My car has 3 pedals

[twar]

My grown kids (35, 32 and 27 yo) can all drive with manual transmission. When they were working on getting their license, if they wanted to practice on the road with me, they had to shift gears themselves 'cause that's the way my car works. (Europe still has quite a few cars with a stick.) Now all 3 either drive an automatic or an EV. And fewer and fewer people (especially their age) know how to clutch and shift.

That middle pedal has been missing from most cars in N. America now for quite a while. So I was wondering, is there anyone over there (under 40) who can jump in a car and take off down the road while workin' that 3rd pedal?  :D

[Southside]

I call your challenge and raise you to three on the tree. 

[twar]

The very first vehicle that I ever bought with MY money--a shortbed Ford with a straight six--had three on the tree. With a bench seat and nothing in floor, my girlfriend could sit real close!

[Hilltop366]

My daughter (17) is learning to drive and can drive my 04 rav4 with a standard transmission although she prefers a automatic.

[Old saw fixer]

I don't own any sticks, as wife won't drive them.  I have no problems driving either type.

[Jeff]

@Southside I raise you to a 3 on da tree with worn bushings with the auxiliary tire iron dejam tool if you don't go up and kiss reverse before going to second.

[moodnacreek]

I made my son learn on non syncro. My daughter on the 91 350 diesel 5 speed I still have, my newest truck.

[Southside]

My 1972 IH 666 row crop tractor has a crow bar behind the seat as a dedicated de jam tool. Push the battery out of the way and get to hooking and pushing on all the linkages! 

[K-Guy]

I've driven lots of manuals including 3 on a tree plus the M38 jeep[s had no syncro between 1st and second. They are still one of the vehicles that was the most fun to drive.

[newoodguy78]

@Southside I raise you to a 3 on da tree with worn bushings with the auxiliary tire iron dejam tool if you don't go up and kiss reverse before going to second.

:D One of my brothers had an early 70s chevy pickup 3 on the tree when we were young. He figured out real quick to keep his dejam tool within arms reach. He could unjam that sucker faster than anybody in the middle of an intersection. Saw it more than once. Of course I may or may not have been beside him in my truck trying to drag race him when the light turned green a few times.

[sawguy21]

Jeff, that is funny! :D Back in the eighties, a long time ago, TBK (the boss's kid) wanted to borrow my old pick up to run an errand. I gave him the keys and went back to work. He came in a short time later with a whipped dog look on his face, he couldn't drive a standard. There was finally something the eighteen year old know it all had to admit he didn't know.

[WV Sawmiller]

   I learned to drive on a '59 Ford p/u with 3 on the tree. Dad always said if you learned on a stick anybody could drive an automatic. That is true but I have taught several teenagers (our kids and several foreign exchange students) how to drive a stick after they had learned to drive an automatic at school in Driver's Ed. I now say learn on the automatic then learn to drive a stick. Let them get familiar with staying in their lane and watching their mirrors and following the rules of the road. When they learned that I'd take them to a fairly deserted area and on some remote, flat country roads, explain and show them how the clutch worked then put them behind the wheel.

  My first student was a Swede and I bet she choked down 15 times before she got us rolling. She was ready to give up but I was calm. I am a good instructor - No, I am. Once she got used to starting and shifting I'd tell her slowly mash the brake and do not touch the clutch. The vehicle would start to sputter and jump and finally choke down. I'd tell my student - that is what happens if you forget to mash the clutch. No harm to the vehicle or anyone else. Maybe a little embarrassment if in traffic but that doesn't hurt anything. If you forget the brake there is a problem. Once they were comfortable I'd take them to slopes with more degrees of difficulty starting off till they learned.

  I rented the vehicles for our project in 2007-2009 in Norway and all the vehicles I had were sticks except one Station wagon for a family. The wife did not know how to drive a stick. Over there it cost more to rent a vehicle with and automatic at the time. I don't know if that remains true or not. I am sure you would have to special order a stick here in the USA now nd it could take a long time to get it.

[Walnut Beast]

67 Chevy Impala 283 three speed on the tree. Had some fun in that car! 

[Resonator]

First truck I bought was a beat up 68' International 3/4 ton pickup with a four speed manual. I had dreams of restoring it, but ended up scraping it. I did save the gear shift, and used it as a "shorty bar" for winching down straps on flatbed loads. It was fun when I could joke with other truck drivers "I really need to work on my shifting", and hold up the gear shift like it just broke off. :D

[Jeff]

Our drivers training vehicles were loaned at that time by nearby dealers. We had one of the best ever.  It was a 1976 International Scout. 304, 4x4 4 speed with lockout hubs from Gene's truck sales. Mr. Falor would take you out with 3 other students (Drivers training earned you .5 credits towards graduation) He would have one of us drive out to the east woods in 2wd, turn down a two track down to a sand pit. The driver was instructed to back into the sand, then floor it going forward. It was sugar sand, you would sink. THEN the driver gets out, and he and the next student gets to drive. Together they would learn about locking in the hubs, shifting 4wd and getting unstuck.  Eack kid got a chance to get stuck, and then get to help someone else get unstuck. Each kid had to do the 4x4 shifting, yes, even the girls, and they loved it. This was a required completion.

