Stick is fun but embarrassing
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 1,228
Likes: 6
From: lancaster ma
Originally Posted by CA-Legal-Vette
I learned on an old "three on the tree" pickup truck. I could never remember which gear was which so I got very good with the clutch. Reverse was an unpleasant surprise thought
Have never owned a car with an automatic.
Racer
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 492
Likes: 0
From: Burlington Ky
I was 12 and learned 1st on a 72 Datsun pickup, then a Ford 2 ton. (When we were logging the river bottoms) I agree with the person who said that if you can drive stick, you can drive anything. I'm gonna teach my daughters that way, I think it will make them better drivers when the time comes.
Safety Car
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 4,512
Likes: 0
From: Self-Governing
I learned to drive stick at the landscapeing company I worked for while in highschool. A 20 ton mack tandem dump. As Tim Taylor might say, "augh augh augh !"
I didn't burn up that clutch, or lay any rubber, but I gave it my best try.
I didn't burn up that clutch, or lay any rubber, but I gave it my best try.
Pro
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 687
Likes: 0
From: Atascadero Ca
Originally Posted by CGGorman
Kinda surprised nobody has said this...
I learned on a Ford 8N. That's a tractor for you city-folk. After that, I graduated to a '69 Chevy C/10. Still drive it to this day. Never really had any issues. I guess starting with something that lugs real good, like a truck or tractor, helps some.
I learned on a Ford 8N. That's a tractor for you city-folk. After that, I graduated to a '69 Chevy C/10. Still drive it to this day. Never really had any issues. I guess starting with something that lugs real good, like a truck or tractor, helps some.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 3,000
Likes: 22
From: Boulder Creek California
I first drove a stick in my dad's '64 Chevy2, not too long after I started driving (not including in-the-parents-lap!) I never killed it but there was alot of "jackrabbiting". Then a friends newer pickup, then the '84 Prelude I got as a second car for $1. Thought I had it down by then, now I've got a job working with race cars and I'm learning all over again! mmm, dog rings... don't mind that grinding.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 1,038
Likes: 0
From: Grants Pass Oregon
The Stick
The first time I drove a stick, was the first time I drove a car...I origonally learned to drive motorcycles, lots of shifting, drove farm tractors at 10 and the first time I drove a stick was after my Mom got hit on a main road by a pickup truck, and the officer sent my Mom and 2 sisters home in an ambulance and asked if I could get the VW 4 speed home...I thought a seconds, 
at 13 and said sure! I drove a 1964 VW 4 speed 28 miles to Martin Tenessee...Home, no training just line up the center crome on the hood with the right edge of the road and go for it!, things were different back then... 
at 13 and said sure! I drove a 1964 VW 4 speed 28 miles to Martin Tenessee...Home, no training just line up the center crome on the hood with the right edge of the road and go for it!, things were different back then...
Originally Posted by Corvus
I've been driving the vette for the last 2 days, it's like crack!
It's so fun to drive, only 'problem' is since this is my first manual car, I stalled a few times at some buzy intersections, and it's so embarrasing!
Hehehe I got better from yestrday though, anyway I want to know how some of the first experiences you guys had the first time yo udrove stick
It's so fun to drive, only 'problem' is since this is my first manual car, I stalled a few times at some buzy intersections, and it's so embarrasing!
Hehehe I got better from yestrday though, anyway I want to know how some of the first experiences you guys had the first time yo udrove stick
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 26,545
Likes: 46
From: Huntersville NC
What makes me CRZAZY 
is pulling up to a stop sign on an UPHILL slope.... so you are stopped on this hill, and the idiot behind you pulls up to within an inch of your rear bumper. So now you have to start moving forward with NO room to drift backwards. You stupid **** idiot moron (while setting Ebrake) can't you give me a little room??????? !!!!!! 
is pulling up to a stop sign on an UPHILL slope.... so you are stopped on this hill, and the idiot behind you pulls up to within an inch of your rear bumper. So now you have to start moving forward with NO room to drift backwards. You stupid **** idiot moron (while setting Ebrake) can't you give me a little room??????? !!!!!!
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Race Director
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 11,920
Likes: 2
Wasn't going to say something....as you said embarrassing!! 
Dad used to own this beautiful little BMW 2002 years ago.
Well, I got my hands on it when I was about 10 and drove it through granddad's huge huge showroom window when I decided to steal it and take it for a ride....dad was
Used to watch dad with the gears, but never actually figured out how to get it in reverse....
Never had a problem driving stick since and don't even have to use the Ebrake on steep hills with cars a few inches behind me......learnt quickly and efficiently how to coordinate the clutch, brake and gas, and stick
Dad used to own this beautiful little BMW 2002 years ago.
Well, I got my hands on it when I was about 10 and drove it through granddad's huge huge showroom window when I decided to steal it and take it for a ride....dad was
Used to watch dad with the gears, but never actually figured out how to get it in reverse....
Never had a problem driving stick since and don't even have to use the Ebrake on steep hills with cars a few inches behind me......learnt quickly and efficiently how to coordinate the clutch, brake and gas, and stick
Senior Member since 1492
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 87,932
Likes: 156
From: Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean people aren't out to get me...
St. Jude Donor '09
Like anything else, it takes practice, practice & practice. Once you get it, you'll always have it.
Once you get it, you'll always have it.
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 132
Likes: 0
From: Indianapolis In
Yeah, I can remember learning to drive a stick on a "three-on-the-tree" Ford Fairlaine. I grew up isolated out in the country. My dad wouldn't teach me poop about anything. I bought the car from a farmer with money from my paper route. Any idea how long it takes to save $250.00 delivering papers on a bicycle out in the country? Yeesh! I drove the car all the way home, 10 miles in first gear!! Learning to drive wasn't hard but learning the stick, kicked my butt for about a week. Of course stopping on a hill freaked me out. I killed it, stalled it, rolled backwards and felt like a REE-TARD. The first coupla days, I even had trouble on level ground. Once I got the hang of that stick, I felt like I had wings.
Mike
Mike
Racer
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 262
Likes: 3
From: PA
Remember when I was 16... had just learned to drive in an automatic. My older brother took me out in his new 240Z to teach me to drive a stick... almost plowed into the side of a parked car due to looking down to shift... 
He was real about it... still let me drive his car pretty often and even stopped busting on me about the parked car a few years later...
He was real about it... still let me drive his car pretty often and even stopped busting on me about the parked car a few years later...
