According to U.S. News and World Report, only 18 percent of American drivers know how to drive a vehicle with a “stick shift” (or manual transmission). But it makes sense when only about 3 percent of cars are manual. That’s a small number! And only getting smaller…
Do you know how to drive a “stick shift”? If you’re older, chances are that you probably do. And maybe you still do! Especially if you’re into classic cars. But if you’re younger, maybe not so much…
After you vote in the poll, please feel free to leave a comment and tell us if your current car is a stick. Thanks!
First car was a 61 Ford Fairlane with 3 on the tree and Overdrive. Only options my dad ordered on the car was the Deluxe Heater, Radio and 292 V-8. It was my graduation present and I sold it when I went into the Navy February 69.
@ 98% YES gives a pretty good indication of the average age of the readers of this newsletter
Do kids know how to drive a straight stick? I had a KIA Soul straight stick that was broken into several times but never stolen. I believe being a straight stick was as good a deterrent as a steering wheel lock!
When I was in the Army, for a short time, I was a driver for the battalion. There was a 2nd LT who would come out with a full cup of coffee and hop in my jeep and say “You better not cause me to drip one single drop on my uniform.” I would smoothly shift through the gears without a problem until the day I hit the pot hole. LOL
Once while stationed in Wildflecken,Germany I was appointed to drive a 10 ton truck…same scenario only this time it was a smart ^^^ E-7 who hated me. He got a lap full of hot coffee while I was LMAO.
My husband and I bought ourselves new sports cars (with sticks) when we retired. It’s amazing how many of our grandkids (we have 14) learned to drive using a clutch so they could “borrow” one of our cars for a spin. Makes for a good barter when we need vehicles washed.
Learned to drive stick at 14 in my dad’s ’62 VW. Fantastic car to learn in. Owned many stick cars after that. Rented several little Fiats in Greece this spring – all stick.
We drive a stick shift Jeep now. It’s our toad.
Manual transmission = Millennial, Gen Z and Gen Alpha anti theft device!
Yes, though it has been awhile. Maybe miss a few gears the first couple miles.
When I was 14, I worked at a local used car lot washing and rearranging the cars. I got into a 1965 Ford Galaxie and found three pedals. I told the lot manager that I never drove a stick shift. All he said was “you will now” and walked away. Took almost 10 minutes to figure it out. he was laughing the entire time
I suspect a disproportionate number of readers have manual toads, compared to the general population.
Ahh!, the good old days of manual toads like in Samuel Clemens day.
Not sure why it matters but would assume the demographics reading & responding to this survey all know how to drive with a manual transmission.
I own 2 Triumph sports cars and a Subaru, all manual. The Subie we tow behind the motorhome.
Learned to drive stick in a ’63 Corvair, 55 years ago. I will always own a car with a manual.
Personally I think it should still be taught in Driver’s Ed. Anybody can drive an automatic, which is part of the problem with today’s drivers.
1950 Ford Coupe…flat head engine with 3 on the tree and overdrive. Try that youngsters.
I had a 53 Ford set up exactly the same. My first car! Cost me $50!
My first car was set up the same, was a 49′ Ford Club Coupe. Wish I still had that car. I paid $50 for that car also.
Another poll with a skewed distribution. Most of those who cannot drive a stick shift will skip the poll entirely.
I would say 98% of the people who dont know how to drive a stick shift are too young to be reading this newsletter. Didnt we take a survey and the average age of the RV Travel reader is 70 years old.. like me!!
I surely HOPE that there are those younger than you and I reading this letter. It is up to us to educate the newer RVers.
and….you had to add your 2 cents? Just pass on to the next article and let us have our fun. No one likes a party pooper
Learned to drive a stick in the sixties and taught our 4 kids how to drive a stick. If you can drive with a stick you can drive about any vehicle. If you own a stick you have a vehicle that is much harder to steal.
Learnt to drive on a 1957 ford 3 on the tree
Learned on a yellow VW Rabbit. Hubby & I own 3 vehicles right now & all 3 are manual transmission. Only 3% on the road are manuals??? Perhaps we should be looking for a 4th.
Really, is this really true? That is very very disheartening. Maybe if we had more manual transmission cars we would have less distracted drivers.
You’ve got that right. pay attention to traffic and shifting instead of watching that “TV” on the dash!
