I Miss Shifting

[italiansport]

I remember when I was a kid that owning an automatic Corvette was heresy. The bulk of them now are automatics. Apparently the last bastion for standard transmissions is NASCAR as sequential shifters are used in just about all the other racing formats.
I don't own an exotic car but my understanding is they are generally equipped with sequential shifters as well.
I too miss shifting and hope to be able to get another stick Corvette someday!
Jim

 

[loknload]

My Ram pick up has the electronic dial on the dash to put it in drive, reverse and neutral. Push buttons below for the various four wheel drive options.
I can down shift the transmission by two little buttons on the steering wheel! Up or downshift with those buttons.
It's kind of weird not having a shift lever on the column or on the console?
But then like I said up above, Chrysler products of days past had the push button transmission.
My first car was a 56 Dodge with those push buttons!

My favorite stick to ever drive was when I learned to drive a 1955 Diamond T fire truck. Five forward gears and you had to double clutch it both up shifting and down shifting. If you missed a shift it nearly broke your wrist and you might as well pull over to restart.
There was no forgiveness with this thing!, but boy was it fun to drive! with open pipes it really sounded great too!

This is what it looked like but not this one!

 

[WR Moore]

Yup, I'm used to a transfer case shifter. Kinda weird just turning a little dial to put the truck in 4wd.

I remember the type writer tranny. Had to show a cop how to use one at an accident scene.

Several years ago, I thought about trading in our 96 F250 HD with the 7.3 diesel. After looking for the transfer case shifters and not finding them, I decided to keep it. The semi-automatic hubs it came with surprised me-took me 5 years to blow them out. Went to manual.

We had various twist the dial/push a button etc 4x4s at work. They all broke at some time.

Simplicity works.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

I learned on the family's 73 Impala wagon. When I graduated H.S., the day before my first day full time in the family construction business, my brother handed me the keys to the company pick-up. 72 Chevy 3/4 ton L+3 on the floor. (It had been special ordered to mimic a 1 Ton truck with a heavy duty clutch and transmission, and a stack of leaf springs that rode like an empty 18 wheeler! The clutch return spring was a monster.) He drove me around a country block (about 4-5 miles) had me drive first around the same flat block, then drive around the hilly block come to a stop on a steep hill and then pull away. When I could do that without stalling the truck my lessons were over! By the end of the first summer (1974) my left leg was 1 1/2 inches bigger than my right!

The first vehicle I owned was a 6 month old '74 4x4 K-5 Blazer 350 V-8 and automatic. The first manual vehicle I bought was in 1990, a '79 Suburban 350 V-8 4x4 with L+3 on the floor, for pulling the camper and running a pack of boys around! When the wife's car wasn't running, she got to drive the Suburban. I taught her on the exact roads my brother taught me, and the same merciless 15 or 20 minutes.

In my opinion the is nothing better looking than a cute gal driving some form of a truck! And when she takes off, spinning all four tires while slinging mud and gravel 20 feet in the air!

Ivan

 

[mike from st pete]

My first was a left hand drive Morris Mini. Took a while to stop reaching with my left hand for the shifter.

 

[cbore]

Learned to drive a three on the tree International pickup and had numerous 4 speeds thru the years. My first real experience was my Father 's 1948 Dodge Power Wagon wrecker 4x4. You could clutch it, double clutch it or not use the clutch same result. My best friend has now restore the old beast with a bed less wrecker body. He agrees.

Still have a 73 240Z Datsun to play with so I won't forget how to shift.

 

[Farmer17]

My first brand new car was an 86 Nissan Maxima with 5 speed manual. I loved racing around in it and mixing the gears but after 6 years it was time to sell it and I remember I definitely wanted an automatic. In stop N' go big city traffic where you creep along, that clutch would get a bit tiring but if I had a third car I would probably get a stick shift.

 

[snowman]

I miss the simplicity of older cars.
This is what I ran around in during most of the 80's it had a 5 speed manual transmission, no power steering, no A/C, a dual point distributor and a carburetor. The only electronics were in the radio.
It had one belt on the engine that drove the alternator and water pump.
It was my little race car and was a lot of fun on twisty country roads.
With a 4:30 rear gear, it didn't have much of a top end but it sure could pull out of corners.
I've surprised, vettes, BMWs and other factory high performance cars on the twisties.
Open hood scoop, open element air cleaner, fat 2 barrel Holley carb, header, open exhaust, fat sway bars, sticky tires and full ground effects.
I really miss it. I'd have a lot of fun with it now that we're living in a small town in the West Virginia mountains.

I don't recognize that one, Snubby; could you give me the make, model, and year?

Andy

 

[Chuck24]

Thought i missed it, tried it again, i was wrong.

