Pluggers by Rick McKee for October 29, 2017

Try teaching them “3 on the Tree”.

I really prefer a stick shift, but, man! is it hard to find one.

I taught my wife on a small Italian car with too many gears and too little torque. I spent much time shouting, Clutch! Clutch! Clutch!

My first time to drive stick was in a VW Beetle. Also learned to drive a column stick. Much prefer a stick to automatic.

Coming home from a fishing trip with my 15yr old nephew, we got within a mile of home and i stopped and had him drive home. He did the same thing and you gave me the first memory of the day! I miss him so much.

I learned to drive a stick out of necessity. I had gotten a job as a messenger and the only cars they had were standard transmission. I learned in a hurry!

The only thing I didn’t like about a stick shift was waiting on a traffic light sitting on a hill. Trying to go forward without going backward first. Trying to sync the clutch the brake and then the accelerator :D New sticks have no clutch – so not a problem now.

I can’t drive an automatic.

Never drove stick shift in my life. First time at driver’s ed an the car was a stick shift. I caught on quite quickly.

I taught both of my Kids to drive on a Stick Shift, even though we had an automatic available.

I’m in my-60’s, now, and to this-day if I catch-myself “riding the clutch”? It’ll always “replay” my-Dads’ blunt-advice when he taught me: “Get that da##ed-foot off’n that clutch unless you’re in a shift! This ain’t a bicycle!” Today, it makes me both laugh & cry, when I once-again “hear” it in my-head—-if only for just a few-seconds…!☺

After driving one of my dad’s old Ford Falcons, the first car I owned was a very used MGA (purchased for $125 US dollars. It came complete with a spare engine – disassembled in a box.)Not only did I have to learn to drive a stick shift with a non-syncro first gear, I also had to adapt to some unique handling characteristics. MGAs are notorious for under steer (plowing) but mine had an additional problem. It came with 3 good bias ply tires and 1 bald radial (mounted on the rear,) which, at the time, I couldn’t afford to replace.

I learned on a ‘51 Willey’s Jeep. The seat did not slide, and my dad did not think about the difficulty that would give me. I would let the clutch out, and as the jeep moved forward, I would slide back and come off the pedals. Then the Jeep would stop and I would slide forward! After a while the whole thing would damp out and I could stay put, holding onto the wheel. A few years later, I thought about putting a pile of towels behind me. I was 14….

When I taught my kids to drive stick, I made them learn a sewing machine. The grace required for that, gave them the touch to be able to use the clutch smoothly.

The first car I drove was a model A Ford.

Driver Ed, 1953 Senior License (drive at night) exam Saratoga, NY.. I taught (and ruined) my cars with my sisters and her friends who had no idea of automotive wherewithal. They learned more about body and fender repair than they did PILOTING the dam thing, but (upon reflection) they learned a lot about mechanics and cuss words.