Larry Colen wrote:
>
> lot of the folks had never driven a clutch before.
In Western Australia (where I come from) you could go for your 'manual'
licence or your 'automatic' licence. If you got your 'automatic'
licence you were not allowed to drive a 'manual'/geared car but if you
got your 'manual' licnece you could drive both manual and autmatic
transmission vehicles.
When I went for my licence you were considered a bit 'weak' if you went
for your 'automatic' licence - but I just saw it as a little extra
effort at the time to open up a far greater variety of car choices (and
'manuals' were always cheaper and easier to maintain for a young fella
anyway). As it turns out, I have only ever owned one 'automatic
transmission' car in my life, and that was because my wife at that time
used to get a sore hip holding in the clutch (the result of a rather
horrific car accident years earlier). Living in Sydney at the time you
got a lot of practice using the clutch if you had to travel
through/around the city.
I think everyone should have to go for a 'manual' licence and then they
can make their choice from there. Few kids drive automatics here,
partly because the cheap cars they can afford either don't have
automatic transmissions or if they do they are clapped out anyway.
Eric
'68MGB MkII
|