[Larry]

Can't say much about those kids.....my daily driver is a 97 F350 with 5 speed.  Niece came for a visit a few weeks ago with her new 23 Toyota TRD Pro.  She always wants me to drive her machine because she doesn't know the streets.  So.....how does one start one of these new things?  She took great delight in watching me trying to figure it out. :-[

It should be against the law to need an 2" instruction manual that needs to be read to operate all the cars gadgets.  

[doc henderson]

68 ford truck was my first vehicle.  351 mercury engine, and a 3 speed hurst shifter on the floor.  My girlfriend was still able to sit close, maybe even closer.  400 bucks and my dad took me to the bank to borrow the 400 bucks.  Payment was 26 dollars a month.  Had to replace a clutch and my dad coached me from inside the house.  He felt bad when I struggled to mate the tranny back, and then remembered he forgot about a pilot shaft.  I learned a lot from that old truck ,  about money, mechanics, and girls sitting close on a bench seat!!   smiley_gorgeous

[WV Sawmiller]

Jeff,

   One of the early vehicles I learned on was a '63 Ford Fairlane and I think it had a Falcon carb. It was great on sand as you describe above. You could not stick it because it did not have enough power to spin. :D But it would crawl right over loose sand.

    My first car was a '69 Buick LeSabre. It was an automatic. If I was not in the military going overseas I'd probably still be driving it. I used to take it to some local gravel pits pulling a lightweight aluminum johnboat fishing. There was a narrow ridge of soft sand but with those wide low pressure tires I'd crawl right over it without ever spinning to fish the more remote lakes. My problem was others would see me drive over that ridge and they'd try it in their pick up trucks which were light in the rear end and they'd spin down to the axles immediately and I'd have to help dig and push them out because there was only one lane and they had it blocked. I could not get out till I got them out. :

  Your driver's ed tales make me wonder if they still teach kids how to do a 3 point turn on a small 2 lane county road? That used to be part of our license test IIRC. You had to turn around without ever getting the tires off the pavement. Most of us old timers can still do that but I bet our kids and GKs can't. I don't think they teach kids skills like that or even how to change a tire.

[beenthere]

And learn how to double clutch to avoid leaving the tranny stuck in a gear before making it into the next one. i.e. let out the clutch when passing through neutral.   ;D

[Resonator]

Reminds me of an old friend that traveled in Germany and drove on the Autobahn. The "super fast" lane had an advised (but not enforced) speed limit of 81 mph (130 km). Was common for the Porsche drivers to be going well over 100 (the only limit was the engine computer keeping it to 155). When asked about this he was told "German drivers are taught in school how to DRIVE. American drivers are taught in school how to PARK." ;D

[chet]

When my CJ7 was no longer road worthy, I gave it to my 4 kids ta learn on. 120 Acres and that 5 speed taught a lot of kids how to drive. But I did hafta drag um out of a mud hole a few of times.   ;D

[Patrick NC]

When I was in my early 20s I had a 73 Chevy c10 with a straight 6 and a 3 on the tree. The shifting linkage was completely worn out and you couldn't shift any gears without getting hung up. I didn't have any money at the time to fix it or replace with a floor shifer, so I cut a hole on the floor and clamped a pair of vice grips on each of the linkages on the side of the transmission.  One for reverse and first, and one for second and third. Shifting could be tricky because you had to reach down under the floorboards to do it and that required ducking down by the seat and you couldn't see the road. Drove it for almost a year like that.

[Ron Wenrich]

First thing I learned to drive was a 1948 Willys truck.  3 on the tree.  My first car was a 55 Chevy.  Another 3 on the tree.  I have never owned an automatic.  Sticks are getting harder to find.  I saw a figure of only 10% of new cars are stick. 

When my son started to drive, we had him buy his own car.  That way he could take care of all the bills and get a part time job.  He ended up getting an automatic.  I was good with that because I knew he would never be able to drive any of our vehicles.

One advantage to sticks is it cuts down on the odds of having your car stolen. 

Car Robbery Failed Because Robber Can't Drive A Manual Transmission Car - YouTube

[dairyguy]

First thing I learned to drive was a 1948 Willys truck.  3 on the tree.  My first car was a 55 Chevy.  Another 3 on the tree.  I have never owned an automatic.  Sticks are getting harder to find.  I saw a figure of only 10% of new cars are stick.  

When my son started to drive, we had him buy his own car.  That way he could take care of all the bills and get a part time job.  He ended up getting an automatic.  I was good with that because I knew he would never be able to drive any of our vehicles.

One advantage to sticks is it cuts down on the odds of having your car stolen.  

In my circles that is know as an antitheft transmission.

[Chuck White]

67 Chevy Impala 283 three speed on the tree. Had some fun in that car!

I had one of these too, regretted selling it more times than I could ever count.
Back when I was 16, I took my road test with my dads '66 Chevy pickup with three on the tree in the middle of winter (since my birthday is in January) on snow-covered roads.
Passed the first try!