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The Disappearing Stick Shift: Less Than 3% of Cars Sold in the U.S. Have Manual Transmissions

posted by martyb on Friday November 18 2016, @01:52AM   
from the lost-art-of-double-clutching dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

Visitors to the upcoming Los Angeles Auto Show will see supercars, hoverboards, self-propelling luggage and all manner of new transportation options.

But they'll be hard pressed to find a clutch pedal or a stick shift. Available in nearly half of new models in the U.S. a decade ago, the manual transmission is going the way of the rumble seat, with stick availability falling to about a quarter this year.

Once standard equipment on all motor vehicles, preferred for its dependability, fuel efficiency and sporty characteristics, the four-on-the-floor is disappearing from major car manufacturers' lineups — and subsequently from the sprawling auto show's floors.

Consider, too, that electric vehicles don't even have a transmission.

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Original Submission

• ''start with hand brake on'' ''start with hand brake on'' (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 18 2016, @05:59AM

  by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 18 2016, @05:59AM (#428702)

  old Saab

  USAian cars:

  My 1965 subcompact still had a "hand" brake.
  You worked that with your left hand.
  To use it, you had to lean forward into a not-good-for-driving position.

  My 1967 pony car had an "emergency brake".
  You operated that with your left foot.
  To release it, you had to lean forward into a not-good-for-driving position.

  My buddy's 1969 TBird had the left-foot deal but, as soon as you put the car in gear, that automatically released the "emergency brake".
  If you bought a TBird with a manual transmission, you still had the stupid left-hand-and-lean type "emergency brake".

  When Mustangs got smaller in 1974, they finally put back in an actual hand brake in an intelligent place (center-mounted and worked with your right hand).

  There have been a lot of years and a lot of makes/models where USAian cars were quite stupidly designed.

  -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

  Parent

• Re:''start with hand brake on'' (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 18 2016, @06:05AM

  by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 18 2016, @06:05AM (#428706)

  My buddy's 1969 TBird had the left-foot deal but, as soon as you put the car in gear, that automatically released the "emergency brake".

  Well, sometimes.

  Parent