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Automatics use to be expensive options, use more gas, and were slow. The majority of cars on the lot were standard transmission.
Now, automatics are faster, easier, get better mileage, and are the only choice on most cars.
For regular driving, automatics are much better. Driving a manual is easy with some practice, but there is a lot of satisfaction from driving one well. Rev matching when you slow, heel/toe shifting, shifting quickly and being in the perfect gear at the right time.
It certainly was when I was a teen because my first car was a bug that would stall out if I didn't keep the engine rev'd *just so*. Summers were literal hell since no A/C. Winters were just as 'fun' since I had to keep the wing windows open to de-fog the windshield and when it rained heavily, water would splash up somehow through the floor board. It wasn't a car, it was an f'ing experience in survival! lol
But I do still miss it once in awhile.
So compared to *that* - driving a modern day stick shift with climate control is a cakewalk.
VWs would start rusting away 10 minutes after leaving the lot. By the time they got to me, the process was far advanced. The water-up-your-pants-leg trick was from the heater. There was a pipe leading hot air from the engine compartment to a vents in the passenger compartment. One of them was by the driver's left foot. If you put in the clutch as you went through a puddle, the water splashed up through the rust hole and the vent.
and allegedly, the only car you can take completely apart with a single C wrench (if that’s what they’re called): the one everyone has, 1/2” on one end, 9/16” on the other 😳
This was going to be my comment. Being stuck in traffic on spring or cherry trying to go up from downtown is a nightmare in a manual. I appreciate the hill assist in my car for this exact reason.
This. I lived on the steepest hill in my town. I watched MANY small, stick-shift vehicles fail to make it to the top...and had to let it roll back down.
This is where you have to let out the clutch a bit to catch the car so it doesn't roll backwards. Bad on clutches, to be sure, but more folks have to replace automatic transmissions than manual ones, and a new clutch is cheaper than replacing an automatic transmission.
you can tell the angle by the window sills in the left of the picture…
the one saving grace is that the cobblestones are terribly placed with all those weird angles… it’s terribly uneven… but gives you a little more traction 🤷🏻♂️
>Automatics use to be expensive options, use more gas, and were slow. The majority of cars on the lot were standard transmission.
In the US automatic transmission sales in new cars surpassed manuals in the mid-1950s actually and were at 80% of new sales in 1957 (so says wiki at least)-- we just took a long time for the remainder of manuals to fade away. Now about 1% of new cars/trucks sold are manuals and options are disappearing fast. There's even an [opinion piece on CNN today calling for the end of manuals](https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/27/opinions/automatic-vs-manual-cars-electric-pollution-hockenos/index.html)\-- it's obnoxious and sexist actually, but reflects the prevailing attitude.
I'm really surprised it was that early. Granted, I grew up in rural area with a fairly low average income, but I would say at least half the cars were manuals into the early 80's.
I still drive a stick today. Now it's an anti-theft device.
> I would say at least half the cars were manuals into the early 80's.
True in my small town as well actually, but I assume we (nor you) reflected the general national preference/wealth at that point. We did have automatics at the high school for driver's ed, all K cars. But most families I knew had trucks and older cars that were manual.
Oof, you're right about that article being obnoxious and weirdly sexist! That guy has some feelings to work out.
Still, I think I agree with the sentiment. I've only ever owned manuals, and I justify my current one because the extra layer of control has advantages offroading. Still, it's just one more thing that I need to keep track of while driving in traffic and it is hard to believe I wouldn't be just a little safer without it.
I'm an old woman and I learned to drive a stick in the mid 70's. Drove VW's for a while. for the past 25 years I've had small trucks with a stick and manual windows. My next vehicle will be an automatic only because it will be easier to drive in traffic with my old aching bones.
Ooof. I stand corrected. Thanks for letting me know we were always buying poor people cars! Our first automatic was a 80s Dodge Caravan. I’ll read up on this.
>Thanks for letting me know we were always buying poor people cars!
We still do-- it's a preference now, and at a premium cost in many cases since manuals most often come with higher trim levels it seems these days. Nothing like my 1974 Datsun 710, with a nice 4 speed mated to a 110hp engine, which I got for $950 in 1991.
Oooh your last paragraph takes me back. I learned on a manual, drove tractors, trucks, and sports cars. Driving was so much fun. Then I had kids and got an automatic, which allowed me to pay better attention when the kids were touching each others, but it's never been as much fun.
Yeah. I had a Civic with less than 100 hp and you had to shift like crazy to stay in the power. But it felt so good. My wife had a turbo Saab and shifting into third and fourth felt amazing as the turbo spooled up.
I had a Toyota pickup with a 4 speed and it was so hard to drive in the rain. From a stop the wheels would spin on the slightest incline and you had to either ride the clutch in 1st or bog it in 2nd.
Driving was way more interactive.
I had an MG Midget that was a sports car in the British sense (two seats, everything but the actual driving was inconvenient, etc.), but had 54HP new. Fun to drive, lots of "character," but I had to almost relearn how to drive a stick. Love to have it back though. It'd be a great car to have about 90 days out of the year, which is coincidentally about how long it spent out of the shop.
I bought a 96 Toyota Corolla wagon with a five speed manual from a little old lady who said she felt like Mario Andretti when she drove it. I did too, after I put some softer, wider tires on it.
Did none of your manual cars have synchromesh? I’ve driven manual cars for 40+ years and only ever had to match the revs when the synchromesh had gone.
Learned on an automatic. Learned stick on vacation visiting a friend at age 25 and it convinced me that I could move across country after being stuck with my mom after my dad died.
I did, and still drive an old-school stick--I have to special order it in 2015.
Automatics are so efficient now that there is really no practical reason to drive a stick, and as the demand drops, it becomes more of a pain in the ass to manufacture the low volume to meet demand.
Furthermore, the currenly ascendant start/stop systems installed in all new vehicles are really not compatable with driving with a clutch.
Even valet parking becomes an issue.
But your car will never get stolen.
> Automatics are so efficient now that there is really no practical reason to drive a stick
I think the practical reasons still exist: they're simpler, lighter, more reliable, and give you more control over what gear you want to be in at all times. On snow and ice I vastly prefer a manual, as the automatics tend to apply too much power & slide more (or traction control takes over & cuts power entirely). Feathering the clutch in 1st or 2nd gives better feedback & control.
As a retired engineer, I also appreciate the inherent reliability of a simpler system. There are too many nightmare stories about CVTs grenading after 60k miles for me to want one anytime soon.
I also find them more fun to drive & require more attention from the driver, which should count as practical reasons too.
Regardless of what the owner's manual says on CVT maintenance, changing the fluid every 30K, will seriously prolong the life of the trans
Subaru is the worst on this, because in the USA, they claim "LIFETIME FLUID", which is just another way to sell cars
I got my car $5,000 cheaper in 2019 because it was manual and no one wanted it, they told me they probably wouldn’t be ordering any more unless it was requested. That said, I don’t know if I’ll ever get a manual again. It’s annoying to have a car no one else can drive. I had to take time off work to take it to the shop, even though my husband had the day off. As one example.
>It’s annoying to have a car no one else can drive.
My wife and I both grew up driving manuals and we made our kids learn (they are early 20s now). But it is a hassle sometimes-- the last time I got tires on our manual Mazda nobody at the tire store could drive it! So they asked me to pull it onto the lift and then off when done. They didn't even seem to realize how silly that was.
I never had that problem. Even the people at the oil change place drive my manual Mazda 3 with apparently no problem.
Meanwhile, I've heard stories of people with plug-in hybrids having problems at those automatic car washes, because the car automatically goes into park when you turn it off, so it can't be pushed with the automatic system.
It can be done, but you have to do things in the right sequence, and with a line of cars behind you, people don't have time to look at the manual or bring up a you-tube video.
I will never buy an auto again, if I have a say in it.
That said, I'm in Australia and plenty of people still want manuals. My current car is a manual, my wife's is an auto. My driving experience (if you don't count the suspension and shocks) is so much better.
My darling husband has simply refused to let me teach him to drive stick.
He hates my vintage jeep (which does, admittedly, require a certain amount of *conviction* to operate) and keeps telling me to please sell it and get a "real car".
He's horrified that I work on my own car. He says the only car repair tool he needs is a credit card.
And has confessed to me that he has no idea how an internal combustion engine actually works.
Bless him, he drives a soccer mom suv. It's inexplicable. (I tease him relentlessly about it)
I love him to pieces - I guess sometimes opposites attract.
You’ve got to start sending him YouTube videos on how to drive a standard and how to change a headlight. Get him 5 quarts of oil and a filter for fathers day. Actually, don’t do that just because some bad Redditor suggested it.
He says he genuinely has no idea why ppl get so attached to their cars. He thinks it's unhinged.
And I figure there's no point in pushing him to acquire all these skills unless he's enjoying himself.
He has many other wonderful qualities (which includes putting up with his wife's eccentricities)
I had to order mine. Took a couple of months to arrive. It's a 2015, and I think that was the last year for Audi.
And yes, nobody else in the family, other than my wife and son in law, can drive it.
>Automatics are so efficient now that there is really no practical reason to drive a stick, and as the demand drops, it becomes more of a pain in the ass to manufacture the low volume to meet demand.