 

[snowman]

I've always preferred manuals, except in stop and go traffic; but then I've never lived/driven in an area where there was much of that. Learned(at age 9) on the family '59 Ford wagon(standard column shift), drove Dad's pickups, all standard; first car had a standard, then a couple autos, then back to manuals, both 5 spd. floor shifts. On older vehicles at least, the manuals had some significant advantages. What I liked the most, as I recall, was that there was no maintenance and, at least with any with which I was familiar, they were virtually bulletproof. My memory may be failing me a bit, but I don't recall anyone I ever was associated with having trouble with their manual transmission. Maybe for those who abused them. Autos, on the other hand, were another story. But as someone else mentioned, they've become much more reliable in recent times.

I've adjusted to autos and don't mind them -just waxing a bit nostalgic here again.

Regards,
Andy

 

[snubbyfan]

I don't recognize that one, Snubby; could you give me the make, model, and year?

Andy

It's a '75 Toyota Corolla SR5. Wish I had more pictures of it. I made a custom floating tubular grill for it along with other little mods here and there. The side skirts matched a custom front spoiler.

 

[labworm]

Been shifting since 1973 and still am.

Left leg and right hand never fall asleep while driving.

One benefit, I can get the car to do what I want it to, when I want it to.

 

[ggibson511960]

Faster & Quicker

I miss shifting too, but not for any logical reason. It's the visceral connection to the machine. That's why motorcycles are so much fun, at least for now. Automatics are creeping in to that realm. The new Honda Goldwing has a killer dual clutch automatic. It won't be long before a lot more of them do.

Since the 1970's a good three speed automatic car transmission could outperform the average driver, especially drag racing. Raw, highway fuel economy remained the one disadvantage until lock-up automatic transmissions became the norm. Nowadays, 8 speed automatics with lock-up clutches render automatics pitifully obsolete, especially with the low mechanical skill level of many drivers.

Automatics started with a poor reputation, IMHO, because of GM's dreadful 2-speed Powerglide (power slide) automatic transmission, born in an era when gas was 20 cents and smoothness of a luxo boat land yacht sold a lot of cars. Any garden variety 3 on the column shifter was better than that piece of mechanical trash.

 

[NYlakesider]

Been shifting since 1973 and still am.

Left leg and right hand never fall asleep while driving.

I started driving a stick back in early 60s. Most all of them in that era were none synchro first gear, 3 in the tree. To realy drive a stick back them you had to learn the art of the double clutch. When you learned that you could advance to clutchless shifting.

The new Vette and I think also the Camero are now up to a 7 Spd manual trans and they have a hill hold feature. That hill holder can make a bad driver look good.

 

[johngalt]

One of my goals is to learn to drive my Vette 'properly'. I haven't figured out how to heel-toe downshift for the corners or to launch it. I don't want to wreck the clutch or other drivetrain parts.

The new Vettes and Camaros also support no-lift shifting, where you never let off the gas. Supposedly you can do it in mine also, but it has no electronic aids to prevent you from damaging it.

 

[NYlakesider]

One of my goals is to learn to drive my Vette 'properly'. I haven't figured out how to heel-toe downshift for the corners or to launch it. I don't want to wreck the clutch or other drivetrain parts.

The new Vettes and Camaros also support no-lift shifting, where you never let off the gas. Supposedly you can do it in mine also, but it has no electronic aids to prevent you from damaging it.

If you get a chance go to a school like Spring Mountain just to name one. They will supply the car I'm not sure but I think they give a driving course at the National Corvette Museum also.

I was a serious street & 1/4 mile drag strip racer in the 60s and did plenty of foot to the floor shifting. It was called speed shifting/ power shifting. I also learned how to rebuild a 4 spd after missing a shift. It can be a expensive trick to learn.

Be careful!

 

[ACP230]

I learned to drive a manual trans in a four on the floor '63 Corvair.
Later owned a Ford Fairlane and and F100 with three on the tree.
Had a Pinto wagon with a stick for several years, and then a
Chevy Luv. Last manual trans for me was a Ford F250.

Since then it has been automatics. There were a couple auto trans
cars in between the stick shifts mentioned above too.
None of my kids learned to drive stick shifts because I didn't have one when they got their licenses. My youngest son bought a stick Ford
Ranger a few years ago. I had to drive it home for him. He didn't take long to pick it up though. Currently has a car with an auto trans but wants to go back ASAP.

I didn't have any problems driving his Ranger but, after years without
shifting, it felt a bit like work to me. Old, slow and lazy these days
I guess.

 

[LVSteve]

My first was a left hand drive Morris Mini. Took a while to stop reaching with my left hand for the shifter.

That's the other reason I don't drive a stick in the US. Shifting with the right hand is an unnatural act for me.

 

[joe44va]

I've been chided for buying my last Corvette (a 15) with a "slush box", but at 72, I've grown to like it a lot. Especially in traffic. Don't even reach for the clutch anymore.

 

[Doug627]

If it helps, you do look shifty.