Standard Transmissions

Ken Anderson

Ken Anderson

Greeter
Staff member
Like many of you, I suspect, I hated the transition to automatic transmissions, and thought that as long as they still made a standard shift, I'd stick with that. But then, when it came to buying my first new car, a Datsun/Nissan pickup truck, I went to two dealerships in Southern California, and they told me I'd have to wait several months for a standard, so I went with the automatic transmission. I can't say that I hate the automatic transmissions and it would probably take me a while to figure out how to drive a car with a standard transmission now, but there was something about shifting that made driving more enjoyable, particularly with a floor shift.
 
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In my early years, I've owned some cars that would stall out sometimes, and would not enjoy driving a standard transmission car that stalled often in a place with a lot of hills like San Francisco.
 
I remember my brother had an old 1960's Studebaker Lark in dark green and rust. It was a standard shift and the floorboards had rusted out in front of the front seat so the seat was not bolted down in front. If you started off from a stop too fast, the seat would rock back and your feet would leave the pedals, so you'd better have a good grip on the steering wheel.

Ah, the good old days.
 
I loved standard transmissions, especially in the winter. I always thought it gave me more control. They are really fun in small cars on twisty roads. I remember terrifying my wife when I drove her little Datsun on the Blue Ridge Parkway when we first moved to North Carolina. Having been raised in Iowa, even a bump or a curve in the road made her nervous😅
 
We had to take driving classes with a set curriculum and after passing the written test an about one hour road test. You could go automatic but that limited driving privileges to automatic only.
My last new standard was a bright red Chevy Blazer. Nobody wanted to borrow it.
 
Don Alaska said:
I remember when our driver's ed dropped standard transmission from their "required" list. It was three on the column and the left-handed kids kept ripping the turn signal lever off the column when they shifted.
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I had a 60something Chevy with that shift. Could bit myself for having traded that beast in.
 
I also liked manuals. My last one was a 1991 Honda Accord. Before that, my 1971 Corolla was a 4 speed. But it had an emission control that kept the engine revving up while shifting, which took most of the fun out of it. Luckily, an unnamed mechanic disabled it for me.
I don't know if manual transmission even exist now.
 
Manual would stink in a congested stop & go traffic area. I always preferred manual. I had a 1990 Volvo with nearly 200,000 miles on it that had a floor shift that I loved until a deer ran in front of it. This was maybe 10 years ago.

I've been in older vehicles that have lost their engine compression where you would end up downshifting all the way to 1st gear in order to get up really steep hills (gotta love the flat-head 6.) When 1st is not synchronized, you come to a complete stop and give it a lot of gas while feathering the clutch. A couple of them burned oil. I felt bad about the guy behind me.
 
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