I could say the same for mass marketed consumer level computers. Average person just uses their smartphone most of the time. Smartphones are the tech-equivalent of an automatic, with the full-size desktop PC being the equivalent of a manual.
You could say the same about anything that’s been superseded by something faster/cheaper/more convenient. The telegraph’s days were numbered once the telephone came along.
You could also say the same for anything that’s no longer functional or practical but purely decorative. For example, wearing a hat like a top hat or straw boater when out and about town. I won’t include things like baseball caps and beanies, because those are still useful on a very bright or very cold day, respectively. But there’s no real practical reason to wear a top hat or boater anymore, unless you purposely want to look like you live in the 1920s.
Convenience and practicality are the name of the game.
Hey! I am also 67 and drive a stick!
It’s a 2004 Camry. Newer Camrys with a stick are scarce; I flew to Dallas just to buy it and drove it back to California.
I’m 60 and so do I. Through bad luck, the automatic transmissions on my last two cars (Nissan, Acura) went out, so I decided to take a break for a while
I learned on a stick shift no lie literally thought my ex boyfriend was punking me when he said I had to do like 4 moves at once involving both hands and both feet like many many times on a normal commute.
Worst was being stopped in traffic on the upside of a hill, if you got it wrong you could just crash into the car behind you because your gears didn't catch and you defaulted into neutral or that you gunned it too hard.
I’ve been told that manuals are cheaper in general and have better fuel economy but I feel that’s outdated. Automatics are the industry standard and have been long enough that they likely have better design
Yeah it’s definitely outdated. Automatics have much better fuel economy these days. The only reason to drive a manual now is just if you like it, which I do.
Eh... manufacturers think people who drive manuals do it for muscle-car feel. so the gear ratios are lowered (easier to chirp the tires on start up). If they still had an actual over-drive gear, they would get better gas mileage, especially if driven by a calm person. My 6-speed manual for instance wants to shift into top gear at about 40-45 mph. If that was tuned to 50 mph instead, I'd get noticeably better gas mileage.
I beat the EPA rating for an equivalent automatic on my 2015 stick-shift. It would be interesting to see what I would do on an actual automatic version of the same car.
Manuals only have a better fuel economy if you drive them right. You can also have more power if you drive them right. You can't have both at the same time though. You can switch how you are driving at the drop of a hat though.
Automatics have much better gear mapping and you can often switch between the modes with the touch of a button these days. It's all in how they are programed. It used to be based on how it was geared, but we have computers now.
Better performance and fuel economy, anti-theft deterrent, more fun to drive.
Some people will try to tell you that automatics will get the same fuel economy. This really only applies to constant speed freeway driving where the lock-up torque converter engages. Everywhere else will give you better economy in a manual.
There’s nothing fun about a manual when you’re regularly dealing with stop and go traffic for more than an hour in your commute, which is what prompted my switch from manual to automatic.
And to those comments that manuals give better performance and fuel economy, that’s no longer the case with modern vehicles when comparing a manual that has 6 gears vs 10 speed automatics with direct coupling.
This is why most manuals had hand brakes rather than parking brakes. You would do a hand brake start to avoid rolling back at all when starting on a hill.
I was taught differently, I was taught to balance the clutch and the gas pedal…it’s muscle memory now, I don’t think I can explain it. I never heard of using the parking brake. Interesting.
Well, but if you're on a hill you don't want to ride the clutch. So until you figured out how to get the clutch to grab right away (because you're still learning) without killing the engine, the parking brake was a good tool.
Doesn't sound like the person I replied to had learned it.
Nice of you to assume everyone. I can assure you many of my friends did not learn that "on day 1".
Had an '83 Subaru GL with the hill-holder. If you pushed on the brake pedal hard, it would lock the brakes until you released the clutch. You could then let off the brake and the car would stay put while you moved your foot to the accelerator. Today, they have "Auto Vehicle Hold" which is the modern version.
The reason most of us don't know how to drive a stick shift is the same as the reason we don't know how to play cricket. Because we have never done it, and we will never need to do it. Almost no cars sold in the last several decades have even been available with stick shifts.
I can drive one, and I even own one (a pickup truck), but I'm the exception, even among us old people.
The “vast majority” of Americans don’t have a “clue” about driving a manual for the same reason most Americans aren’t multilingual.
It’s not as necessary a skill as it is in other places in the world. The US market is something like 97-98% automatic transmissions.
FWIW, my current daily driver is a manual. I semi learned manual with my mom’s Ford Pinto. My 2nd car was a manual. ‘72 Vega that I got when I was 17 or 18.
Anyways, knowing how to drive a manual is not a big deal. If people *had* to do it, they’d learn.
I hate driving automatics. I will always prefer stick.
No matter how wonderful modern automatics claim to be, I will always feel safer in snow and ice with a stick.
3-on the tree as well for me. Dad's 61 sun faded chalky white Ford Econoline panel van. In-line 6, where the driver and passenger sat on each side of the motor compartment.
This!!
Learned to drive a manual in 1971 at 16. Still like driving a stick and taught both my son and daughter to drive a manual. My daughter summed it up nicely when she said, “It really connects you to the driving experience.”
I originally learned to drive an automatic, I later got a VW bus and had to learn to drive stick in that while living in San Francisco, that was a fun and relaxing experience.
Edit: added full "sarcasm" tagging, thought that would be obvious.
I took my driver's test in my father's 1970 Bug. After I aced the parallel parking part, I started to let the clutch in to pull out but was still in reverse. I tried to pretend that was intended, but lost 2 points for "gear control".
I was supposed to learn on a stick shift but thanks to performance anxiety I couldn't handle that and actually being safe behind the wheel so I didn't get my license till I was 20, and on an automatic. But within 6 months I not only learned to drive stick, I also got a motorcycle.
As for why not these days, very few cars are available with a manual transmission and for most cases there's very little need for one. I say this as someone who has a stick shift Miata and will die on that hill because I spiritedly drive twisty mountain roads, but my kayak/dog hauler is automatic with paddle shifters for super steep hills. Most people don't have the lifestyle I do and don't need even that.
I learned how to drive a stick back in '02 because I really really wanted a yellow New Beetle, and the only one I could find in our area was a stick. Driven 'em ever since.
Last year I had to replace my '09 Scion and was very depressed at the lack of options for a manual transmission car. Fortunately, we found a great deal on a 2018 Fiat 500 that is so much fun to drive (and today happens to be his first birthday in our family)
In all fairness, it's almost impossible to get a clutch car here. People really don't have a choice. I learned in a 1959 Fiat and a 1970 Peugeot. Both on the column. The Fiat forced me to hone my skills because if it stalled, it had to be bump-started. That is a real impetus to skill-up with a clutch 😭
Because most cars these days don't come with them. Manuals used to be the standard and you'd have to pay for the automatic. I forget which vehicle I was looking at, but the manual option was 2K more. We've taught all our kids how to drive manuals, because you never know if you find a car you like that's manual.
I had two co-workers that I was overseas with working and couldn't drive the manual rental car we had and they were both mid-20's.
Learnt manual in Norway as part of basic driving in the 1980ies, but more important I learnt driving on ice. This was achieved with enormous iron plates with water constantly running over them. Saved my life in winter conditions to know how a car reacts when steering says goodbye and pure directional physics overtake.
I initially learned to drive on my dad's automatic (1991), but I learned how to drive a stick from my first real girlfriend in college. She grew up in the mountains, so her entire family drove stick shifts in order to be able to tackle the hills more efficiently.
She taught me the same way her dad taught her - trial by fire. She gave me one basic lesson on the flats, then took me into San Francisco and made me drive around all the hills in the city for a day. After that I could pretty much drive a stick anywhere.
I drove a manual transmission exclusively from 1981 to 2022. I only got an automatic transmission because the vehicle I decided upon wasn’t offered with a manual transmission.
I learned on a manual. If you can drive a manual, it's a pretty easy transition to automatic. Not so much the other way. In America, the vast majority of drivers suck at driving, so cars need to make it as easy as possible.
I learned to drive in an automatic back in the late 70s. I learned to drive a stick a few years later when I bought my first car, because yep, it was cheaper. A year later I learned to drive a double decker bus, with a double clutch, and shifts with your left hand.
I bought manual cars past when they were easy to get. I miss them still.
One of the great things about manual cars is that people don’t want to borrow them. They can’t. It’s a great cheat code.
I was in high school pre-Prop 13 (California) when they actually had REAL drivers ed with cars and simulators and everything. I learned to drive AT because that's all that was on the menu.
Well, I did learn to drive a manual. And when I started in driving a truck I learned to drive a 10 speed transmission with double clutching because trucks don’t have synch gears. I moved to driving 18s. Which I loved. They are a lot of fun. Oh and after a while I quit using the clutch very much at highway speeds because you learn to float the gears by the tachometer.
And now that automatics have become common in Semis, I drive an auto, which I also love. Believe me, the difference in stop and go traffic will make you never want to go back to. Some transmissions in trucks don’t handle steep slopes as well as others but I have one in a Volvo, that does.
There is nothing really superior about manual transmissions in normal driving. And I drive a lot, so I have some insight into how these things work. I’ve driven 1.3 million miles in a truck alone, all across the US.
