Police in Colorado said a stick shift thwarted the plans of a suspected truck thief.
Authorities posted details of what happened on social media, saying they received report of a truck that crashed into a fire hydrant on Friday at around 4:30 p.m. along Airport Boulevard.
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When my mother taught me how to drive, she borrowed a friend's car with a manual transmission because "if you can drive a stick, you can drive anything."
Mom rocked.
Yup...
ReplyDeleteBack in the day we had a 1968 saab 96. It was a 4 speed...on the column! Tricky finding reverse.. Our parents made us learn to drive on that car.
I once owned a 72 Saab 99 4 speed. It would have really confused a non-manual driver since it had an extra stick on the floor for "freewheeling mode", that would take the car out of gear to coast down hills. Very innovative car.
DeleteFirst thing I drove was one of those little gray Ford tractors. I was probably eight years old. I guess by ten or eleven I was raking fields. I broke my arm in the sixth grade and remember raking and that cast getting so damn hot in those fields. I was driving an old pickup, stick shift, around the farm before I was a teen.
ReplyDeleteBest thing that could happen with current generations would be to spend time on a farm to learn some responsibility. Proper driving, throwing hay bales, weeding the garden, etc would go a long way towards solving the way kids are raised these days. We have lost so much that we will never get back.BTW, a 1956 Massey-Ferguson TO-35 was my first driving lesson and I was raking hay and plowing before I was a teen, also.
ReplyDeleteStick shift vehicles these days are like long-hand (cursive) writing. Ancient history.
ReplyDeleteI learned on a manual transmission as well, I was also taught how to change a tire, oil, belts & hoses etc. For years I drove around with a toolbox in the trunk because I could only afford junkers. Have a good dependable truck now and guess what? I still carry a small toolbag.
ReplyDeleteThere's three pedals and I only have two feet!
ReplyDeleteNot one comment about why the "authorities" did not release this thiefs name. Shame on you guys.
ReplyDeleteI've probably conveyed this before, I got my license in '64 during a snow storm while driving a three on the tree. I think it was a 50's model Chevy with dual controls. The final part of the test was to parallel park on a hill while reversing uphill with 2-3" inches of snow on the road. The examining officer, a state police officer, told me after he passed me that if I had spun the tires when reversing uphill he would have failed me.
ReplyDeleteI haven't driven a standard shift vehicle in probably twenty years or more, but have no doubt that I still could. I could probably even still drive a column shifter with no power steering if the steering wheel was sized properly.
Nemo
Learned to drive at 12 with a 1956 Chevrolet Impala, 3 speed on the column, no power assist of any kind ....
ReplyDeleteJD
Parallel parking that would make a man out of you.
DeleteIt certainly will
DeleteJD
I'm teaching my GF to drive a stick shift, "she ask why it goes up and down?"...
ReplyDelete@Luis-She'sABlond
I drive my little stick shift car around every Sunday. Keeps me in practice. Though, I need bigger feet peddles because of my feet problems. Looking around for some.
ReplyDeleteHeltau