What was your first car?

[Anonymous]

Since you always only had cars with a manual tranny, how do you feel about it in a big city like NYC?

[Anonymous]

They don't make orange cars anymore, sadly

[Anonymous]

ChefKD try a $1.10 per hour at Montgomery Wards? Yes the 1947 CJ2A Jeep (first year for Civilian Models) saw lots of action and we (friends taunted law enforcement especially the state highway patrol - back then and they did not ever catch us radio commo isn't what it is today). We did lead them on chases and lost one state patrol car in a swamp and went back and pulled the highway patrolman out (his boss would get mad so we helped him out). Probably would have pulled hard time for five years today ... too many laws!!!

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

ChefKD try a $1.10 per hour at Montgomery Wards? Yes the 1947 CJ2A Jeep (first year for Civilian Models) saw lots of action and we (friends taunted law enforcement especially the state highway patrol - back then and they did not ever catch us radio commo isn't what it is today). We did lead them on chases and lost one state patrol car in a swamp and went back and pulled the highway patrolman out (his boss would get mad so we helped him out). Probably would have pulled hard time for five years today ... too many laws!!!

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OH man lol those sound like great times but at least you were a good samaritan and helped the man out it is good to have those times while young AND OH MY GOODNESS $1.10 an hour WHAT 

[pipeguy]

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@Anonymous wrote:
$1.35 an hour man what? That's when life was simpler unlike now everything is a race....I can tell you miss your delta 88...I never even seen a car with 3 speed manual but do you prefer that or 5/6 speed manual?

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Heh, I miss the NOVA more than the Olds. Since then I've had a whole lot of TransAms, Cameros, and others. Favorites were the Nova, a Black and Saddle Tan interior El Dorado and my 2003 Avalanche that was still running great with 263,000 miles on the clock when I sold it. BTW the Olds was an auto, the Nova was the 3 spped manual.

Today I prefer a 5/6 speed manual but back in the day 3 speed manuals and 2 speed powerglide autos were the choice for a bit of weekend racing - as far as the 3 speed manual, imagine the other guy is in 4th going flat out and you hit 3rd at about 80 MPH and get to "pull hard" when he's running out of torque. Won many a race that way 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Since you always only had cars with a manual tranny, how do you feel about it in a big city like NYC?

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I never had a problem driving a stick in San Francisco even with the steep hills, but then again I never lived there so I didn't have to do it day in and day out. Even in my ltttile town now, though, I am tired of having to use the cluch pedal. And, as I get older and have some hip/lower back issues, I just want to take it easy! But,I think driving a stick actually makes a person a more aware driver, even just had this conversation with a friend, who thinks the same. Sometimes driving an auto feels like driving the little cars on the Autorama ride at Disneyland, lol!

[pipeguy]

I always enjoyed driving a stick, however when your daily commute consis of 35 miles each way in bumper to bumper traffic (DC Metro rush hour) one tends to get away from a stick and sell his Avalanche due to mileage at 5-10 mph. 

That said, I ran the tail of the dragon in NC/TN both ways last Summer in my 2016 LTZ Impala (20 inch P245/40R20 95V tires) 6 speed auto, using manual shifts - mainly 1st and 2nd and would have loved to have a lighter car with a 6 speed manual - still a ton of fun. Funny thing is, as I was "flying" through several of the 270 degree turns I looked down to see how fast I was going "so close to the edge of insanity" ..... 27 MPH both times.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:
Since you always only had cars with a manual tranny, how do you feel about it in a big city like NYC?

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I never had a problem driving a stick in San Francisco even with the steep hills, but then again I never lived there so I didn't have to do it day in and day out. Even in my ltttile town now, though, I am tired of having to use the cluch pedal. And, as I get older and have some hip/lower back issues, I just want to take it easy! But,I think driving a stick actually makes a person a more aware driver, even just had this conversation with a friend, who thinks the same. Sometimes driving an auto feels like driving the little cars on the Autorama ride at Disneyland, lol!

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Driving a manual tranny is just so much more fun, who wants to be bored behind the wheel...also in NYC I do not know one women that owns a manual tranny car because out here it is all about the brand and how you look they never learn to appreciate what they have, I might be one of the very few that wants to change that plus it is better for the enviornment 

[pipeguy]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:
Since you always only had cars with a manual tranny, how do you feel about it in a big city like NYC?

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I never had a problem driving a stick in San Francisco even with the steep hills, but then again I never lived there so I didn't have to do it day in and day out. Even in my ltttile town now, though, I am tired of having to use the cluch pedal. And, as I get older and have some hip/lower back issues, I just want to take it easy! But,I think driving a stick actually makes a person a more aware driver, even just had this conversation with a friend, who thinks the same. Sometimes driving an auto feels like driving the little cars on the Autorama ride at Disneyland, lol!

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Driving a manual tranny is just so much more fun, who wants to be bored behind the wheel...also in NYC I do not know one women that owns a manual tranny car because out here it is all about the brand and how you look they never learn to appreciate what they have, I might be one of the very few that wants to change that plus it is better for the enviornment 

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I for one won't drive in NYC, but it has nothing to do with the transmission. My wife loves driving a stick, although her current car is an auto. Both of my kids "first car" were sticks, told them they could have auto's once the learned how to drive a stick. Funny thing is, when my son went in the USAF, he was one of very few that could drive the bigger trucks because they were manual tranny's. 

[Anonymous]

First car was a 1985ish Delta 88.  Loved that beast.  No features, but it was mine.  Paid cash for it when I turned 16 -- I believe it was $1100 with only 16,000 miles and was owned by this ancient gal on my block who owned it for the 5 years or so prior.  I paid her in $10s and $20s I had in a glass jar in my bedroom and she drove me to the bank with the money and the car, signed over the title and then she had one of the bankers drive her home.

First new "car" was a 1991ish Isuzu pickup -- no A/C, no stereo!  I loved it.  Rear wheel drive in midwest winters, haha.  I sold it many years later (150,000 miles) and a decade after, I ran across it again still driving, owned by a guy who owned a gas station.  He said it had 300,000 miles and still drove perfectly.  I wanted to pay cash for it but the dealer said if I financed it he would give me $500 off, so I financed it and then 3 weeks later paid it in full at the local bank that financed it.  I pulled my first credit reports 9 years later and the loan wasn't on there at all, so I have no idea if they even reported it?

My first job I was paid $3.35 per hour which was minimum wage.  I'm only in my early 40s so that wasn't THAT long ago.  $3.35 per hour was massive because I was legally limited to 16 hours a week but was bringing home almost $150 a month after taxes.  For a young kid, that was huge.  My friends would get allowances of $1-2 a week and I was pulling out $20 bills out of my pocket all scrunched up at the comic book store.

I remember when I got a raise to $4.00 an hour and my eyes bugged out at seeing it on the paycheck stub.

Oh, my bank back then had a "passbook" that looked like a passport and when you would go to the bank to make a deposit or withdrawal, they would insert the passbook into a dot matrix printer and would print your ongoing balance and all.  I believe I was earning 6% interest on my savings account in the 80s, might have been 7%.  I know my mom still has that passbook in her pile of memories, I should look it up.  I had a $210 savings account balance and was definitely earning $1 a month or something in totally free money.  I also remember that dad's mortgage from a few years earlier had an interest rate close to 15-17%.  OUCH.