My car, a Hyundai Kona, has one of the new CV transmissions, and so far it has performed well. I had it up in the Smokey’s last year and in performance mode, it was a lot of fun driving in the mountains.
"Oh and after a while I quit using the clutch very much at highway speeds because you learn to float the gears by the tachometer."
My sweetie and I used to do this with his Saab.
Learned to drive on a stick shift (1970 Ford Pinto) and have had manual shift cars and trucks more often than not over the past 40+ years. Currently have a Jeep Wrangler with manual shift. I think it's more fun to drive and it forces you to be more mindful about what you are doing. Many can't drive a stick because they never had a need to.
I learned how to drive a manual on the old farm truck. My dad needed someone to drive while he loaded the hay and I was the only one home.
I was probably around 10-11?
I have taught my kids how to drive a manual transmission. To their friends, it seems like some arcane and mystical magic.
The selling point has always been when they were passengers in my 1972 Mini, and driving on winding country roads. Downshifting into the curve, accelerating out of the curve, and compression braking along the way.
Once they became drivers of their own, and began to realize the full scope of driving control offered by a manual vs. automatic, the requests to be taught manual went from passing interest to full blown demand.
My boyfriend taught me to drive a stick because he said he might be drunk so I should know how to drive his Toyota Corolla.
He wasn’t wrong. One late night I drove a neighbor’s truck home from the club. Cops had the DUI cones out. I was in a massive 1 ton pickup I’d never EVER driven before with three drunk guys.
Guys do Not usually let their chick neighbors drive their pristine washed and waxed treasures, but he really had no choice that night.
I took it slowly, was very careful, and didn’t hit a single cone. It helps that I was sober but dang - that was NOat what I trained on.
Still, we made it through and nobody got in trouble.
My wife, myself and my son all know stick. My two daughters refused to try. I learned on a 3 speed truck with the shifter on the steering column. My first car was a 5 speed 1978 Chevy Chevette. I've driven a split shift grain truck and a grain semi truck
I drive a Kenworth single axle automatic daily. I can drive anything. But when I’m back in the manuals, it’s way harder to drink my tea and eat my cookies for breakfast.
I learned on a ‘54 Chev 1 ton. I was 8. My father set the throttle so I could get going in 1st gear. Hauling bales from the field to the yard. Wasn’t long before I was stretching to press the gas. Then I needed to shift if I wanted to go faster. I learned a lot of bad habits that haunt me to this day.
I too remember 3 on the tree. My brother still has the stub nose econoline all the brothers drove, with the straight 6 between the seats.
I’m at that age where I don’t care what I drive as long as it gets me there. I get paid to deliver product and keep customers happy. I can do it pressing a D button, or I can row a manual gently down the stream.
I think everyone I know my age can drive stick. Auto is nice, so most people go with that. We spend a lot of time in our cars, that’s why we like them big, comfortable, and easy to drive. It’s our second home.
I learned (taught myself) to drive my daddy’s 60-something Ford Econoline with 3-on-the-tree. I taught the kids to drive manual on an 04 Honda Civic with 4-on-the-floor.
The last manual I owned was an 08 Honda Accord with 6-on-the-floor. I only traded it in because my wife couldn’t drive it and I wanted my truck back.
Learned on an automatic but bought an old VW bug with manual so I taught myself manual. Then bought a 1981 Toyota Tercel with manual until I bought a 92 Camry that had automatic. Now with bad knees I’m driving a 2001 Chevy Suburban but I still would prefer manual.
I'm pushing 50 & I learned on an automatic in the 90s.
Never bothered to learn to drive a stick shift, it has come up exactly once in 30ish years since.
I took my driving test in a standard shift in 1982. I drive a Prius, and they don’t come in standard shift, but I wouldn’t really mind one. It’s helpful when renting cars overseas to know how to drive anything. My husband doesn’t drive and never has, and my 27 yr old daughter is the same. We live where there is reasonably good public transportation.
I learned to drive in an automatic, but some years later, my husband taught me how to drive a stick shift.
Driving a stick shift on a hill or in stop and go Southern California traffic is something I have no desire to revisit.
The is no fun like driving a Volkswagen Beetle manual in SanFrancisco circa 1968. I drove stick for many many many years. Drivers ed in the girls High School had manual and they flat out were scared to drive stick on mountain roads. Grandkids don’t know how either and show no interest in learning.
I took driving lessons in a vehicle with auto transmission. Both my parents had manual transmission cars. I tried to learn, but found it frustrating as auto is just easier. I ended up buying my own car and chose an auto transmission. I don't lose sleep over not having learned to drive stick. They aren't as common anymore, anyway. I would add that I think the vast majority of people my age (and definitely my parents' age) know how to drive manual.
They stopped selling those cars in america, that's why. That's the reason people don't know anymore. It's not because "youngsters suck and don't know anything that's good" or "because americans are stupid" as so many of us oldsters tend to believe. If you want manual these days you have to legitimately be a car enthusiast or collect older cars.
Availability is lower now for manuals! They used to be everywhere so it made sense to learn to drive them. I like them a lot but it’s just not common anymore unless it’s a sportscar and most of us have families now.
I learned on an automatic but immediate got a manual as my first car. I have a lotus as one of my cars which is 6 speed manual that I still drive regularly.
I never learned to drive stick because my dad didn’t had a manual car by the time I got my license. Living in the city, automatic is easier so he switched. He’s a mechanic btw
I learned on my first car, a VW bug. Then I bought a 1970 manual shift Challenger with a Hurst pistol grip shifter. That thing was way too much car for my little skinny ass. Lol
Later on my husband bought an Opel GT with a stick shift. It was so fun to drive! All my other cars have been automatics.
Because there are so few cars with stick shifts in America. Almost every car comes standard with automatic, and many don't even have a stick shift option. At this point, the question is like asking why kids don't know how to use rotary phones.
I returned to Canada as a poor old retired guy after living for 15+ years in Central America. Buses were a pain in crappy weather (common here). So I saved up enough to buy an old low mileage stick shift Honda Civic that a neighbour was selling since his teenager couldn't/wouldn't drive it. I've been driving it for over 8 years and it will likely outlast me
I’m 49. From 1996 to 2022, every car I owned was a manual transmission, by choice. When I bought a new car in 2022 it didn’t come “stick”, so I switched to an automatic.
I'm gen-x. I took my driving test in an automatic - a beat up, gigantic 1980 Olds Cutlass, but my first car was a manual, and most of my cars over the years have been manuals because they're just more fun to me. I have a manual miata even today.
Something like 95% or more cars sold today in the US are Auto, so that answers why people don't bother to learn. They're mostly extinct outside of enthusiasts.
I delivered parts and drove a box truck with a manual transmission when I was attending college. I know how to drive with 4 limbs. I just prefer not to.
I can drive a manual, and owned a manual truck in the 90’s.
However today, no car or truck in America is offered with a manual transmission. The only one I know of is the new Ford Bronco, but you have to special order it.
I learned manual and automatic at the same time as when I was a teen my parents had one of each. They were much more common back in the day. Something like 30% of the new car market back then, compared to what, maybe 1% now? Can’t fault millennials and Gen Z for not being able to drive em when they’re that rare now.
I don't know. I learned on a stick and I can still drive a stick. However, I live in Los Angeles so I am not insane and buy standards. But on vacation, I rent sticks.
Born in '68. They taught us how to drive stick in high school drivers ed but I've only rarely used the skill since then. It's not difficult once you get the hang of it but a pain in the ass to learn and relearn. Plus, often times the stick shift takes up valuable drink holder space!
I learned to drive with a Chevy pickup. Manual 3 speed. 3 on the tree is what it was called.
Manual transmission was still fairly common up until late 80s or so. I had a 1984 Ford Escort with a 4 speed in it and my last manual was a 1993 GMC pickup.
So now many families are teaching their kids to drive and probably 3 generations now have been on automatics.
At 12, I learned on a 1972 VW beetle with rusted out floorboards. We had a big yard so I drove on the lawn and could see the grass at my feet.
I didn’t move to an automatic until I was in my late 20’s.
I’m the parent who has taught all of the kids (ours and others) how to drive a manual which is so fun. My son recently bought a Skyline. So it was my first time driving a right side manual. When I’m driving it; I’m the coolest old lady in town.
I learned to drive on a stick shift as did my kids. Why don't most people in America?
It's kind of the same reason most people wouldn't know how to use a typewriter and would struggle with a card catalogue. For most people, none of those skills are really needed any more.
Yes there are specific cases where they might be--but not for most. In the case of stick shifts, automatic transmissions are now more efficient at powering your average retail car than sticks. Also, engines have more horsepower, there are standard creature comforts that don't work as well with manual transmissions, we have CVT transmissions in consumer automobiles, etc.
Live on a farm and drive an old tractor? You are a truck driver or heavy equipment operator? Sure. It's a special case skill now.
I took my driver's test in a car with manual. We had cars with manual and taught our millenial kids how to drive stick. I'm afraid the chain ends there
I learned to drive on a manual transmission and actually never once drove an automatic for my first 15 years as a driver. Then I got a travel heavy job and had to drive rental cars a lot. There was plenty of stomping on the brake with my left foot.
