[det0326]

1950 Ford

 

[MD-Pony]

72 Dodge Van 3 on the tree

 

[daves67ss]

My 68 GT in 1973...I was 15.

 

[69convert]

1980 Subaru wagon. Had a hard time figuring out how to work the clutch and gears after a week so I just jumped in and forced myself to drive to work. Lots of grinding gears, honking horns and middle fingers.

 

[J.Rovirosa]

What was my father's Mach 1 with its very well-worn Hurst. Drove it through high school and for a while in college. Stepping into my Cobra in '99 was an eye-opening experience for sure.

 

[sportsroof69]

Chevy Luv

 

[gregb]

Some ratty Datsun, think it was a 510. A buddy bought it, I followed him home in it, I had never driven a stick before…..

 

[ophthos]

Bright yellow 1981 VW Rabbit diesel. Only option was AC. Downhill with a tail wind, I could just about break the speed limit on the highway.

 

[Rhythim]

1983 Dodge Shelby Charger. The first of several Shelby FWD cars that passed through my family's ownership, but the only one without a turbo. Still wish Dad had hung on to the '89 CSX-VNT.

 

[ophthos]

My middle daughter, Alexa, at age 15 (4 years ago) driving home from a volleyball match in my 1967 GTO H.O. 4-speed. I'm in the passenger seat shooting the picture LOL.. Her current ride is a 2017 Camaro 6-speed manual. All my girls drive manual transmission. It's a non-negotiable thing in this household. View attachment 805254

I bought my kids a used 2011 VW golf with a 5 speed. Told them that’s their car. Learn to shift gears or walk. None of their friends ever asked to borrow their car, since none of them knew how to drive a manual.

 

[lucasp]

72' VW Beetle for me.

 

[RC 65 A Code]

This guy in 1972, 66 C code, 4 spd.

 

[69bossnine]

I bought my kids a used 2011 VW golf with a 5 speed. Told them that’s their car. Learn to shift gears or walk. None of their friends ever asked to borrow their car, since none of them knew how to drive a manual.

Precisely... One of the many reasons.. Discourages texting, theft, joyriding, and ensures if they're in trouble, they can hop behind the wheel of ANYTHING and escape.

 

[New2me]

1969 Kaiser/Willys J3000 Jeep Gladiator pickup truck with a 'dauntless' 350 buick and a three speed on the floor. Started learning when I was probably 12 or 13 and by the time I took driver's ed at 15 it was more or less a formality.

Back then (1982 or so?) they still taught kids to drive a manual in driver's ed. If I remember right they put us in 1980 pintos with 4 speeds and had us drive circles around the school parking lot. On the road we drove automatics.

 

[Gixxerss]

1966 Mustang coupe

 

[BradH]

 

[schlappy]

1966 Toyota Corona (3 in the tree!)... okay, not a stick? Okay 1st real stick? 78 Camaro Z/28.

 

[Alaric]

1986 VW Scirocco for me. Great car to learn on. About 90hp, no hydraulic assist. My dad taught me and he did it the same way every dad teaches it, by yelling "GIVE IT GAS" and "STOP STOP STOP" at regular intervals.

I then taught my sister how to drive a manual. I took her to a parking lot with her Mazda MX-6, had her put it second gear and told her to drive the car across the parking without using the gas or brakes, just clutch in and out without letting it die. She got it in about five minutes. I taught some of her friends the same way. This is something I picked up in a motorcycle safety course. They called it a "friction zone lesson." Which, honestly, is 95% of learning a manual transmission.

There are so many different ways to do it, but a few approaches always stand out as easier. I taught my little brother by teaching him throttle control. Had him sit in idle with the clutch fully depressed. Had him put his foot on the throttle in neutral and hold the needle +300 revs higher than idle, hold it there for one minute, then up to +400, then down to +200, then back to +300. I then had him go back to +200. After he held it there: "put the shifter in first gear. Take your left foot of the clutch but don't yank it off. Just release it. Hold the throttle exactly like you are at +200. Get to 20mph then left on clutch, shift to 2nd, release the clutch. Left on clutch, release throttle, coast down to 15mph, downshift to first, release clutch, +200 up to 20mph, shift to 2nd again. Left on clutch. Right on brake until stop. Shifter to first, throttle +200, release clutch, go. Shift to 2nd. Shift down to 1st. Stop. +200, release clutch, go."

....and at that point, he knew how to drive. Did it in a parking lot. Took 10 minutes.

 

[66KevinC-code]

1963 Galaxie 500 Sports Hardtop (aka fastback)
z-code, T10 transmission
Was with my dad when he took delivery that late July and I still have it. He put me behind the wheel in a grade school parking lot when I was 10 or 11.
Was I spoiled or what?

 

[JW67Conv]

1971 IH Scout II with an AMC 258 and three speed. And yes it is a 1971 Scout II, they made a few before 1972.

I had been my father's "auto" shifter for a long time in it and his F150 truck as I rode in the middle a lot (bench seats you know) and he had me shift the gears. However, I used my left hand a lot when it was just the two of us and when I started to learn, it was wierd to shift with my right hand.


Jason