And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
A couple of years ago I sold a good work truck. Plenty of response but ya know, every buyer, every blasted one said, after seeing it was a stick (although it was advertised as such) said their wife doesn't know how to drive a manual transmission. As if all the wives want a work truck. Not only were they all unskilled but liars too because of their vanity.
Taught my wife to drive a stick with my dad's '73 Capri. She graduated to a Pinto of her own - survived that - and pretty much stuck to small trucks (Mazdas and Toyotas - all standard transmissions) until I got her a Jeep, which was her first "six speed". That finally drew it's last breath this past year and now she's in a Subaru, another six speed. It's getting so hard to find manual transmissions - you have to hunt for them out of a very limited list of possibilities. I was in F-150s my entire life until they stopped putting in the straight six and moved to strictly automatics shortly after that. So stupid.
Our 2009 Tacoma may have to soldier on for another 25 years or so, given the sad state of the automobile industry.
Back in highschool I tried repeatedly, without success to teach my GF at the time, to run a 3-on-the-tree shifter (Ford PU) so as to leave my right hand/arm free for "other" activities.
She never seemed to master the skill. Sigh.
And it occurs to me, decades later, that it may have been deliberate, to discourage said other activities.
In Britain we have different classes of driving licence for manual and automatic transmissions. Type A allows you to drive both types, but type B is only for automatics.
It's also a problem for the racing driver schools. All the performance cars they want to buy for tuition are coming with flappy paddles, but the test requirement is for a car with a manual gearbox. Exemptions are being negotiated.
Last year I had a 16 year old lad with a brand new race licence (no road licence - you have to be 17 for those here) in my car for an endurance race (one car, four drivers). He had barely scraped through the test, and it turned out that the car they'd given him had a semi-automatic gearbox. We taught him how to use the manual gearbox in my race car in the paddock, an hour before qualifying. Ten hours into the race, after his second session, we replaced the gearbox....
REALLY THROW THEM A CURVE? Put two in the floor...One on the right with 4 and one on the left next to you with FIVE. Move the one on the right 3 and move the one on the right I, same thing right 3 left 1. It is a 20 twenty speed FULLER Road Ranger.
10 wheel dump. I was taught not to run high-high if loaded, to limit it to 19 gears, and shift both together when needed. And don't skip gears even if empty. Early 70's. One day of training, and got hired elsewhere for different trucks. Driver talked about cutting a car in half with a front wheel while fully loaded.
Way back in 1983 I factory ordered a Ford E-150 Club Wagon with a manual 4 speed. I used it for long vacation trips since it had overdrive. I loaned it to a friend of mine one time to drive from Maryland to South Carolina. When I next saw him he said my van got really shitty gas mileage. Turns out he didn't know how to drive a shift and his girlfriend didn't know what OD on the shifter stood for. Yep, the whole way in 3rd gear!
I occasionally forgot to shift into 4th in my '65 Mustang with 4sp and 2.80 rear gears(oem). It got ~33mpg if I remembered to put it in 4th. Running a replacement 302 2barrel from a '68. The 289 went bad.
I wonder if that car still exists? (south NJ) Baby blue Fastback, '66 interior, toploader and dual point from a '66GT, with a modded oem shifter. Sold it around '73.
Not sure who everyone's been hanging around with but I have some millenials around here that can pull out a transmission, replace a clutch, reassemble everything correctly and drive the heck out of any manual transmission vehicle be it car, truck, tractor, or motorcycle. Behind every millenial that can't cope is a Dad who didn't do his job. End of rant.
Or, if you really want to make them cry-
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bigrigchromeshop.com/images/rockwoodRAW/U-6X4.jpg
A couple of years ago I sold a good work truck. Plenty of response but ya know, every buyer, every blasted one said, after seeing it was a stick (although it was advertised as such) said their wife doesn't know how to drive a manual transmission. As if all the wives want a work truck.
ReplyDeleteNot only were they all unskilled but liars too because of their vanity.