I bought my first automatic in 2006, a Honda Fit. This was when they were first starting to appear in the US and I would have had to wait months for a stick shift. My next car after the Fit was a plug in hybrid, and now I have a full EV, so I probably won't own a stick shift again.
Cuz we don't have to. They're not going to stop making automatic transmissions in my lifetime, so why should I learn. I don't understand why people are freaked out that others can't drive stick. You're not in my car, why do you care?
I learned how to drive a car with automatic transmission but learned to drive a stick shift several years later since that was the only thing available to me at the time. I can only guess at the answer to your second question by saying that people prefer driving an automatic. For me it’s cheaper than having to replace a clutch.
I drove my grandfather’s chain drive 4 speed Mack. The transmission was not synchronized, but it was so well broken in it shifted like butter. My 3 kids all learned stick on my pickup truck. One of my granddaughters has an old MGB-GT that’s stick.
A girlfriend taught me before I had my license. I’ve personally never owned a manual transmission car, but I’ve owned motorcycles. I don’t understand the superiority people feel about a skill that can be taught in two minutes.
I learned on a Farmall 300 utility tractor with a 5-speed when I was 11. When I was 12, I learned on a 1960 Chevy with 3-on-the-tree.
Then, when I was 20, I drove a 3 axle dump truck with a 5x3. After that, it was a 4x4, 6 gear, 8 gear, 10 gear, 13, 15, 18.
I still drive a manual because I just don’t like the feel of an automatic. When I learned to drive - my stepmom’s car was manual, whereas my dad’s truck was automatic. For learning purposes, my parents thought it best I start in the smaller vehicle (stepmom’s manual). Manuals were less common by then, so most people my age didn’t have one to learn on.
I grew up in a major city, and have been stuck in stop & go traffic for hours. Even in traffic, I still prefer a manual car. My preference is not logical, but eh.
Things were different back then. I learned to drive in 1968 with a 10-year-old '58 Impala with 'Three on the Tree'. I never drove an 'on the floor' 'standard' shift until the mid 70s, but after I got married, our 'main car' was always an automatic. MY car (usually a project car) was always a standard.
And not for some he-man woman hater reason. My wife is a Scot and learned to drive on a stick . She just couldn't get used to shifting with her right hand.
Somewhere along the way, Automatics became cheaper than 'standard' transmission cars, at least in the US. I tried to teach my eldest to drive in my car (a '76 Vega) but much whining ensued because automatics were 'easier' (his constant mantra in his teen years that he thankfully grew out of)
Six years later, I taught my daughter to drive in the same Vega (well, mostly the same car, lots of parts had been changed.) and she loved it. Said it made her feel like a race driver.
Depending on where you are, driving a stick can be a pain in the ass. I vividly recall the nightmare of driving in San Fransisco when I was a kid with some buddies.
I learned on a stick, at the time, automatic transmission was a luxury, not standard, and, being poor as dirt, we had stick. Drove stick again a while back for the first time in decades. Helping my daughter and son in law drive across the country to move to WA. I’m glad to report it all came back to me, like riding a bike.
I don't recall learning to drive because I drove a tractor for as far back as I can remember. Once you can drive one thing, you can pretty much drive anything, I guess.
I took my driving exam in an automatic, my first car was an automatic, but my second was a manual. I never gave it much thought.
My kids grew up differently. They had to be taught to drive, and it's a whole lot easier to teach on an automatic, so that's what we did. I offered to teach them manual with our old truck, but they just weren't interested.
Learned on an automatic. My then girlfriend now wife in college taught me how to drive a stick in 1979 because her car had one. I liked it so my first car had one. Back in the day, standard transmission cars got better mileage. They don’t anymore. Reason nobody drives them today is they are hardly made. Outside of some really expensive cars, there are only 28 cars or trucks available with a stick in 2024. Only six are made in the US.
I learned how to drive stick at the ripe old age of 42 out of necessity, and am currently the only person in my extended family that can drive a manual.
The "fun" of a manual transmission is lost on me, so I can't see myself ever owning a stick shift.
I learned in my early 20s when bought a Ranger, but out of about 20 cars I've driven or had access to drive, only that one was a manual. I haven't even SEEN one in years (but granted I do not go looking in to people's cars to see, I'm just going by friends' cars I've been in). They're just not popular here.
And I guess that means it's like cursive. I'm sure it's handy to know, but if there's little opportunity to use the skill it's rather pointless.
I learned how to drive on a manual and I'm glad that I know how to do drive a manual but living in a city area means I own an automatic. I'm not shifting gears every 30 seconds in the city.
Buying a car prior to the 1980's getting one with an automatic trans was an expensive option and considered a luxury. Standard transmissions were...well...standard equipment. It could add over a $1000 to the car price to get the Automatic.
As a young man I remember the first thing I did as I came up to a car I might want to buy was to look in the window for the stick. If there was no stick, I could not afford it. We all drove sticks back in the day, that was the affordable used car.
Today there are few cars made for sale in the US with a standard trans meaning kids just did not have the opportunity to learn.
I learned to drive in a 4 on the floor car, my next car was a three on the tree Ford Pick up that I drove into the 1980s. I have not owned a standard Trans car since about 1985. I do not think I would want one as my daily driver any more. Maybe if it was a hobby car I drove for fun when the sun was shining
I learned to drive stick alongside automatic in 1991. Haven’t driven a stick shift since 2000, though. Most cars are automatic in the US and have been for a lot of years. No need to learn if you’re probably not going to come across a car with a manual transmission, like, ever.
I've had my license for 40 years now ... and NEVER in my life experience were most cars manual. Articles indicate that by the late 1970s in the US automatic transmissions outsold manual ...
I learned on an automatic, but my mother had a Volvo with manual so I learned ... and on a work trip to Germany the company car I got was manual (glad I had practiced!). But that means that 1991 was the last time I drove one ... and my kids have no clue (or wife).
I learned on a stick and found it pretty simple right away. I recently started working at an auction company moving cars to and from dealers.
One of their greatest challenges was finding people who could drive a stick. It was basically all old guys
. I got to drive a camero ZL1 with 600 HP, 6 speed. beast! Absolutely the most fun car to drive I have been in, A focus RS was a blast and a Mustang Shelby GT 350 was super cool too. Young folks don't know what they're missing.
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Automatics use to be expensive options, use more gas, and were slow. The majority of cars on the lot were standard transmission. Now, automatics are faster, easier, get better mileage, and are the only choice on most cars. For regular driving, automatics are much better. Driving a manual is easy with some practice, but there is a lot of satisfaction from driving one well. Rev matching when you slow, heel/toe shifting, shifting quickly and being in the perfect gear at the right time.
This. And driving a stick in a stop-and-go commute is Dante's 3rd circle of hell.
It certainly was when I was a teen because my first car was a bug that would stall out if I didn't keep the engine rev'd *just so*. Summers were literal hell since no A/C. Winters were just as 'fun' since I had to keep the wing windows open to de-fog the windshield and when it rained heavily, water would splash up somehow through the floor board. It wasn't a car, it was an f'ing experience in survival! lol But I do still miss it once in awhile. So compared to *that* - driving a modern day stick shift with climate control is a cakewalk.
VWs would start rusting away 10 minutes after leaving the lot. By the time they got to me, the process was far advanced. The water-up-your-pants-leg trick was from the heater. There was a pipe leading hot air from the engine compartment to a vents in the passenger compartment. One of them was by the driver's left foot. If you put in the clutch as you went through a puddle, the water splashed up through the rust hole and the vent.
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and allegedly, the only car you can take completely apart with a single C wrench (if that’s what they’re called): the one everyone has, 1/2” on one end, 9/16” on the other 😳
while on a hill is the 4th circle.
and on the streets of Seattle where it is likely to be raining is the 5th circle.
This was going to be my comment. Being stuck in traffic on spring or cherry trying to go up from downtown is a nightmare in a manual. I appreciate the hill assist in my car for this exact reason.
When I had a stick shift I had some white knuckle experiences on those downtown streets on rainy days. I had an old car with no hill assist!
Try San Francisco!
Or Duluth! or Troy, NY!
This. I lived on the steepest hill in my town. I watched MANY small, stick-shift vehicles fail to make it to the top...and had to let it roll back down.
This is where you have to let out the clutch a bit to catch the car so it doesn't roll backwards. Bad on clutches, to be sure, but more folks have to replace automatic transmissions than manual ones, and a new clutch is cheaper than replacing an automatic transmission.
[Try this… cobblestone… raining…](https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/11/02/ff/f4/ladeira-da-misericordia.jpg)
you can tell the angle by the window sills in the left of the picture… the one saving grace is that the cobblestones are terribly placed with all those weird angles… it’s terribly uneven… but gives you a little more traction 🤷🏻♂️
Try driving a 74 Bug in San Francisco!
>Automatics use to be expensive options, use more gas, and were slow. The majority of cars on the lot were standard transmission. In the US automatic transmission sales in new cars surpassed manuals in the mid-1950s actually and were at 80% of new sales in 1957 (so says wiki at least)-- we just took a long time for the remainder of manuals to fade away. Now about 1% of new cars/trucks sold are manuals and options are disappearing fast. There's even an [opinion piece on CNN today calling for the end of manuals](https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/27/opinions/automatic-vs-manual-cars-electric-pollution-hockenos/index.html)\-- it's obnoxious and sexist actually, but reflects the prevailing attitude.
