You Put Your Left Foot In

 

1. I agree with you - give me a stick any day. A friend had a Dodge Caravan with a stick (in Germany) - the dealers here looked at us like we were high, when we asked for one - in Detroit for heaven’s sake.

   I learned to drive on both my mothers stupid Buick station wagon and my boyfriends ‘68 Camaro Z28 with a power clutch. He was right - if I could drive that I could drive any stick. Other than VWs - I’ve never been able to get one into reverse.

   Another aspect of dumbing down Americans to no avail - other than training them to be good little comrades accepting of the least that is available out there.

   Posted by wardmama4       02/19/2014  at  09:11 AM  



2. That’s been my thought too ... keep us stupid and isolated. I find it nearly impossible to accept that the ultimate car culture - in America everyone owns at least one car, if not several, and we drive everywhere, even a block to the store! - that here in the ultimate car culture people don’t actually like to drive, and want to be totally isolated from the experience. Hard to believe we’re only a generation or two removed from the Muscle Car era and the 50s-60s-70s era when people loved their rides so much that they sang about them well enough to make Top 40 tunes time after time.

   So now we get cars that can park themelves, cars so quiet and soft riding that you can’t feel the road or hear a thing, cars that maintain speed without you touching the go pedal, cars that shift themselves without your noticing, cars that use radar now to tell you if there is someone behind or near to you, cars that brake for you if you get too close to the car ahead ... in addition to the old standbys of power assisted bits and pieces, like clutches, windows, steering, seat adjusters, outside mirrors, door locks etc, ... and now we’ve an armload of new interior distractions, from DVD to GPS to Bluetooth to iTunes to 39 cup holders and fold down meal trays and TV sets built into the back of minivan headrests. What’s next, a cot in the back and your own personal government issued Mexican driver?

   Meanwhile the government tracks you by license plate cams and now by facial recognition software, along with high speed EZ-Pass (because slowing down to pay a toll is such a bother, and having a quarter or a dollar on hand to pay the toll is too much effort), not to mention the transponder Black Box built into every new car that rats you out to both the gov and your insurance company whenever either wants.

   Driving USED to be the purest expression of Freedom, and the ultimate experience of that was to get as closely interfaced to the vehicle as possible. Now it’s only the grandchildren of the NAZIS who seem to remember that. Ain’t that a kick in the pants?

   Posted by Drew458       02/19/2014  at  05:08 PM  



3. No Drew to me it is frightening - how easy people let it go.

   But it’s just proof that what is happening in America today - has nothing to do with Obama - we’ve been dumbed down long before he came in, We The People (our ancestors, who were closer to actually immigrating here for the F R E E D O M)did NOT stand up and scream HELL NO - long before this.

   I saw an ad - that was suppose to make a ‘positive’ point - but to me it missed the mark. The new Presidents Gold Dollar set is out - the ad highlighted Woodrow Wilson - the Federal Reserve was created under him. Uh, how about Federal Income Tax - doesn’t that hurt more people and is being used to confiscate more of people’s hard earned money (i.e. property)in America. And IF the FDI wasn’t passed in Feb of 1913 - would the FR been created in Dec 1913?

   We The People were screwed long before Obama came along - and very few ‘conservatives’, libertarians or others - have done much to stop the onslaught.

   Yeah the new panels with Facebook (saw it in a Toyota commercial) on them - for God’s sake - you need to tap into FB while driving?!?

   God help us all.

   Posted by wardmama4       02/20/2014  at  08:57 AM  



4. My first car was a 1949 Chev. with a 3-speed column shift. My first NEW car was a 1962 Ford sunliner (convertable) with 3 on the column and a 396 ci V-8.

   I loved stick for years Mustangs, VW Beetles, Toyotas of numerous vintage and models. All stick on the floor.

   In Ireland you must take your road test in a stick-shift car. If you take the test in an automatic they endorse your license so you can only legally drive automatic. Since 96% of cars in Ireland have standard transmissions and automatics are much more expensive that limits a person with automatic trans only licenses,

   I drove stick shift cars in Ireland for decades. It’s a tad tricky till you get use to shifting with your LEFT hand, siting in a driver’s seat on the RIGHT side of the car and driving on the LEFT side of the road.

   I damaged my left knee in a fall a while back and at 71 years of age and now I’m more than happy to be back in the USA in a car with an automatic transmission.

   Posted by New Jersey Yankee       02/20/2014  at  03:40 PM  



5. That’s pretty amazing ... I always thought the 396 was a Chevy engine, whereas Fords had the big 390 under the hood.

   Nothing wrong with automatics for disabled folks. My brother can’t drive a stick any longer and has the old blue tag in the windshield. But before that he was on the clutch for 25 years or so.

   I’ve yet to see an automatic trans in a car go the distance. Sooner or later, usually sooner, they all need a rebuild. Or two. Cha Ching. In a normally powered car a clutch these days is good for at least 125,000 miles.

   Posted by Drew458       02/20/2014  at  05:43 PM  



6. I think someone mis-remembered. Ford’s V8 in the early 60s was available as a 352, 390 or 406 cubic inch motor. Chevy had the 409 in the same time frame, the Chevy 396 was introduced in 1965.

   I guess North American divisions of M-B, BMW, Honda, Toyota etc don’t want to sell station wagons that are available in Europe as they would cut into SUV and mini-van sales. I want something with sedan handling and ride height and the capability of transporting 4 or 5 people and a large dog.

   The Euro car I want is the BMW 535D Touring (station wagon in BMW Speak) with 464ftlbs of torque or a Honda Accord Tourer or maybe the Honda Civic Tourer with the i-DTEC Diesel, rated at 72.4mpg (that’s in Imperial gallons, the equivalent would be 56miles per US gallon).

   Al_in_Ottawa

   Posted by Al_in_Ottawa       02/20/2014  at  07:54 PM  

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