Manual Transmission Foils Car Theft for the Billionth Time

[Sunni Man]

I was in high school during the late 60's.

A lot of rich kids went to my school and their parents would buy them brand new cars, like SS Camaro's, SS Chevelle's, Malibu's, GT Mustang's, 6 Pack Road Runners, GTO's, Corvette's, etc. All of them were stick shift cars, and I got to drive them all.

Unfortunately, my parents weren't rich, but my car was a 57 Chevy stick shift on the floor, with a 327 motor and had a set of American Mag wheels. ....

 

[Sunni Man]

A bit more than one third of GTOs were manual shift in 1970.

1970 Pontiac GTO Production Figures and Specifications

1969 was the last year of the true muscle cars. .....

 

[Jarlaxle]

A bit more than one third of GTOs were manual shift in 1970.

1970 Pontiac GTO Production Figures and Specifications

1969 was the last year of the true muscle cars. .....

Put down the goal post before you strain something.

 

[WillMunny]

Manual Transmission Foils Car Theft for the Billionth Time

Quote:

"Nashville police arrested two teenagers last Wednesday, after a press release from the department said they attempted to carjack two women that day. The statement said the teens ultimately failed both times, with the second being because the car had a manual transmission. They had to run away on foot."

________________________________________________________________________________________

Can you drive a manual transmission?

How did you learn?

/——-/ On a 1956 VW bug that was sitting in the back of a dealer. It was 1968 and I was saving up for my first car. The salesman knew I couldn’t afford a car but he taught me anyway. I then practiced a little on my brother’s 1965 Austin Healy. When I finally got my first car, a 1960 VW Karmann Ghia from the salesman who first taught me, I was OK with a stick. I had a part time job at a sports car clinic whose owner raced Bug Eyed Sprites. He taught me how to shift like a racer. My clutches would last 100,000 miles. My neighbor had a 4 speed Chevy who burned his clutch every 20k Miles. I tried to teach him but he wouldn’t listen. At 67 I gave up the stick for an automatic because my wife and I share the same car sometimes. This is more info than you wanted. Sorry.

Speed-shifting, aye? I can do that. Just have to have the right RPMs.

What the hell is speed shifting? I'm a truck driver and I've never heard of that. Are you talking about floating the gears?

/——-/ People often get confused when talked about speed shifting. They believe it is a technique of shifting by not using the clutch. ... In actual, speed shifting means changing the gears by not uplifting your right foot off the accelerator. This practice helps the racers to attain the greatest acceleration while driving.

In small sports cars, I always assumed "speed shifting" simply meant throwing fast, split-second shifts while you accelerate from 0-60 at Warp Drive, leaving a "tracer" behind you as your fast car outraces the very light reflecting off it, lolol. Was I wrong?

 

[WillMunny]

A bit more than one third of GTOs were manual shift in 1970.

1970 Pontiac GTO Production Figures and Specifications

1969 was the last year of the true muscle cars. .....

I dunno, in the '70s those straight-6 Datsun Z cars used to SHRED the highway. I know that from experience. Their acceleration felt like the drop on a roller coaster ride, utterly jolting!

 

[Jarlaxle]

In many ways, 1970 was the pinnacle.

 

[Sunni Man]

I dunno, in the '70s those straight-6 Datsun Z cars used to SHRED the highway. I know that from experience. Their acceleration felt like the drop on a roller coaster ride, utterly jolting!

Datsun Z's were in no way even close to being a muscle car.

My 67 Vette would have smoked a Z car. ...

 

[WillMunny]

I dunno, in the '70s those straight-6 Datsun Z cars used to SHRED the highway. I know that from experience. Their acceleration felt like the drop on a roller coaster ride, utterly jolting!

Datsun Z's were in no way even close to being a muscle car.

My 67 Vette would have smoked a Z car. ...

But Z-cars were small and built low enough, with short enough wheel-bases and wide enough tires, I guarantee you they could handle the hairpin-turn, winding rural country roads in my area a hell of a lot better than giant muscle cars ever could. The advantage of those Nissan Z cars was their extreme maneuverability. Their sports-car suspension was ahead of their time.