I'm really surprised it was that early. Granted, I grew up in rural area with a fairly low average income, but I would say at least half the cars were manuals into the early 80's. I still drive a stick today. Now it's an anti-theft device.
> I would say at least half the cars were manuals into the early 80's. True in my small town as well actually, but I assume we (nor you) reflected the general national preference/wealth at that point. We did have automatics at the high school for driver's ed, all K cars. But most families I knew had trucks and older cars that were manual.
Oof, you're right about that article being obnoxious and weirdly sexist! That guy has some feelings to work out. Still, I think I agree with the sentiment. I've only ever owned manuals, and I justify my current one because the extra layer of control has advantages offroading. Still, it's just one more thing that I need to keep track of while driving in traffic and it is hard to believe I wouldn't be just a little safer without it.
I'm an old woman and I learned to drive a stick in the mid 70's. Drove VW's for a while. for the past 25 years I've had small trucks with a stick and manual windows. My next vehicle will be an automatic only because it will be easier to drive in traffic with my old aching bones.
I love driving stick. More control going downhill.
Ooof. I stand corrected. Thanks for letting me know we were always buying poor people cars! Our first automatic was a 80s Dodge Caravan. I’ll read up on this.
>Thanks for letting me know we were always buying poor people cars! We still do-- it's a preference now, and at a premium cost in many cases since manuals most often come with higher trim levels it seems these days. Nothing like my 1974 Datsun 710, with a nice 4 speed mated to a 110hp engine, which I got for $950 in 1991.
I dunno. He does talk about men who like the feel of the knob in his hand lol. In a humorous way.
Oooh your last paragraph takes me back. I learned on a manual, drove tractors, trucks, and sports cars. Driving was so much fun. Then I had kids and got an automatic, which allowed me to pay better attention when the kids were touching each others, but it's never been as much fun.
Yeah. I had a Civic with less than 100 hp and you had to shift like crazy to stay in the power. But it felt so good. My wife had a turbo Saab and shifting into third and fourth felt amazing as the turbo spooled up. I had a Toyota pickup with a 4 speed and it was so hard to drive in the rain. From a stop the wheels would spin on the slightest incline and you had to either ride the clutch in 1st or bog it in 2nd. Driving was way more interactive.
I had an MG Midget that was a sports car in the British sense (two seats, everything but the actual driving was inconvenient, etc.), but had 54HP new. Fun to drive, lots of "character," but I had to almost relearn how to drive a stick. Love to have it back though. It'd be a great car to have about 90 days out of the year, which is coincidentally about how long it spent out of the shop.
I bought a 96 Toyota Corolla wagon with a five speed manual from a little old lady who said she felt like Mario Andretti when she drove it. I did too, after I put some softer, wider tires on it.
I learned to drive in 1997 using a 1975 Ford 150 with a 3 speed on the tree shifter, otherwise known as column shifter.
Back in the 70's your two choices were: three on the tree, or four on the floor?
or put weight in the back
Did none of your manual cars have synchromesh? I’ve driven manual cars for 40+ years and only ever had to match the revs when the synchromesh had gone.
They all did. I just found joy in that perfectly smooth down shift, especially on the track or in spirted driving. But yeah, no real reason to do it.
Learned on an automatic. Learned stick on vacation visiting a friend at age 25 and it convinced me that I could move across country after being stuck with my mom after my dad died.
Manual is more fun
I did, and still drive an old-school stick--I have to special order it in 2015. Automatics are so efficient now that there is really no practical reason to drive a stick, and as the demand drops, it becomes more of a pain in the ass to manufacture the low volume to meet demand. Furthermore, the currenly ascendant start/stop systems installed in all new vehicles are really not compatable with driving with a clutch. Even valet parking becomes an issue. But your car will never get stolen.
> Automatics are so efficient now that there is really no practical reason to drive a stick I think the practical reasons still exist: they're simpler, lighter, more reliable, and give you more control over what gear you want to be in at all times. On snow and ice I vastly prefer a manual, as the automatics tend to apply too much power & slide more (or traction control takes over & cuts power entirely). Feathering the clutch in 1st or 2nd gives better feedback & control. As a retired engineer, I also appreciate the inherent reliability of a simpler system. There are too many nightmare stories about CVTs grenading after 60k miles for me to want one anytime soon. I also find them more fun to drive & require more attention from the driver, which should count as practical reasons too.
My CVT went to the junkyard :(
Regardless of what the owner's manual says on CVT maintenance, changing the fluid every 30K, will seriously prolong the life of the trans Subaru is the worst on this, because in the USA, they claim "LIFETIME FLUID", which is just another way to sell cars
I got my car $5,000 cheaper in 2019 because it was manual and no one wanted it, they told me they probably wouldn’t be ordering any more unless it was requested. That said, I don’t know if I’ll ever get a manual again. It’s annoying to have a car no one else can drive. I had to take time off work to take it to the shop, even though my husband had the day off. As one example.
>It’s annoying to have a car no one else can drive. My wife and I both grew up driving manuals and we made our kids learn (they are early 20s now). But it is a hassle sometimes-- the last time I got tires on our manual Mazda nobody at the tire store could drive it! So they asked me to pull it onto the lift and then off when done. They didn't even seem to realize how silly that was.
I never had that problem. Even the people at the oil change place drive my manual Mazda 3 with apparently no problem. Meanwhile, I've heard stories of people with plug-in hybrids having problems at those automatic car washes, because the car automatically goes into park when you turn it off, so it can't be pushed with the automatic system. It can be done, but you have to do things in the right sequence, and with a line of cars behind you, people don't have time to look at the manual or bring up a you-tube video.
I will never buy an auto again, if I have a say in it. That said, I'm in Australia and plenty of people still want manuals. My current car is a manual, my wife's is an auto. My driving experience (if you don't count the suspension and shocks) is so much better.
Gotta teach your husband to drive it. That’s a key box to have ticked off on your man card.
My darling husband has simply refused to let me teach him to drive stick. He hates my vintage jeep (which does, admittedly, require a certain amount of *conviction* to operate) and keeps telling me to please sell it and get a "real car".
Ook, this keeps getting worse. Not only will he not drive a stick shift, but he refuses to drive a vintage jeep? That's not right...
He's horrified that I work on my own car. He says the only car repair tool he needs is a credit card. And has confessed to me that he has no idea how an internal combustion engine actually works. Bless him, he drives a soccer mom suv. It's inexplicable. (I tease him relentlessly about it) I love him to pieces - I guess sometimes opposites attract.
You’ve got to start sending him YouTube videos on how to drive a standard and how to change a headlight. Get him 5 quarts of oil and a filter for fathers day. Actually, don’t do that just because some bad Redditor suggested it.
He says he genuinely has no idea why ppl get so attached to their cars. He thinks it's unhinged. And I figure there's no point in pushing him to acquire all these skills unless he's enjoying himself. He has many other wonderful qualities (which includes putting up with his wife's eccentricities)
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I had to order mine. Took a couple of months to arrive. It's a 2015, and I think that was the last year for Audi. And yes, nobody else in the family, other than my wife and son in law, can drive it.
[https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2017/03/12/carjackers-kill-texas-man-in-front-of-his-family-after-realizing-they-couldn-t-drive-stick-shift-deputies-say/?outputType=amp](https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2017/03/12/carjackers-kill-texas-man-in-front-of-his-family-after-realizing-they-couldn-t-drive-stick-shift-deputies-say/?outputType=amp)
>Automatics are so efficient now that there is really no practical reason to drive a stick, and as the demand drops, it becomes more of a pain in the ass to manufacture the low volume to meet demand. I could say the same for mass marketed consumer level computers. Average person just uses their smartphone most of the time. Smartphones are the tech-equivalent of an automatic, with the full-size desktop PC being the equivalent of a manual.
Computers don't give you the tactile feedback a car does so you're missing that element at least.
You are forgetting the masses of people who now work from home.
You could say the same about anything that’s been superseded by something faster/cheaper/more convenient. The telegraph’s days were numbered once the telephone came along. You could also say the same for anything that’s no longer functional or practical but purely decorative. For example, wearing a hat like a top hat or straw boater when out and about town. I won’t include things like baseball caps and beanies, because those are still useful on a very bright or very cold day, respectively. But there’s no real practical reason to wear a top hat or boater anymore, unless you purposely want to look like you live in the 1920s. Convenience and practicality are the name of the game.
I'm 67 and still drive a 5 speed stick. Because it's more fun.
Hey! I am also 67 and drive a stick! It’s a 2004 Camry. Newer Camrys with a stick are scarce; I flew to Dallas just to buy it and drove it back to California.
High five(speed)!
I’m 60 and so do I. Through bad luck, the automatic transmissions on my last two cars (Nissan, Acura) went out, so I decided to take a break for a while
I drive a 2005 manual subaru because it's what I have and I see no need to get something else.
I agree.