Learned in a grain truck when I was about 13
Thank you, RV Travel! 🙂 The first vehicle that I drove was a 1970 Dodge 100 pick-up truck with a 3-speed manual transmission (i.e., three-on-a-tree). The first car that I owned had a five-speed manual transmission (1984 Dodge Charger). DW’s current car is a 2006 Mustang GT convertible with a five-speed manual transmission. Thanks for reminding me, RV Travel! Have a great weekend, safe travels, and safe stays! 🙂
I currently have a 2006 Mustang GT. I have had manual transmission cars for 52 years.
They taught us how to drive a stick in high school! Of course, that was back when you learned useful stuff in school.
Learned on a 39 Packard 3-speed with overdrive in every gear.
I began with tractors at age 10. My first try with a vehicle was a 1954 Mack. My kids also learned on a stick or there was no driving.
Drove a truck with a 5 speed main transmission and 4 speed auxiliary giving 20 forward gears and 4 in reverse. Usually only used 13 gears unless in very soft soil.
You just took me back to one of my college summer jobs.
I learned the basics from my motorcycle when I was 16. It was easy to adapt to cars & trucks. Had a guy bet me I couldn’t move his truck without stalling it (a Coke). I was sipping a cool one 10 minutes later. Just let the clutch slip a little while getting rolling. LOL
Learned on a manual. Have owned numerous of them over the decades. Last was a Ram pickup, which was my wife’s truck. We both know how to drive them. It’s really not hard.
As stated, not a lot of them made anymore.
Knowing how is one thing, but owning and driving a vehicle with a manual transmission is another. So the next question should be: “Do you own and drive a vehicle with a manual transmission?” I do, a Mazda Miata MX-5.
2 Corvettes. 👍
Me too…2000 Miata Special Edition
I had a Sprite and a Midget, and life took me to larger cars. Then years later I found a 1996, Miata MX-5 SE with automatic trans. It took a year before my left foot stopped trying to find the clutch as the RPMs got to shifting revs.
My wife had a couple of cars with automatics in the ’60s and ’70s, but every one of my vehicles until 2011 was a stick. Since then, I have had two trucks with automatics. Only stick I have left now is my vintage 1956 MGA roadster!
I should have kept my Sprite and Midget. Snick, snick thru the gears and ’round the corners!!
I still drive a stick. My anti theft device!
We say this a lot but hard to find any vehicle with a manual transmission these days. seriously thinking we may have to go to Europe for our next car
1955, Jr in high school working for Board of ED, auto shop had built a doodlebug from old school bus, fun for first drive. Present TV 2000 Dodge 2500 manual 5 with 352,000 miles.
I put “no”, because you didn’t have a “not very well”. It’s been so long since I learned, that I could in a pinch, but don’t like to, but could if I had to! 😉
I learned stick shift on my Dad’s ’58 Rambler SW. Ugly, but both front seats fully reclined.We always took it to the drive-in movies!!
Both the wife and I drive stick to this day. Our son refuses to learn stick shift. He thinks it’s too much work. Tried explaining that its fun on a twisty back-road. “Nope!”, he says.
Back in the early 70’s I learned to drive in a 1964 Chevy Belair. It had 3 on the tree. Later I owned a Chevy Vega with a 3 speed stick shift.
I’ve always preferred a manual transmission, but they’re hard to find now. I’m currently saving a 68 Ford with a 3-on-the-tree.
As a teenager, I learned to drive my dad’s pickup with a manual transmission. I still know how — I have a 2005 Toyota ECHO with “five on the floor” (no longer made in this country). I joke that I probably could leave it unlocked, with the key in the ignition, and it wouldn’t be stolen.
My Driver’s Ed teacher in the early 60’s said there was no need to learn stick shift because all cars would soon be automatic. In fact, he taught us to use our left foot on the brake. My first car was a 65 VW, which of course had stick shift, as did my next 2 cars, a Triumph sports car and an Audi sedan.
In 1969, I drove a 54 Chevy 3 speed when I was 12. Most of the vehicles I’ve owned were manual shift. It’s really fun to drive a model A.
I do not remember an automatic in our driver training program at all.
I had a ’71 C-10 with 3 on the tree, the pressure plate for the clutch went bad. I laid under the truck, pulled out the trans and replaced the part without power tools or jack. A lot cheaper than fixing an automatic!
Still do. I drive a 1979 Super Beetle Convertible. (On the nice days anyways).
I still drive my 1970 VW convertible
learned and took drivers test on a 4 on the floor standard…still prefer to the automatics but can not seem to get a standard transmission easily anymore
Used to have a 1990 manual shift Silverado. Had it for 24 years. A lot easier now to tow and back up with an automatic.
It’s second-nature. Find where 1st and Reverse are then let’s go.