True in UK too, if you pass the test in an auto then you are only allowed to drive an auto, with a manual you can drive auto or manual.

Learned to drive in an ex-army Morris 1ton 4x4 truck, it had a crash gearbox ie. no syncromesh, so it was double declutch to change gears

At least those have an idiots guide printed on them...

Landrover...

We had a few cars that had the floor starter, including my first mini. Last car that we had with a 3 on the tree was a Vauxhall Velox 3.3 and we had that in 1966, I did get to drive it once when I was about 11 years old. The Renault 4 with the gear lever coming straight out of the dash caused me a bit of a problem at first, but it was just a regular H gate when all said and done.

Rented a pickup once with 3 on a tree. Had a brain fade and put it in reverse and couldn't figure out why it backed up (was on a slight grade as well, nose high). Did I ever feel stupid.

I can drive stick, haven't had one in years cuz the wife can't.

Usually I prefer driving with manual, but whenever I visit England (or any other country driving on the wrong side of the street) I insist on automatic transmission now. There's just too much thinking involved - driving into a roundabout the wrong direction, keeping track on where to go, shifting with the left hand ... and then, to top it off, the shifting pattern isn't mirrored but actually the same.

In the eternal words of Maggie Thatcher: No. No. No!

Manual or Automatic? Depends on the car.

I wouldn't want a manual in my current Honda Element, nor would I have wanted automatics with any of my previous cars, or future car (think Mazda Miata). Unless it's utilitarian (truck or another box).

Wife agrees (thankfully), we want our old-school stick shift back (no paddles like niece's Fit), *especially* now that we live on flat terrain with minimal traffic (unlike when we lived in Atlanta with CRX and Integra 5-speeds).

Manual on the Farm
Auto around Town

I taught mine in my '78 Mustang II (aka Pinto with horsey emblem). It was late one night in a ballpark parking lot, cop showed up to see what we were doing (making all kinds of racket). He chuckled and said to just be careful and left.

My replacement was a new '87 Dodge Colt (Mitsubishi Mirage), another 4-speed that was really easy to clutch and shift, she had no problem with it, and then a CRX Si which was even easier, our first 5-speed.

I drove an early-mid 80's Porsche 911 regularly for a few months (boss' car, his license revoked) and that one was difficult to drive in Atlanta traffic (clutch way too stiff and shifter not very smooth). My little econo-boxes/rockets were always easy to drive.

Drove manuals for many years. Actually rallied a 70 Morris Cooper S. My wife also drove a mini and after they stopped importing them to Canada , Ford Escorts ( all manuals ). Her knees got arthritic and she changed to automatics in about 2000. Now the family vehicles are autos but my MX-5 is still a manual. I do much prefer a manual but I do understand the allure of the automatic when stuck in city traffic.

Ssnake.....we regularly travel to the UK and I never have a problem adjusting to right hand drive. I find that after 10-15 minutes I don't even notice

For decades it was the only thing I would drive. A bad knee, and well, just getting old changed that. The first one I learned on was an old Dodge Dart (I believe) that my bother drove.It was a "3 on the tree" with a very hard clutch. Learned on dirt roads up north and in vacant parking lots. I remember in the 80's and 90's my Toyota Celica's had very easy clutches to operate. There was a time whenever I would sit in an automatic, my left foot would just start looking for the clutch on it's own. My Dad said the trucks he drove in the Army (1950's) had double clutches. Those sounded kind of tough.

I'll always drive manual because:

1) It forces you to stay focused on your driving, no letting your mind wander....

2) Far better control when driving in the snow! I'll never drive an automatic in winter again

On a side note, it always pains me to see an awesome sports car with automatic transmission.

Going by memory here...

I worked with mainframe computers in the mid-to-late 80's, always volunteering to get out of operations in the cold computer room into other areas of the building or, better yet, to run errands. One errand I ran frequently was transporting tapes to offsite storage about 20 miles away. A full-size van with a column shifter ! IIRC, it had 3 gears plus reverse (reverse: up and in, 1st: down and in, 2nd: up and away, 3rd: down and away). Occasional grinding, it was old even then.

Niiiice...



A crime (and with less hp)...



Other pic...
http://198.65.10.229/DID/Temp/NSX_Auto_02.jpg

My 'sporty' CRX and Civic Si econoboxes had no automatic option available, they came 5-speed stick only...
http://198.65.10.229/DID/Temp/Cars/crx_si_interior.jpg
http://198.65.10.229/DID/Temp/Civic_Si_Sold_3.png

Manual by preference. I taught myself to drive manual in 1984 in a 4 speed Ford Pinto while my recently broken left leg was in a leg brace and it hurt like hell to bear weight - soooo every time I pushed the clutch in it was painful. However, it was the pain of freedom! And I had a decent stereo so driving while listening to The Scorpions was pure heaven. Oh and, broken leg or not, I was getting laid. Sorry, didn't mean to make this a Penthouse Forums letter.

Manual here too... I wouldn't even know how to drive an automatic.

Although, I recently bough a new car and its "manual" doesn't feel *that* right to me anymore... It's like a joystick, smooth, soft, short. It's like I'm using a CH Fighterstick to switch gears. I don't feel the "connection" with the car if you know what I mean.

My '92 Duna Weekend on the other hand... you know you're on third, you just know. Granted the car was my dad's before it was mine so I've been driving it for like 20 years!

Had to look Duna up Wile. Spare tire in the engine compartment.

I've just gotten my first automatic in 25 years. Wish it was a manual, but it isn't bothering me as much as it used to. My next car/truck will be a stick if possible.
My wife drives a stick just fine too, spent many years with one, and would take my Miata out whenever she could. My kids...no interest. At first I was going to REQUIRE my kids to know and have a stick, but as my oldest came of age, the car we had for him was an auto.
I still think it's a great way to keep peoples' hands on the car and not the phone.

^ LOL (spare tire).

In fairness to muscle cars, you don't *need* a stick with all that hp and especially torque. I've only owned hamster wheels with less displacement than large plastic soda bottles so a stick is pretty much required to get anything out of them. But I was never into real performance cars (I'm way too cheap), I just enjoy the extra involvement in driving a stick with car I feel is fun to drive.

With muscle cars, an auto is preferred for drag racing purposes.

Shifting gears is simply satisfying. That and most autos are rarely in the right gear, don't up/down shift at the right times etc. It's not as bad as it used to be with 6+ speed automatic transmissions and all. My wife's VW does a great job of it. Still, can't beat the feel of a nice shifter.

*and screw those paddle shifters too. I'd rather just have an automatic. If you aren't in a race car, I see no point.