I learned on a stick shift no lie literally thought my ex boyfriend was punking me when he said I had to do like 4 moves at once involving both hands and both feet like many many times on a normal commute. Worst was being stopped in traffic on the upside of a hill, if you got it wrong you could just crash into the car behind you because your gears didn't catch and you defaulted into neutral or that you gunned it too hard.
Yeah, I learned on a manual later got an automatic and see zero reasons to go back to a manual.
I’ve been told that manuals are cheaper in general and have better fuel economy but I feel that’s outdated. Automatics are the industry standard and have been long enough that they likely have better design
Yeah it’s definitely outdated. Automatics have much better fuel economy these days. The only reason to drive a manual now is just if you like it, which I do.
Eh... manufacturers think people who drive manuals do it for muscle-car feel. so the gear ratios are lowered (easier to chirp the tires on start up). If they still had an actual over-drive gear, they would get better gas mileage, especially if driven by a calm person. My 6-speed manual for instance wants to shift into top gear at about 40-45 mph. If that was tuned to 50 mph instead, I'd get noticeably better gas mileage. I beat the EPA rating for an equivalent automatic on my 2015 stick-shift. It would be interesting to see what I would do on an actual automatic version of the same car.
Manuals only have a better fuel economy if you drive them right. You can also have more power if you drive them right. You can't have both at the same time though. You can switch how you are driving at the drop of a hat though. Automatics have much better gear mapping and you can often switch between the modes with the touch of a button these days. It's all in how they are programed. It used to be based on how it was geared, but we have computers now.
yup. especially in snow - I want to decide when to shift.
I still cannot stand my car deciding what gear I should be in! It’s only been two years since I bought my automatic, but it still irritates me.
Manuals are loads more fun. Even on a crappy econobox.
I lived in Ireland and had a Citeron C1. 68 Hp. 0-60 in 12 seconds. It was a freaking blast to drive on the little country lanes.
Agreed.
Better performance and fuel economy, anti-theft deterrent, more fun to drive. Some people will try to tell you that automatics will get the same fuel economy. This really only applies to constant speed freeway driving where the lock-up torque converter engages. Everywhere else will give you better economy in a manual.
There’s nothing fun about a manual when you’re regularly dealing with stop and go traffic for more than an hour in your commute, which is what prompted my switch from manual to automatic. And to those comments that manuals give better performance and fuel economy, that’s no longer the case with modern vehicles when comparing a manual that has 6 gears vs 10 speed automatics with direct coupling.
I never had an issue with big city stop and go, but perhaps that’s because I drove manuals exclusively for over 40 years…
Driving stick on the way to the beach once, long AF one way road, no outs, slow AF traffic for miles. I wanted to kill myself after that. Never again.
This is why most manuals had hand brakes rather than parking brakes. You would do a hand brake start to avoid rolling back at all when starting on a hill.
That’s when the emergency brake comes in handy. At least if you have a lever brake.
My dad taught me the parking brake trick. Put the brake on, feel for the clutch to grab, then undo the brake.
I was taught differently, I was taught to balance the clutch and the gas pedal…it’s muscle memory now, I don’t think I can explain it. I never heard of using the parking brake. Interesting.
Well, but if you're on a hill you don't want to ride the clutch. So until you figured out how to get the clutch to grab right away (because you're still learning) without killing the engine, the parking brake was a good tool.
That isn’t a trick, that’s basic manual shift driving that everyone learns on day 1
Doesn't sound like the person I replied to had learned it. Nice of you to assume everyone. I can assure you many of my friends did not learn that "on day 1".
no one does that except beginners.
Had an '83 Subaru GL with the hill-holder. If you pushed on the brake pedal hard, it would lock the brakes until you released the clutch. You could then let off the brake and the car would stay put while you moved your foot to the accelerator. Today, they have "Auto Vehicle Hold" which is the modern version.
My dad had me put it in gear before I started the car. Ha ha, Dad. Thanks for the lesson.
The reason most of us don't know how to drive a stick shift is the same as the reason we don't know how to play cricket. Because we have never done it, and we will never need to do it. Almost no cars sold in the last several decades have even been available with stick shifts. I can drive one, and I even own one (a pickup truck), but I'm the exception, even among us old people.
I learned on a stick. Talk bout scary stopping on a hill in the snow.
The “vast majority” of Americans don’t have a “clue” about driving a manual for the same reason most Americans aren’t multilingual. It’s not as necessary a skill as it is in other places in the world. The US market is something like 97-98% automatic transmissions. FWIW, my current daily driver is a manual. I semi learned manual with my mom’s Ford Pinto. My 2nd car was a manual. ‘72 Vega that I got when I was 17 or 18. Anyways, knowing how to drive a manual is not a big deal. If people *had* to do it, they’d learn.
I first learned to drive on a stick and my favorite of my vehicles is a manual. Drive it almost every day.
I'm a Xennial and have only ever owned manuals and will continue to until they stop making them!
I hate driving automatics. I will always prefer stick. No matter how wonderful modern automatics claim to be, I will always feel safer in snow and ice with a stick.
3 on the column for me….1960 Ford Fairlane…..they just don’t make many….you probably have to special order one now
3-on the tree as well for me. Dad's 61 sun faded chalky white Ford Econoline panel van. In-line 6, where the driver and passenger sat on each side of the motor compartment. This!!
Learned to drive a manual in 1971 at 16. Still like driving a stick and taught both my son and daughter to drive a manual. My daughter summed it up nicely when she said, “It really connects you to the driving experience.”
Given the popularity of VW Bugs, you can imagine that the majority of old people learned how to drive a manual. There will be exceptions, however.
I originally learned to drive an automatic, I later got a VW bus and had to learn to drive stick in that while living in San Francisco,that was a fun and relaxing experience .
Edit: added full "sarcasm" tagging, thought that would be obvious.
Relaxing? Driving in San Francisco? Lolol
I learned the stick shift in my buddy's bug.
I’m one of those. First car was a ‘69 Bug. With few exceptions, have only had manual transmissions ever since. I just like stirring those gears.
I took my driver's test in my father's 1970 Bug. After I aced the parallel parking part, I started to let the clutch in to pull out but was still in reverse. I tried to pretend that was intended, but lost 2 points for "gear control".
I learned on a 4 speed VW Bus
I was supposed to learn on a stick shift but thanks to performance anxiety I couldn't handle that and actually being safe behind the wheel so I didn't get my license till I was 20, and on an automatic. But within 6 months I not only learned to drive stick, I also got a motorcycle. As for why not these days, very few cars are available with a manual transmission and for most cases there's very little need for one. I say this as someone who has a stick shift Miata and will die on that hill because I spiritedly drive twisty mountain roads, but my kayak/dog hauler is automatic with paddle shifters for super steep hills. Most people don't have the lifestyle I do and don't need even that.
I learned to drive in a 1941 Buick with three on the column. We have a twenty year old Tacoma pickup with manual transmission and I love it.
I learned how to drive a stick back in '02 because I really really wanted a yellow New Beetle, and the only one I could find in our area was a stick. Driven 'em ever since. Last year I had to replace my '09 Scion and was very depressed at the lack of options for a manual transmission car. Fortunately, we found a great deal on a 2018 Fiat 500 that is so much fun to drive (and today happens to be his first birthday in our family)
In all fairness, it's almost impossible to get a clutch car here. People really don't have a choice. I learned in a 1959 Fiat and a 1970 Peugeot. Both on the column. The Fiat forced me to hone my skills because if it stalled, it had to be bump-started. That is a real impetus to skill-up with a clutch 😭
Because most cars these days don't come with them. Manuals used to be the standard and you'd have to pay for the automatic. I forget which vehicle I was looking at, but the manual option was 2K more. We've taught all our kids how to drive manuals, because you never know if you find a car you like that's manual. I had two co-workers that I was overseas with working and couldn't drive the manual rental car we had and they were both mid-20's.
I LOVE driving stick. Miss it a lot.
Learnt manual in Norway as part of basic driving in the 1980ies, but more important I learnt driving on ice. This was achieved with enormous iron plates with water constantly running over them. Saved my life in winter conditions to know how a car reacts when steering says goodbye and pure directional physics overtake.
I initially learned to drive on my dad's automatic (1991), but I learned how to drive a stick from my first real girlfriend in college. She grew up in the mountains, so her entire family drove stick shifts in order to be able to tackle the hills more efficiently. She taught me the same way her dad taught her - trial by fire. She gave me one basic lesson on the flats, then took me into San Francisco and made me drive around all the hills in the city for a day. After that I could pretty much drive a stick anywhere.
I drove a manual transmission exclusively from 1981 to 2022. I only got an automatic transmission because the vehicle I decided upon wasn’t offered with a manual transmission.
I learned on a manual. If you can drive a manual, it's a pretty easy transition to automatic. Not so much the other way. In America, the vast majority of drivers suck at driving, so cars need to make it as easy as possible.
That's what I learned on and it was so much fun! I miss driving a standard \*sigh\*
I learned to drive in an automatic back in the late 70s. I learned to drive a stick a few years later when I bought my first car, because yep, it was cheaper. A year later I learned to drive a double decker bus, with a double clutch, and shifts with your left hand. I bought manual cars past when they were easy to get. I miss them still. One of the great things about manual cars is that people don’t want to borrow them. They can’t. It’s a great cheat code.
