My dad drove a manual, but like hell he was going to let 16 year old me drive a 1985 BMW M6. My brother and I inherited my grandmother's station wagon when she hit a pedestrian and had to give up her license. Grannymobile all day.
I taught my 16 year old cousin to drive a manual Chevy S10 when I was 12 years old, after being the go-to truck driver in the hay field from the time I could reach the pedals. The only auto we have now is my Titan. The Element, Mini and my old Chevy are all manual.
So... The Vista Cruiser was a real thing. Did your dad threaten to shove his foot up your ass regularly as well?
One of my first jobs was working for a guy up the road, doing odd jobs for $3.00/hr. One of the jobs was spreading topsoil to level out spots in his yard. He had an old keep he wanted me to drive over the dirt, and taught me how to drive manual that afternoon. Made me shift up and down to get the feel for it, all the while doing circles around his house. I’ve had a couple over the years, but now it’s automatic for me.
You're fucking right I can, and wish I still did. I've been getting the bug, looking to trade my safe little SUV for something with a 5spd, and they are *damn hard* to find now. Best so far is a Subaru Forrester from almost 10 years ago, and that's still priced $10k over trade in value. Honestly, who are they planning to sell these cars to? They should let them go for cheap.
Getting an RV trailer is without a doubt the best thing our family has done in this decade. Even with the lousy weekend weather snd out campground pool being renovated this year, it still rocks.
I was kind of disappointed my granddad gave away his Lincoln Town Car to a guy he had doing handiwork around the farm one summer about 15 years ago. It wasnt running and needed some work but boy thy don't make smooth land boats like that anymore.
Yep... loving mine as well. Don't use it anywhere near as much as I should, but still getting some serious summer time fun out of it.
The beauty is they don’t expire like milk would. You have until you’re in the ground to make use out of it. Especially YOUR kind. I may love mine, but I am a little jealous—- Tin Cans rule the RV world with for very good reasons. Old chic on the outside and new chic on the inside in the best ways possible.
I am shopping for one now. A small light popup camper we can haul with the SUV. We want to drive to SoCal to visit family and I hate shelling out for some flea motel to get some Zzzs. They are super popular in this area and cost about as much as a much bigger camper. I have been shopping near my parents and found a couple affordable ones. Maybe they'll haul it up to me and use it along the way.
I learned to drive a stick one night on my buddy’s 72 El Camino, then a couple of years later I practiced on my girlfriend’s 80 Mustang. I’ve had a few manuals over the years but not for awhile now. I really enjoy driving a stick- much of my driving was in heavy traffic and after a bit it didn’t phase me. The only reason I don’t drive a stick now is that the Mrsanthropic and the littlest Misanthropic either can’t drive one or aren’t comfortable with it, and we switch cars around often enough that would cause problems.
I started driving tractors & machinery when my feet could reach the pedals, but I learned to drive a stick on the road in a 1979 F150 with a 4spd and straight 6. 1st was only for starting on steep hills or heavy loads. In 1st and 4low you couldn't stall it.
I learned to drive stick on a 1987 F350 diesel dually that had a 4 speed with a granny gear. Like others, I knew how to drive a truck and operate farm equipment by the time I was 8 or 9. I basically learned how to drive in the dirt and mud so I've never really gotten stuck much. That said, when I do, it's bad. One skill I wish I still had was pulling a trailer. I used to be able to handle a 40 foot gooseneck with relative ease. I just haven't had opportunity to do it in like 15 years probably. The only thing I might pull any longer is a fairly small bbq smoker on an axle and that's maybe twice a year.
I learned stick in a first generation Nissa Micra. No power steering either, so you were turning that big wheel. It was super forgiving though. From there I drove an S10 stick, and rounding it off with an Oldsmobile Alero. I decided never to get stick for anything but fun after spending two hours in Richmond traffic (Nett will understand). I went back on that a bit in Australia when I had a Honda Jazz (greatest car I've owned).
For those that don't know, Richmond is the Asian epicentre of Vancouver... absolute worst drivers in the world, and highest accident per capita in Canada.
I was the second of four children growing up and the family had two autos. First was a 1967 Fury III with a 383 and automatic transmission, the second was a 1968 Plymouth Valiant with a 225 slant six and three on the tree. My older sister was a social butterfly in High School and if I ever wanted a car to drive I was going to have to learn to drive that Valiant and so I did. I stuck with standard shifts till 2003 when I bought a supercab Sierra and had no choice on the transmission. Thank goodness the motorcycles are still standard shift and I have access to a Mazda Miata when I just have to drive. This is not acceptable to say anymore, but back in the early late 70s and I lived in San Francisco, It was said that the three most dangerous people in San Francisco were a Gay man with AIDS, a black man with a gun and an asian man behind the wheel of a car. No hate, I know exactly how unacceptable that is today. All I can say is it was a different time.