After years of driving older cars w stick shift, I’m out. Not b/c I don’t like them, it’s more of a physical and personal choice. If I found the perfect 356C Porsche I’d have to reconsider. But, I’m not in a position to buy, and I’m hung up with two v damaged legs/ankles.
My next Porsche might be PDK Boxster.
Interesting topic! Yeah, I think driving a manual transmission is similar to owning a mechanical watch in terms of wanting to interface with a machine to a greater degree than the status quo. Do you prefer to row your own gears and wind your own watch (or just appreciate the tiny little engine working away on your wrist)? Yes! There's a historic link between mechanical watches and motorsport as well, and I think that adds to the connection.
All of my cars have manual transmissions, mostly by choice. Daily driver is a 2002 VW TDI Golf owned from new. Manual transmission bested the auto by 5-7 mpg thanks to a tall 5th gear on the manual and a slightly less aggressive fuel pump which is why I got it. Oh, and it was cheaper to buy also. I'll stick to cars that are running right now. The other manual is another German Diesel, a 1980 w123 240D 4-speed. This was the only way to get a manual w123 in the US unless you imported your own. This car doesn't really care what gear it's in, and not because it's a stump puller, but because it's 62hp (when new)! Love that it's a base model...manual windows, no sunroof, no cassette, no passenger mirror.
Interesting topic! Yeah, I think driving a manual transmission is similar to owning a mechanical watch in terms of wanting to interface with a machine to a greater degree than the status quo. Do you prefer to row your own gears and wind your own watch (or just appreciate the tiny little engine working away on your wrist)? Yes! There's a historic link between mechanical watches and motorsport as well, and I think that adds to the connection.
All of my cars have manual transmissions, mostly by choice. Daily driver is a 2002 VW TDI Golf owned from new. Manual transmission bested the auto by 5-7 mpg thanks to a tall 5th gear on the manual and a slightly less aggressive fuel pump which is why I got it. Oh, and it was cheaper to buy also. I'll stick to cars that are running right now. The other manual is another German Diesel, a 1980 w123 240D 4-speed. This was the only way to get a manual w123 in the US unless you imported your own. This car doesn't really care what gear it's in, and not because it's a stump puller, but because it's 62hp (when new)! Love that it's a base model...manual windows, no sunroof, no cassette, no passenger mirror.
My best friend in high school had that Benz in burgundy- a hand-me-down from his father. We terrorized everyone on Sunset Blvd going through the Palisades at 80mph. What they didn’t realize was you had to keep your momentum up otherwise you couldn’t make it up the hills!
I'm not sure what's more impressive; hitting 80mph or being able to drive up hills at speed! It's definitely a momentum machine which makes highway merges an event that you need to plan for. When these cars were new, there was probably less of a gap between their acceleration and that of the rest of the EPA/CAFE emissions choked cars on the road. But in modern traffic it can be scary. The 1st->2nd shifts with a tailgater can be especially entertaining! 👍 Still love it though, sometimes it's nice to slow down in this high-paced life, haha.
