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.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 18 2016, @06:28AM
if everyone drove a standard, traffic would flow much more smoothly
Where I grew up, we got snowfall about 1 day every 6 years.
It was usually melted away in 3 days or less.
One time, we had an especially "heavy" snowfall.
A woman who lived a block away had managed to get her Cadillac over to our street but, when she tried to get back home, the slight incline in the road was beyond her abilities.
She was spinning the tires and -knew- that when it doesn't do what you want you add more power.
Daddy told her to slide over and he'd get her home.
He dropped the car into gear and just let the damned thing creep forward at idle.
She had a steep uphill driveway and I didn't get to see that part but, after he got it parked there, she thought my old man was just the world's most talented driver.
In short: Some people can't even drive an automatic.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]