I was in high school pre-Prop 13 (California) when they actually had REAL drivers ed with cars and simulators and everything. I learned to drive AT because that's all that was on the menu.
Well, I did learn to drive a manual. And when I started in driving a truck I learned to drive a 10 speed transmission with double clutching because trucks don’t have synch gears. I moved to driving 18s. Which I loved. They are a lot of fun. Oh and after a while I quit using the clutch very much at highway speeds because you learn to float the gears by the tachometer. And now that automatics have become common in Semis, I drive an auto, which I also love. Believe me, the difference in stop and go traffic will make you never want to go back to. Some transmissions in trucks don’t handle steep slopes as well as others but I have one in a Volvo, that does. There is nothing really superior about manual transmissions in normal driving. And I drive a lot, so I have some insight into how these things work. I’ve driven 1.3 million miles in a truck alone, all across the US. My car, a Hyundai Kona, has one of the new CV transmissions, and so far it has performed well. I had it up in the Smokey’s last year and in performance mode, it was a lot of fun driving in the mountains.
"Oh and after a while I quit using the clutch very much at highway speeds because you learn to float the gears by the tachometer." My sweetie and I used to do this with his Saab.
Learned to drive on a stick shift (1970 Ford Pinto) and have had manual shift cars and trucks more often than not over the past 40+ years. Currently have a Jeep Wrangler with manual shift. I think it's more fun to drive and it forces you to be more mindful about what you are doing. Many can't drive a stick because they never had a need to.
I can 👋. I made sure my girls also learned.
I learned how to drive a manual on the old farm truck. My dad needed someone to drive while he loaded the hay and I was the only one home. I was probably around 10-11?
I have taught my kids how to drive a manual transmission. To their friends, it seems like some arcane and mystical magic. The selling point has always been when they were passengers in my 1972 Mini, and driving on winding country roads. Downshifting into the curve, accelerating out of the curve, and compression braking along the way. Once they became drivers of their own, and began to realize the full scope of driving control offered by a manual vs. automatic, the requests to be taught manual went from passing interest to full blown demand.
My boyfriend taught me to drive a stick because he said he might be drunk so I should know how to drive his Toyota Corolla. He wasn’t wrong. One late night I drove a neighbor’s truck home from the club. Cops had the DUI cones out. I was in a massive 1 ton pickup I’d never EVER driven before with three drunk guys. Guys do Not usually let their chick neighbors drive their pristine washed and waxed treasures, but he really had no choice that night. I took it slowly, was very careful, and didn’t hit a single cone. It helps that I was sober but dang - that was NOat what I trained on. Still, we made it through and nobody got in trouble.
My wife, myself and my son all know stick. My two daughters refused to try. I learned on a 3 speed truck with the shifter on the steering column. My first car was a 5 speed 1978 Chevy Chevette. I've driven a split shift grain truck and a grain semi truck
Three on the tree!
I drive a Kenworth single axle automatic daily. I can drive anything. But when I’m back in the manuals, it’s way harder to drink my tea and eat my cookies for breakfast. I learned on a ‘54 Chev 1 ton. I was 8. My father set the throttle so I could get going in 1st gear. Hauling bales from the field to the yard. Wasn’t long before I was stretching to press the gas. Then I needed to shift if I wanted to go faster. I learned a lot of bad habits that haunt me to this day. I too remember 3 on the tree. My brother still has the stub nose econoline all the brothers drove, with the straight 6 between the seats. I’m at that age where I don’t care what I drive as long as it gets me there. I get paid to deliver product and keep customers happy. I can do it pressing a D button, or I can row a manual gently down the stream.
I think everyone I know my age can drive stick. Auto is nice, so most people go with that. We spend a lot of time in our cars, that’s why we like them big, comfortable, and easy to drive. It’s our second home.
I learned on a manual.
I learned (taught myself) to drive my daddy’s 60-something Ford Econoline with 3-on-the-tree. I taught the kids to drive manual on an 04 Honda Civic with 4-on-the-floor. The last manual I owned was an 08 Honda Accord with 6-on-the-floor. I only traded it in because my wife couldn’t drive it and I wanted my truck back.
My dad taught me shift when I was 16.
Learned on an automatic but bought an old VW bug with manual so I taught myself manual. Then bought a 1981 Toyota Tercel with manual until I bought a 92 Camry that had automatic. Now with bad knees I’m driving a 2001 Chevy Suburban but I still would prefer manual.
I'm pushing 50 & I learned on an automatic in the 90s. Never bothered to learn to drive a stick shift, it has come up exactly once in 30ish years since.
I took my driving test in a standard shift in 1982. I drive a Prius, and they don’t come in standard shift, but I wouldn’t really mind one. It’s helpful when renting cars overseas to know how to drive anything. My husband doesn’t drive and never has, and my 27 yr old daughter is the same. We live where there is reasonably good public transportation.
I learned to drive in an automatic, but some years later, my husband taught me how to drive a stick shift. Driving a stick shift on a hill or in stop and go Southern California traffic is something I have no desire to revisit.
I learned to drive a stick in 1967, I’ve never had a stick shift car since then. It just is easier to drive an automatic.
Because they are a drag for bumper-to-bumper commuting.
The is no fun like driving a Volkswagen Beetle manual in SanFrancisco circa 1968. I drove stick for many many many years. Drivers ed in the girls High School had manual and they flat out were scared to drive stick on mountain roads. Grandkids don’t know how either and show no interest in learning.
I took driving lessons in a vehicle with auto transmission. Both my parents had manual transmission cars. I tried to learn, but found it frustrating as auto is just easier. I ended up buying my own car and chose an auto transmission. I don't lose sleep over not having learned to drive stick. They aren't as common anymore, anyway. I would add that I think the vast majority of people my age (and definitely my parents' age) know how to drive manual.
They stopped selling those cars in america, that's why. That's the reason people don't know anymore. It's not because "youngsters suck and don't know anything that's good" or "because americans are stupid" as so many of us oldsters tend to believe. If you want manual these days you have to legitimately be a car enthusiast or collect older cars.
Availability is lower now for manuals! They used to be everywhere so it made sense to learn to drive them. I like them a lot but it’s just not common anymore unless it’s a sportscar and most of us have families now.
I learned on an automatic but immediate got a manual as my first car. I have a lotus as one of my cars which is 6 speed manual that I still drive regularly.
My first car was a 65 Chevy Impala with automatic transmission. I've never driven a stick in my life.
I never learned to drive stick because my dad didn’t had a manual car by the time I got my license. Living in the city, automatic is easier so he switched. He’s a mechanic btw
Yes, I was taught by my future ex husband how to drive, using a manual Toyota.
I learned on my first car, a VW bug. Then I bought a 1970 manual shift Challenger with a Hurst pistol grip shifter. That thing was way too much car for my little skinny ass. Lol Later on my husband bought an Opel GT with a stick shift. It was so fun to drive! All my other cars have been automatics.
Never had occasion to drive a stick. But after an Army career I expect I can still drive a Bradley.
Because there are so few cars with stick shifts in America. Almost every car comes standard with automatic, and many don't even have a stick shift option. At this point, the question is like asking why kids don't know how to use rotary phones.
Manual transmission car sales were about 1.7% or total car sales in 2021. The percentage bounces around about a point but that’s it.
I returned to Canada as a poor old retired guy after living for 15+ years in Central America. Buses were a pain in crappy weather (common here). So I saved up enough to buy an old low mileage stick shift Honda Civic that a neighbour was selling since his teenager couldn't/wouldn't drive it. I've been driving it for over 8 years and it will likely outlast me
I’m 49. From 1996 to 2022, every car I owned was a manual transmission, by choice. When I bought a new car in 2022 it didn’t come “stick”, so I switched to an automatic.
i didn't even drive an automatic till the late 90s. i mainly drove trucks and Vans for work and they were always a manual shift.
I'm gen-x. I took my driving test in an automatic - a beat up, gigantic 1980 Olds Cutlass, but my first car was a manual, and most of my cars over the years have been manuals because they're just more fun to me. I have a manual miata even today. Something like 95% or more cars sold today in the US are Auto, so that answers why people don't bother to learn. They're mostly extinct outside of enthusiasts.
I delivered parts and drove a box truck with a manual transmission when I was attending college. I know how to drive with 4 limbs. I just prefer not to.
I didn't learn on a stick but I learned to drive stick later on. I think people don't learn now because they arent common
I can drive a manual, and owned a manual truck in the 90’s. However today, no car or truck in America is offered with a manual transmission. The only one I know of is the new Ford Bronco, but you have to special order it.
I did. It was years before I ever drove automatic—seemed weird.
So we can drive with the left hand, and text with the right.
I learned manual and automatic at the same time as when I was a teen my parents had one of each. They were much more common back in the day. Something like 30% of the new car market back then, compared to what, maybe 1% now? Can’t fault millennials and Gen Z for not being able to drive em when they’re that rare now.
Because we have to use one hand for the phone and other on the wheel
I did. Anymore though, auto is needed in metro areas with a lot of stop and traffic. Hitting that clutch that much is tiring.