Taught my wife to drive a stick with my dad's '73 Capri. She graduated to a Pinto of her own - survived that - and pretty much stuck to small trucks (Mazdas and Toyotas - all standard transmissions) until I got her a Jeep, which was her first "six speed". That finally drew it's last breath this past year and now she's in a Subaru, another six speed. It's getting so hard to find manual transmissions - you have to hunt for them out of a very limited list of possibilities. I was in F-150s my entire life until they stopped putting in the straight six and moved to strictly automatics shortly after that. So stupid.
DeleteOur 2009 Tacoma may have to soldier on for another 25 years or so, given the sad state of the automobile industry.
4 forward gears plus a pirate gear.
ReplyDeleteArrrr...lol
DeleteBack in highschool I tried repeatedly, without success to teach my GF at the time, to run a 3-on-the-tree shifter (Ford PU) so as to leave my right hand/arm free for "other" activities.
DeleteShe never seemed to master the skill. Sigh.
And it occurs to me, decades later, that it may have been deliberate, to discourage said other activities.
She really was smarter than me......
I'd forgotten about that. Very common back in the 50's.
DeleteThirty years ago a visitor to my neighbor knocked on my door and asked to use the phone...
ReplyDelete"Sure, it's on the table by the bed."
Twenty minutes later I went looking for him. He was staring at my dial phone, practically in tears.
I'm cryin' laughing at your comment...
DeleteIf it wasn't for arthritis and CA stop and go traffic here in Boise, I might still be driving a shift!
ReplyDeleteIn Britain we have different classes of driving licence for manual and automatic transmissions. Type A allows you to drive both types, but type B is only for automatics.
ReplyDeleteIt's also a problem for the racing driver schools. All the performance cars they want to buy for tuition are coming with flappy paddles, but the test requirement is for a car with a manual gearbox. Exemptions are being negotiated.
Last year I had a 16 year old lad with a brand new race licence (no road licence - you have to be 17 for those here) in my car for an endurance race (one car, four drivers). He had barely scraped through the test, and it turned out that the car they'd given him had a semi-automatic gearbox. We taught him how to use the manual gearbox in my race car in the paddock, an hour before qualifying. Ten hours into the race, after his second session, we replaced the gearbox....
REALLY THROW THEM A CURVE? Put two in the floor...One on the right with 4 and one on the left next to you with FIVE. Move the one on the right 3 and move the one on the right I, same thing right 3 left 1. It is a 20 twenty speed FULLER Road Ranger.
ReplyDelete10 wheel dump. I was taught not to run high-high if loaded, to limit it to 19 gears, and shift both together when needed. And don't skip gears even if empty. Early 70's. One day of training, and got hired elsewhere for different trucks. Driver talked about cutting a car in half with a front wheel while fully loaded.
DeleteA 3-on-the-tree doesn't have any identification on it that I recall, but it's been a long time since I saw one.
ReplyDeleteNot that I recall, either!
DeleteWay back in 1983 I factory ordered a Ford E-150 Club Wagon with a manual 4 speed. I used it for long vacation trips since it had overdrive. I loaned it to a friend of mine one time to drive from Maryland to South Carolina. When I next saw him he said my van got really shitty gas mileage. Turns out he didn't know how to drive a shift and his girlfriend didn't know what OD on the shifter stood for. Yep, the whole way in 3rd gear!
ReplyDeleteI occasionally forgot to shift into 4th in my '65 Mustang with 4sp and 2.80 rear gears(oem). It got ~33mpg if I remembered to put it in 4th. Running a replacement 302 2barrel from a '68. The 289 went bad.
DeleteI wonder if that car still exists? (south NJ) Baby blue Fastback, '66 interior, toploader and dual point from a '66GT, with a modded oem shifter. Sold it around '73.
Not sure who everyone's been hanging around with but I have some millenials around here that can pull out a transmission, replace a clutch, reassemble everything correctly and drive the heck out of any manual transmission vehicle be it car, truck, tractor, or motorcycle. Behind every millenial that can't cope is a Dad who didn't do his job. End of rant.
ReplyDelete