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I wonder how many Americans could rent a stick at Heathrow and drive it out into London traffic, shifting with their left hand.
I did it in Scotland, in Edinburgh, during a HUGE sporting event where trucks and busses were everywhere. The shifting wasn't as hard as figuring out where in the lane you were supposed to be at any given time as I wasn't spacially ready to put that much car to the left of me.
I markd the quote that offered the closest answer to my question: When was 3 on the tree discontinued? Someone said 1971. And that's probably close. I would've been happier with is was last offered on this particular car, on this particular year. And naturally, Im refering to: Within North America. But I will take what I can get. My last 3 on a tree was a 1970 Chevy (a biscayne I believe) and a 1970 Ford Maverick. Thanks Again. SA
According to several sources, the 1987 Chevrolet/GMC full-size light-duty trucks were the last domestic vehicles to offer a 3-speed manual column shift.
If you are asking about passenger cars rather than trucks, I would say the early 1980s, but by that time, it likely only remained as an advertising price point on the few cars that offered it. Unless a customer did a factory order, probably the only cars so equipped would be the one-of-a-kind stripped down models dealers would sometimes advertise in the newspaper to get you in the door. The last passenger cars I personally saw with 3-speed coulmn shift were a couple of late-1970s Novas, and a co-worker who had a Plymouth Volare (1979 model IIRC).
I've owned one automatic car, and that's because my GF needed a car.
All my other cars are/were manual.
No, driving on hills or in traffic is not hard.
No, I don't think about shifting all the time. If you're good, it's as natural as braking, turning, signaling, merging, etc.
Depends on your definition of "hills" and "traffic". I lived in San Francisco in my younger years with a Toyota Celica with a 5-speed. While I could manage any hill in the City with it, I learned which particularly hairy ones to avoid. Lets just say it wasn't hard, it was challenging.
That said, most people I know who learned to drive when I did (late 70s) could handle a stick. It seemed at least half the Japanese or European cars that were popular in California then had them. Seems to be a lost art now. None of my young nieces and nephews can drive one.
I wonder how many Americans could rent a stick at Heathrow and drive it out into London traffic, shifting with their left hand.[/quote]
That scares the huey out of me!! I rented a stick shift Skoda in Amesterdam and it was fine ( wished it had an overdrive as mileage wasn't that great on Autobahn) but scared to do it in the UK even though I would like to tour the country on my own. You CAN rent automatics at Heathrow??
I learned in Drivers Ed on an old 65 Galaxy and it was a 3 on the tree. My dad had a 59 Fleetside Chevy PU which was the same thing and it took me a while to get it but I prefered stick ever since. Had a 5 speed Volvo, and 2 5 speed Accords. Now, driving my mom's 05 Cad which has sort of spoiled me but I like controlling the gears and having it not shift in and out of unwanted gears. Also, better able to get more torque.
The first automatic I ever owned was when I was 54 years old, and came back to the USA looking for any suitable cheap car that I could sleep in and I wasn't picky about things like that, and it had automatic.
Sometimes I wish that automatic transmissions and even synchronizers on manual transmissions were illegal.
Can't double-clutch every shift, up and down? Call a cab.
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