Clutch Shot

It's been a few years since I had to, but after getting in my second accident in two months (with another to follow in the coming month) I was faced with replacing my little Tempo.

The stars aligned and I was offered (Thanks, Dad) a nice little red S-10. The kicker? It was a 4-speed manual transmission. Standard. The truck was delivered on a Saturday, and I had classes on Monday morning at 8:30. Great.

The conclusion of this historic event for me? I learned, but not as fast as I would have liked. The truck was fun, in that shifting gears brought me, in a metaphysical way, closer to the vehicle. I was better able to understand the various moods of the truck and eventually, was quite able to get it up and running without any hurky-jerkiness or stalling out.

Why talk about this? Apparently, according to the editor of one of my car magazines, manual transmissions are slowly being phased out for auto-clutch (aka double clutch) transmissions. Honestly, technology is a working marvel, and the new trannys make shifting faster, efficient, and saves wear on the transmission due to improper or abusive driving/shifting.

I read the article again toda(and thus was prompted to go ahead and write this), but I don't think I'm worried about the standard transmission going fully away. Obviously, we'll still have "vintage" cars that utilize it. But like the record player, tried and true technology isn't necessarily going to stop.

I think that there will be a market for the vintage style of shifting. No, it's not convenient (especially when drinking your coffee on the way to work). It goes against multitasking while driving (oh wait..is that a bad thing?). But it's also takes something special away from that relationship that drivers understand.

I remember that sneer that other drivers would give me when discovering that I did not know how to drive stick. I don't think I ever gave that look, but I sure as hell felt that way a few times. I think every driver should be able to, lest they find themselves in that pinch one day.

But if things keep going the way the are, they may never.

Do you drive stick? Can you double-clutch? Do you even know what "heel-toe" means?

Comments, as always, are welcome.

Shazam!