What Kind of Car Did You Learn Stick Shift On?

[JHZR2]

1991 BMW 318i. I first tried to learn on a friend's acura integra, but the clutch action on those cars is so poor, that it was really hard.

I bought the BMW for the purpose of learning. It made it easy and straightforward. Great car to learn on.

I lent it to my brother when he got his license. He learned on it too. 30k miles later, it still has the original clutch, and it is my daily commuter.

My wife had to learn on an old toyota pickup.

 

[wymi516]

My buddy's 1979 Trans Am TA 6.6, I learned right away about reverse being up and over from 1st gear!

 

[Paul56]

I learned to drive stick on a semi... Volvo 660 to be exact.

Went from that to Freightliners and then a Pete.

I've had enough of stick shifting... give me my auto!

 

[BuickGN]

Datsun 310. My dad's POS commute car back in '92.

 

[wander2039]

77 GMC 1500 250 I6 3spd. I've never found a stick I couldn't drive. That thing was so out of tune, actually needed the carb rebuilt, it would stall just looking at it. It rusted out like all the other 77's shortly after.

 

[Papa Bear]

'48 Ford 4 door sedan.

 

[72customdeluxe]

2000 Trans Am convertible. I was 8 or so ('01-'02) Dad in the passenger seat around the neighborhood. No lap driving for me! Except for in his Dakota automatic before that.

 

[andrewg]

'77 Pinto wagon. Ugly little POS.

 

[Tdbo]

Brand new 1982 Chevy Cavalier. Grandmother bought a new 82 Monte Carlo the same week and it didn't make it through the first week before breaking down. Owner of dealership brought his demo to the house and she wouldn't drive it. I ended up driving it. Easy to learn. That car wouldn't start on me several times w/o push starting. American cars were really junk in the 80's.

 

[eljefino]

89 mazda 323 1.6 and 80 ford fairmont 200 I-6 4 speed wagon. The fairmont was generally easier, even being elderly by this time, but uphill starts were a pain with the foot operated e-brake. Fairmont also introduced me to the wonderful world of carburetion, and a retrofitted manual choke. It could have used some heel/toe skills to keep it running while braking warming up in the dead of winter.

Then my Dad would hook up the automatic choke and not tell anybody, leaving the manual lever abandoned under the dash. "you don't need that anymore" he'd say. Finally the clutch was going out and the driver had to turn it off at every red light to get it into first gear. Despite having my permit and wanting to drive everywhere, I let him handle this beast.

 

[jcollins]

I picked up a 1996 Nissan Sentra in college, a gutless econobox. No tachometer. Shift by feel/sound. It was a mediocre car.

Fortunately after four months of mastering the stick shift, another driver hit me and totaled it. I then picked up a wonderful '95 Honda Civic EX 5psd, and have never looked back. I've owned a '95 and '99 Civic EX and a '00 Integra, all 5spd and all a lot of fun to drive.

 

[tom slick]

I learned in a '77 gmc 1/2 ton with a "3 speed with a granny 1st" when I was about 12. A family friend took me and a friend out to the old air field and let us take turns killing his old truck. We were pretty good at it by the end of the day.
When I was getting my learner's permit my dad's '85 subaru was a stick shift, my first purchased car was a '66 bug with a stick, then my '85 toyota 4x4 was a stick.
The subaru had a neat "hill holder clutch" that held the brake until you let the clutch out.

 

[ekpolk]

69 VW Beetle and 74 Saab 99.

 

[tonycarguy]

I learned on a Mazda RX-7 that I was test driving at the dealer. Unbelievably, I stalled it only once during the test drive

 

[exranger06]

1995 Chevy S10 4 cylinder. It was (and still is) a Napa delivery truck. 2 summers ago, my boss wanted me to work at another store he owned once a week, and work my regular store the rest of the week. The first time I work at the other store, the manager asks, "Can you drive stick?" At the time, I had only driven stick about twice before, just practicing on my buddy's truck in his driveway. I knew how to drive stick, but had hardly any practice or experience actually doing it.
But I said, "Yeah no problem."

So I immediately went off, right into traffic to get some first-hand experience. I stalled it about 8 times that day, but did pretty darn good overall. After driving that truck all day for about 9 hours, I was pretty good at it. And I just kept getting better every week I drove it. Now I'm a pro.

 

[MCompact]

1964 Ford F100 owned by the Kentucky State Highway Department; on the job training, if you will...

 

[TooManyWheels]

The absolute first was a ragged out 55 Ford pickup, 6 cyl, 2" of play in steering and shifter. I went with a neighbor who had this truck and a race car out to the racetrack. During that visit he asked me to go get his truck for him. Since I was 13 or 14, that sounded like a good deal, even if I had never driven anything until that point.

About a year later I went with some friends to a dune-buggy meet. Somehow, improbably, someone there allowed me to drive their VW rail buggy over a course carved out of the wilderness. I did OK until I went up a steep hill with not enough RPM. The buggy stalled and slid down the hill, hitting a tree and bending the exhaust and motor mounts.

Next was a 66 Rambler American 6 cyl. my Dad bought. First gear was too low given the torquey engine, so it was a little stressful to drive.

Funniest "stick" story - A coworker was teaching his teenage son. At this time Chevrolet had a try before you buy program, where you could take a vehicle home for the weekend. The coworker and son decided to try a stickshift S-10, which they mysteriously eventually decided they didn't want.

 

[JTK]

A 1974 Chevy 3/4ton 2wd p/u, 400ci. It was a 4spd with the creeper 1st gear. I was only about 9 or 10yrs/old. My dad would let me warm in up in the driveway. Got a lot of reverse and 1st gear experience.

Joel

 

[gwm]

My first car(after a Honda S90 cycle)was a 1959 Alfa Romeo Guilietta Spyder Veloce. You HAD to double-clutch the downshifts or something BAD might happen.

Wish I hadn't seen this topic! I feel sick that I was so dumb to ever let her go! Memories...........

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: exranger06
1995 Chevy S10 4 cylinder. It was (and still is) a Napa delivery truck. 2 summers ago, my boss wanted me to work at another store he owned once a week, and work my regular store the rest of the week. The first time I work at the other store, the manager asks, "Can you drive stick?" At the time, I had only driven stick about twice before, just practicing on my buddy's truck in his driveway. I knew how to drive stick, but had hardly any practice or experience actually doing it.
But I said, "Yeah no problem."

So I immediately went off, right into traffic to get some first-hand experience. I stalled it about 8 times that day, but did pretty darn good overall. After driving that truck all day for about 9 hours, I was pretty good at it. And I just kept getting better every week I drove it. Now I'm a pro.

That reminds me, my brother learned to drive stick on a brand new BMW Z4. He had just gotten a job as a lot man at a BMW dealership and the manager just had him learn and practice on this one particular car. Not sure what I think of that, but it was certainly cool of the manager.

My brother got to drive more than a few cool cars that summer. He certainly had fun...