stump the knuckleheads! 
 

 Bob

[Mike Self]

45 minutes ago, walkinfool said:

Yet, as the writer described, it can be an absolute pain to drive a manual transmission in stop and go traffic and with more and more commuters filling our roads, stop and go is more the norm than the exception.

That worked in my favor when I scored an absolutely beautiful and original E30 318is from an owner who was exhausted from rowing through wintertime Sarasota FL traffic.  His frustration = my gain!

 

mike

[TobyB]

I drive a stick shift. It’s pretty much second nature. Clutching and shifting in bumper-to-bumper traffic gets old after half an hour, true, but dealing with the slushbox on the freeway is a far more painful torture.  My wife can drive my car, but prefers her manual wagon, because it's less fart- can- noisy. And when I’m at the wheel, I can hold a lukewarm, delicious lager in one hand, safely.  I love a manual transmission. I love the feeling that I am driving my car, not just operating it.  I've never questioned why I’ve driven stick shifts for the past 36 years.  46, if you count the farming.  Tractors don't come with autotragics.

When it comes time to replace my current car, I'll probably end up getting another 'runs fine, but needs clutch' off of Craigslist.  But at the rate I'm accumulating spare parts, that won't be for a while.   Because the manual transmission can be repaired if need 

be, but the junkyard is full of good used ones.

 

In full disclosure, we're up to 2 automatics right now.  One even runs.  But it doesn't get driven very often.  

 

t

corrected to blame the innocent