stick shifts
Dad has always driven stick shifts, as a point of control, and taught me on one, and I admit I prefer them, too. To my irritation, fewer and fewer of them are being made. I just learned, though, of at least one saving grace of that fact. While reading Lexington's latest blog post at The Economist, I encountered this passage:
I had expected the very largest trucks to have manual gearboxes, and was a bit disappointed when they too had automatic transmissions. Driving an automatic always feels a bit like steering a bumper car to me, though I can see the point of them in traffic jams. A veteran industry executive informed me that I was showing my age. To anyone under 35 or so, he said, a gear stick is essentially an anti-theft device, rather than a viable element of controlling a motor vehicle.
Well, I guess that's something. And most crimes are committed by younger people, so if they're mostly incapable of driving a stick shift I won't worry about anyone stealing my car.
(My wife's car, on the other hand...)
I had expected the very largest trucks to have manual gearboxes, and was a bit disappointed when they too had automatic transmissions. Driving an automatic always feels a bit like steering a bumper car to me, though I can see the point of them in traffic jams. A veteran industry executive informed me that I was showing my age. To anyone under 35 or so, he said, a gear stick is essentially an anti-theft device, rather than a viable element of controlling a motor vehicle.
Well, I guess that's something. And most crimes are committed by younger people, so if they're mostly incapable of driving a stick shift I won't worry about anyone stealing my car.
(My wife's car, on the other hand...)