Women! They drive men crazy!

[Gob]

I learned in a 59 Ford Anglia, (Harry Potter Car) never owned anything other than what you colonials call a "stick shift". Having learned in the UK I was amazed how bad at parking Aussies were, but then realised they have no need to shoe horn a car into a tiny parking space. I sometimes do my "creative parking" just to piss Hatch off.

[Jarlaxle]

To get my CDL, I had to parallel park a Ford L8000 24' soda truck. Liz had to do the same with a Ford C6000 30' ramp truck.

[BoSoxGal]

I learned to drive a standard shift at age 18 and drove them for years until my most recent vehicle, which was too great a deal to pass up despite having automatic shift.

I refuse to ever buy a brand new car because of the ridiculous depreciation, so I doubt I'll ever have a standard shift again, they are becoming so rare these days. I miss driving with a standard a lot, though - driving an automatic isn't really driving.

[oldr_n_wsr]

I enjoy driving a shift car however, my commute to work has mucho traffic and the left legs gets over strained. Thus I have an automatic.

[kristina]

My little 2006 Scion has a stick shift, as did the Toyota truck it replaced. I learned to drive in '60s/'70s eraVolkswagens, all stick shifts. I don't like automatic transmissions at all, but for the year and a half that I had a rotten, stop-and-go commute, I would have welcomed one!

[oldr_n_wsr]

I learned to drive in '60s/'70s eraVolkswagens

I learned on a '64 VW bug, it even had a sunroof with a hand crank to open it.
I think anyone our age learned to use a stick shift on a VW.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Foreign woosies! I learned on a '68 Buick Skylark... a wonderful car that - my first, similar to this:

[oldr_n_wsr]

Was that three on the tree or a floor shifter? (and was it a Hurst?)
My brother had a 68 Cutlass.

[MajGenl.Meade]

No shifter so..... no, it wasn't a Hurst - it was my mother-in-law's.

She gave it to me in December 1977 or thereabouts and it lasted... oh... a good year and half. I was driving home along Wilson Mills road and behind me, scattering across the tarmac, I could see various bits of metal from beneath the hood leaving the scene. I drove it the last few miles, finally reaching a Cleveland Heights gas station within walking distance of our house.

Next week I became a traitor and bought a used Honda Accord hatchback (stick) which lasted two years, exactly until the week I made the final payment - then (Wilson Mills again!) the front shocks came up with a bang and only the strong hood latch kept the entire front from collapsing. It was a steep ramp down from the local bank (Women's Federal Credit) to the road that destroyed my car. Mind, it drove all the way home with the hood developing interesting metal mumps.

[TPFKA@W]

I learned to drive in '60s/'70s eraVolkswagens

I learned on a '64 VW bug, it even had a sunroof with a hand crank to open it.
I think anyone our age learned to use a stick shift on a VW.

I learned to drive a tractor first (being big enough to push in the tractor clutch was a rural right of passage) and then a pickup that was 3 on the column.

Later though I did drive a VW. In addition to the stick it had to be push started.

[Sue U]

Pretty sure I learned to drive in a '64 Plymouth Valiant with a shifter on the column. Also drove a (1970?) VW Bug and a mid-70s VW Scirocco with sticks on the floor, and last had a manual transmission (5-speed) on my '97 Mazda 626 (that was a great car, actually fun to drive -- and I generally hate driving). My current VW Passat has "paddle shifters" on the steering wheel, the purpose of which I simply don't get.

[oldr_n_wsr]

"paddle shifters" on the steering wheel

My wifes mistubishi has them. There's a "shift yourself mode" (kinda like having a manual without the clutch pedal) where you can go up or down through the gears using the paddles. Shifting without taking your hands off the sterring wheel. One can also "slap" the gear shifter left to go to a higher gear or right to go to a higher gear. I've used both, just because I could. The wife yelled at me and now doesn't let me drive her car.

the purpose of which I simply don't get.

So you can pretend to be Mario Andretti while stuck in traffic.

drive in a '64 Plymouth Valiant with a shifter on the column

I believe the automatic version of that car had a push button automatic. My 64 dart did.

[Beer Sponge]

I learned on a '78 Plymouth Volare, with 'three on the tree', as it was called then. Great little car, always started even in the coldest weather.

[wesw]

I can drive anything. lotta practice in the steel fab trade.

I take that back... motorcycles I don t drive.

I like a manual, but pushing the clutch gets old quickly these days

[Guinevere]

I loved driving a stick and using a clutch (and I never wore one out - my old Saab went 225k on its original clutch), but these days 75% of my driving is city/urban and a clutch would be exhausting. I do use the autostick on my Jeep though, especially in bad weather.

[TPFKA@W]

The board pedants are lazy.

[Jarlaxle]

I loved driving a stick and using a clutch (and I never wore one out - my old Saab went 225k on its original clutch), but these days 75% of my driving is city/urban and a clutch would be exhausting. I do use the autostick on my Jeep though, especially in bad weather.

And I manage to drive a standard shift truck in the Boston area (in Boston, tomorrow) 5 days a week... (Have to use the clutch to shift this one, dammit...grumble grumble...)