I was sitting behind the wheel of my friend’s car while he ran into a store. Parking is hard to find in downtown Brooklyn so I was assigned the role of meter maid lookout. Just as I begin to relax, out of nowhere comes one of New York’s Finest. “Move the vehicle from the hydrant sir!” Comes the cop’s voice squeaking through his car’s PA system. “Great.” I think to myself as I put the car into first gear and baby the clutch. STALL, I put it back into neutral and try again. This time I make it about 600 ft before the stall which my friend gets out of the store to see. He starts laughing as I get out of the driver’s seat. When he sits down beside me he says, “I’m going to teach you to drive stick.”

     You see, there’s a lot of manual transmission elitism in the car community. Go to any car forum and post a picture of a car with an automatic; instantly the comments will be full of people tearing you apart for not rowing your own gears. “You’re not driving the car, you’re just turning the wheel!” or “You’re not a real car person.” As someone who drives a classic with an automatic transmission I had gotten used to this kind of treatment from my peers. It’s not that I didn’t want to learn how to drive a stick shift, but it’s far harder to arrange than one might think. So one fine evening in a large parking lot, I learned stick shift in an old, clapped out Volvo and I’ve never been the same. 

     Now, my advice to you is to learn to drive a manual as soon as possible. One might say, “David, you switched up so fast, what happened?” My dear friends, they were right. Every single annoying car guy bent over his computer screen, red in the face aggressively typing, “It’s not the same thing you don’t get the same driving experience.” Was absolutely correct. The sensation of driving a manual down a twisty backwoods road is unparalleled. You are completely in control of your machine, no computers or hydraulic servos making decisions for you. When you want to coast down a hill stick it into 4th, or better yet neutral and let the clutch out. If you want to unleash all the ponies under your hood, stick it (get it) into 2nd and floor it. It is one thing to turn the wheel from side to side as you go around curves, it is something entirely different when you’re bangshifting up a hilly turn, one with your vehicle. 

     Now besides my little anecdote and how fantastic it feels to drive a manual there are indeed practical reasons to learn. If you ever seek to travel outside of slovenly America there’s a good chance that most cars will be manuals. Say you go to France and spend your time touring Paris, but then decide that you’d love to see the beautiful 11th century village of Gerberoy. Naturally no trains or buses go to a town of 90, but that’s part of the isolated beauty. You stroll into a rental agency and realize that they only have one automatic and they’re asking an outlandish price for it. Worse than that, they’re making fun of you in French for being a stupid American. So you can save time not looking for an automatic, save money and not get laughed at by French people. Really, when you think about it there’s no reason to not learn to drive a manual. So call up your friend, or your uncle who drives that manual car and ask them for a lesson. I guarantee they’ll be happier to teach you than you could imagine. It’s free entertainment after all.