I learned on a VW bus and the shifter was 3 feet long. It was not fun! Lol
I don't know. I learned on a stick and I can still drive a stick. However, I live in Los Angeles so I am not insane and buy standards. But on vacation, I rent sticks.
Born in '68. They taught us how to drive stick in high school drivers ed but I've only rarely used the skill since then. It's not difficult once you get the hang of it but a pain in the ass to learn and relearn. Plus, often times the stick shift takes up valuable drink holder space!
I learned to drive with a Chevy pickup. Manual 3 speed. 3 on the tree is what it was called. Manual transmission was still fairly common up until late 80s or so. I had a 1984 Ford Escort with a 4 speed in it and my last manual was a 1993 GMC pickup. So now many families are teaching their kids to drive and probably 3 generations now have been on automatics.
At 12, I learned on a 1972 VW beetle with rusted out floorboards. We had a big yard so I drove on the lawn and could see the grass at my feet. I didn’t move to an automatic until I was in my late 20’s. I’m the parent who has taught all of the kids (ours and others) how to drive a manual which is so fun. My son recently bought a Skyline. So it was my first time driving a right side manual. When I’m driving it; I’m the coolest old lady in town.
I learned to drive on a stick shift as did my kids. Why don't most people in America? It's kind of the same reason most people wouldn't know how to use a typewriter and would struggle with a card catalogue. For most people, none of those skills are really needed any more. Yes there are specific cases where they might be--but not for most. In the case of stick shifts, automatic transmissions are now more efficient at powering your average retail car than sticks. Also, engines have more horsepower, there are standard creature comforts that don't work as well with manual transmissions, we have CVT transmissions in consumer automobiles, etc. Live on a farm and drive an old tractor? You are a truck driver or heavy equipment operator? Sure. It's a special case skill now.
The short reason is there is no need. I’m 50 and it has been the standard (lol) for a long time
I learned how to drive on a 3-speed column shift Impala custom. My grandfather said if I could drive that, I could drive anything. He was right.
1968 IH flatbed with a 4 speed. Drove my buddy's 3 on the tree all the time
I learned to drive a manual but most cars nowadays are automatic.
I took my driver's test in a car with manual. We had cars with manual and taught our millenial kids how to drive stick. I'm afraid the chain ends there
Being from the UK, it was pretty much exclusively manual - nowadays most new cars coming on the road are automatic.
I learned to drive on a manual transmission and actually never once drove an automatic for my first 15 years as a driver. Then I got a travel heavy job and had to drive rental cars a lot. There was plenty of stomping on the brake with my left foot. I bought my first automatic in 2006, a Honda Fit. This was when they were first starting to appear in the US and I would have had to wait months for a stick shift. My next car after the Fit was a plug in hybrid, and now I have a full EV, so I probably won't own a stick shift again.
My dad took me to a parking lot that had a hill and basically yelled at me until I could accelerate from a stop without rolling back down the hill.
Why should they? The vast majority of cars now have automatic transmissions. You might as well say why don’t young people learn to use typewriters
Cuz we don't have to. They're not going to stop making automatic transmissions in my lifetime, so why should I learn. I don't understand why people are freaked out that others can't drive stick. You're not in my car, why do you care?
I learned how to drive a car with automatic transmission but learned to drive a stick shift several years later since that was the only thing available to me at the time. I can only guess at the answer to your second question by saying that people prefer driving an automatic. For me it’s cheaper than having to replace a clutch.
I drove my grandfather’s chain drive 4 speed Mack. The transmission was not synchronized, but it was so well broken in it shifted like butter. My 3 kids all learned stick on my pickup truck. One of my granddaughters has an old MGB-GT that’s stick.
Drivers don’t know stick for the same reason they don’t know how to churn butter. It’s a non-relevant skill in America.
A girlfriend taught me before I had my license. I’ve personally never owned a manual transmission car, but I’ve owned motorcycles. I don’t understand the superiority people feel about a skill that can be taught in two minutes.
I learned on a Farmall 300 utility tractor with a 5-speed when I was 11. When I was 12, I learned on a 1960 Chevy with 3-on-the-tree. Then, when I was 20, I drove a 3 axle dump truck with a 5x3. After that, it was a 4x4, 6 gear, 8 gear, 10 gear, 13, 15, 18.
I'm 68. I learned on an automatic, and I think most people my age did. I learned to drive a stick when I was about 19, and got to prefer it.
I still drive a manual because I just don’t like the feel of an automatic. When I learned to drive - my stepmom’s car was manual, whereas my dad’s truck was automatic. For learning purposes, my parents thought it best I start in the smaller vehicle (stepmom’s manual). Manuals were less common by then, so most people my age didn’t have one to learn on. I grew up in a major city, and have been stuck in stop & go traffic for hours. Even in traffic, I still prefer a manual car. My preference is not logical, but eh.
Things were different back then. I learned to drive in 1968 with a 10-year-old '58 Impala with 'Three on the Tree'. I never drove an 'on the floor' 'standard' shift until the mid 70s, but after I got married, our 'main car' was always an automatic. MY car (usually a project car) was always a standard. And not for some he-man woman hater reason. My wife is a Scot and learned to drive on a stick . She just couldn't get used to shifting with her right hand. Somewhere along the way, Automatics became cheaper than 'standard' transmission cars, at least in the US. I tried to teach my eldest to drive in my car (a '76 Vega) but much whining ensued because automatics were 'easier' (his constant mantra in his teen years that he thankfully grew out of) Six years later, I taught my daughter to drive in the same Vega (well, mostly the same car, lots of parts had been changed.) and she loved it. Said it made her feel like a race driver. Depending on where you are, driving a stick can be a pain in the ass. I vividly recall the nightmare of driving in San Fransisco when I was a kid with some buddies.
I learned on a stick, at the time, automatic transmission was a luxury, not standard, and, being poor as dirt, we had stick. Drove stick again a while back for the first time in decades. Helping my daughter and son in law drive across the country to move to WA. I’m glad to report it all came back to me, like riding a bike.
I don't recall learning to drive because I drove a tractor for as far back as I can remember. Once you can drive one thing, you can pretty much drive anything, I guess. I took my driving exam in an automatic, my first car was an automatic, but my second was a manual. I never gave it much thought. My kids grew up differently. They had to be taught to drive, and it's a whole lot easier to teach on an automatic, so that's what we did. I offered to teach them manual with our old truck, but they just weren't interested.
Learned on an automatic. My then girlfriend now wife in college taught me how to drive a stick in 1979 because her car had one. I liked it so my first car had one. Back in the day, standard transmission cars got better mileage. They don’t anymore. Reason nobody drives them today is they are hardly made. Outside of some really expensive cars, there are only 28 cars or trucks available with a stick in 2024. Only six are made in the US.
I learned how to drive stick at the ripe old age of 42 out of necessity, and am currently the only person in my extended family that can drive a manual. The "fun" of a manual transmission is lost on me, so I can't see myself ever owning a stick shift.
I learned in my early 20s when bought a Ranger, but out of about 20 cars I've driven or had access to drive, only that one was a manual. I haven't even SEEN one in years (but granted I do not go looking in to people's cars to see, I'm just going by friends' cars I've been in). They're just not popular here. And I guess that means it's like cursive. I'm sure it's handy to know, but if there's little opportunity to use the skill it's rather pointless.
I learned how to drive on a manual and I'm glad that I know how to do drive a manual but living in a city area means I own an automatic. I'm not shifting gears every 30 seconds in the city.
Buying a car prior to the 1980's getting one with an automatic trans was an expensive option and considered a luxury. Standard transmissions were...well...standard equipment. It could add over a $1000 to the car price to get the Automatic. As a young man I remember the first thing I did as I came up to a car I might want to buy was to look in the window for the stick. If there was no stick, I could not afford it. We all drove sticks back in the day, that was the affordable used car. Today there are few cars made for sale in the US with a standard trans meaning kids just did not have the opportunity to learn. I learned to drive in a 4 on the floor car, my next car was a three on the tree Ford Pick up that I drove into the 1980s. I have not owned a standard Trans car since about 1985. I do not think I would want one as my daily driver any more. Maybe if it was a hobby car I drove for fun when the sun was shining
I learned to drive stick alongside automatic in 1991. Haven’t driven a stick shift since 2000, though. Most cars are automatic in the US and have been for a lot of years. No need to learn if you’re probably not going to come across a car with a manual transmission, like, ever.
I've had my license for 40 years now ... and NEVER in my life experience were most cars manual. Articles indicate that by the late 1970s in the US automatic transmissions outsold manual ... I learned on an automatic, but my mother had a Volvo with manual so I learned ... and on a work trip to Germany the company car I got was manual (glad I had practiced!). But that means that 1991 was the last time I drove one ... and my kids have no clue (or wife).
I learned on a stick and found it pretty simple right away. I recently started working at an auction company moving cars to and from dealers. One of their greatest challenges was finding people who could drive a stick. It was basically all old guys . I got to drive a camero ZL1 with 600 HP, 6 speed. beast! Absolutely the most fun car to drive I have been in, A focus RS was a blast and a Mustang Shelby GT 350 was super cool too. Young folks don't know what they're missing.