It works. I asked one of my employees, 25 year old, to take my pickup that has a manual transmission, to get the oil changed. He couldn't even get it started. No idea how to drive a manual.

Sad but true. When I was a kid I was taught using a John Deere tractor. I made sure all my boys learned to drive a standard early on. Just another part of parenting really.

My daughter was driving a tractor with manual gears when she was 12!

She is 15 now, and can drive any car, loads her own ammo, installs scopes on her own rifles, and beats everyone she had a shooting contest with!

Good for her + you as well!

I can't believe that Hessa is 15! Time flies! Safari time!!!!! Move over Walter!

Story in the paper here a few months ago.
Couple jerks tried carjacking a woman.
She got out as ordered and stood by watching.
They couldn't figure out the stick shift.
They were still trying when the cops drove up.

George

My young niece and son about 5 years ago were playing in a 67 international grain truck. I walked up cranking my arm in the signal to roll the window down. She had no idea, never seeing or doing manually rolling a window down. In a complete reversal of my time as a kid, when my great grandparents new car had power windows, they had to pull over and have a talk with me about not pushing the buttons all the time. These two sat in that old truck for the next 30 minutes rolling the windows up and down!!

Both my daily driver car and hunting/towing truck are equipped with manual transmissions. My eldest is coming of driving age and learning on them in addition to her mom's automatic. She will not be incapable of driving a standard like most of her contemporaries. It's like shooting with open sights...

A few years ago in the news there was a story of a couple of guys who stole a 57 Chevy Belair. They stopped at a gas station to fill up;went in + paid then walked around the car then just drove off. The car was found a few miles down the road. They could'nt find the gas tank. (It's behind the tail light lens after you rotate it.)

My dad wasn't the type to do things the easy way - when I turned 16 I got a learner's permit and told me to get behind the wheel and drive us home - this was the 1st time I was ever behind the wheel and after some noise from the gears complaining I got us to the base of a long hill with several stop-lights. I didn't know about hill-holders and each time I took my foot off the break to feed gas the car would start to roll back and dad would stomp on my foot to feed gas -- and the gears. would grind. But I learned.

Been driving a standard since 70, new truck has an automatic . . . old phart vehicle.

I';m not looking forward to the day I hit the brake hard thinking I am pushing in the clutch to shift.

If any of you remembers the original Land Rovers, that what I learnt to drive on.

I have no idea what age I was.

My grandad could not drive, and when our driver was not around, I got to drive my grandad.

I was too short to be able to look through the windshield!

So I used to open the air vent below the windshield and look through that.

I was not strong enough to change to third gear, as it was on a dog leg, so my driving was always in second gear.

Did not make that much of a difference, as one needs that gear for driving in the sand!

.....I'm with you Saeed, I learnt to drive in dads series 1 landrover when I was 12, except we had a banana plantation and the roads were about 40 degrees uphill and you generally had a load of bananas in the back.......interesting at times but you learnt real quick, you had to!

Roger

Part of my learn to drive experience took place on one of those WW ll Ford trucks designed for British roads, no Sychromesh and shift gears with your left hand.

Grizz

I started with a 3 on the tree rambler wagon.My 1970 landcuiser got lots of looks in town with the top off and manual tranny

In the past I had a 57 Chevy Apache P.U. w/ the original floor starter. You tried not to park on an incline as it was a heel + toe affair w/ both feet between starter,clutch,gas,+ brake.One got better over time.

My daughters' greatest memories of driving was blasting over to and around with friends in the 1963 Chevy step side PU. Their favorite was the standard transmissions and they comment to this day that vehicles are just not sporty or fun without a clutch!
Zeke

That is true.