That thread about cars

[Deset Gled]

Branching off from another discussion, I'm making this thread as a place for general purpose discussion about automobiles.

To start you off:
People who can't drive stick shift don't really know how to drive.
Only luddites use manual transmissions now that automatics outperform them.
Whatever continent your car is from, it's the wrong one.
Internal combustion engines are killing the planet.
EVs and ethanol are engineering dead ends.
No car will ever be superior to the one I love from my childhood, the full sized Ford LTD Crown Vic station wagon with wood finish.

 

[Ryujin]

Branching off from another discussion, I'm making this thread as a place for general purpose discussion about automobiles.

To start you off:
People who can't drive stick shift don't really know how to drive.
Only luddites use manual transmissions now that automatics outperform them.
Whatever continent your car is from, it's the wrong one.
Internal combustion engines are killing the planet.
EVs and ethanol are engineering dead ends.
No car will ever be superior to the one I love from my childhood, the full sized Ford LTD Crown Vic station wagon with wood finish.

... motorcycles...

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

No car will ever be superior to the one I love from my childhood, the full sized Ford LTD Crown Vic station wagon with wood finish.

How about a modified 1979 Ford LTD Country Squire station wagon?

Not just wood paneling. AVOCADO GREEN, BABY!

 

[Ancalagon]

I never learned how to drive manual.

I also don't know how to harvest weat

 

[darjr]

So what happened? Was it just dealerships with their thumb on the scale?

 

[payn]

Behold; (now with topper!)

 

[Wolfram stout]

I learned in an automatic but in my 20s bought (and therefore had to learn) to drive a manual (stick). People told me "Once you get comfortable driving it, you will never go back to an automatic".

They were wrong. Yes, it was very fun to drive on the open interstate or highways, but 90% of my driving was in the city and during rush hours. That was never fun.

My next car was an automatic and I have never looked back......(well figuratively I of course use my rearview mirrors--no matter how close things seem to appear).

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I learned on automatics. I TRIED to get someone to teach me a stick, but nobody ever stepped up.

 

[Mad_Jack]

No car will ever be superior to the one I love from my childhood, the full sized Ford LTD Crown Vic station wagon with wood finish.

Back in the '70's-early '80's, my parents had this massive aqua blue truck-station-wagon-thing with a white hard top - I think it was a Ford or Chevy, and it had like five rows of seats and a rear gate. A family of four could live in that thing. For the life of me, though, I can't recall what it was called. It looked something like this, but more like a truck version of it - It was definitely the kind of thing a kid climbed into...

 

[billd91]

I learned on automatics. I TRIED to get someone to teach me a stick, but nobody ever stepped up.

When my wife bought her first car (a Saturn), the dealer went with us on the test drive and gave her some instruction on driving with the manual transmission that was really valuable. I was able to drive a manual, but I didn't have half the sophistication in being able to teach it as he did.