My first 4 cars were stick shift. Only because I'm the 80's it was cheaper to buy manual. Now there really aren't many sticks available as oly said.

Does anyone remember 3 on the tree? My grandpa had an old Ford truck and my aunt had a Ford Falcon. Both 3 on the tree.

Looked like an automatic gear selector but was actually the shifter. I remember pull forward and up was reverse. Forward and down was 1st. Out and up was 2nd. Out and down was 3rd.

The first time I drove her car, I thought it was an automatic with a clutch peddle. I could only find reverse and 1st. I thought that was the worst driving car ever until she told me how to find 2nd & 3rd gear.

I learned in some sort of Opel, of indeterminate vintage. It was around 1979, so the car was probably early 70s. I think it was a hand-me-down from Mom. It was white.

After that died, my parents bought me a little used Honda Civic hatchback. It was red and zippy and must have been front wheel drive, because it plowed through Ohio snow like a champ. I really liked that car. It was also a stick shift.

I got my license in 1984. I learned to drive on a four door Plymouth Volare. it was white with a burgundy vinyl roof. It was probably 5 or 6 years old since my father bought it second hand from my uncle.

It was a 70-something Pontiac Bonneville, dark blue. That car had so much power!

Back and forth in the drive way, 1958. A 1952 Buick.

Got my drivers license in 1964. Learned to drive on a 1956 Chevy. What a ride! Manual everything! No A/C, bench seats, good radio.

A 1976 Ford Pinto, stick. I bought it without knowing how to drive it and my volunteered to teach me. I must have been the first one she'd done that with because she was more nervous than I was. That was such a good little car!

Grew up on a farm, so first learned to drive a John Deere tractor. Had to hold the clutch with my foot, I wasn't strong enough put it in gear (or whatever I was doing). Then a Nash, it was a straight stick, navy blue. Don't know the year, but it was UGLY, it looked like an upside down bath tub. After I graduated in 1966, I got a job and a '62 Ford Galaxy. I like today's cars much better. And I do not miss the stick shift at all.

I learned to drive in my Dad's Morris Minor, stick. His rule was, if you couldn't drive a stick, change a tire, you couldn't have a license. I did take drivers ed offered through our high school for the insurance discount given teens who had completed the course. The father of my friend down the street was the drivers ed teacher and I'd ride with them in the mornings rather than take the bus to school...in the schools drivers ed car so it was pretty familiar to me ;0)

The day of my 16th birthday I had an appointment for the driving test, and there was a last minute problem with the Morris, seems like water in the fuel filter. I had to test in my mothers much larger Olds Super 88 which I hadn't driven often and hadn't parallel parked. I couldn't park it, and passed anyway, came home with my license.

ETA: Our high school no longer offers inexpensive drivers ed, now its a private driving school and expensive for parents.

I learned to drive when I was 15 1/2 on a 1966 red convertible Mustang. I loved that car and was devastated when it was totally wrecked in 1971. Later in life I thought about getting one and restoring it but it wasn't what I wanted any more.

1976 Ford Pinto, hatchback. Hated it with a passion. Second was a Honda CVCC. I loved that car. First car I bought new was a Pontiac Le Mans in the eighties. Also carp. Finally started falling in love with my cars and driving when I bought a Mitsubishi Eclipse. That car was fun! And then a Mazda Miata. Last, a Hyundai Sonata. Still have the last two.

I learned on two cars - a '54 Buick Special (a tank!!) with an automatic transmission and my dad's Volvo for the manual. The Buick was my very first car as well, given to me by my folks when I went off to college (late 60's). Drove that until it had to be hauled off to the junker. From then on it was stick shifts - VW bug, Opel, Nissan, more VW's, my Fiats.........even my hated lemon Hyundai had a manual tranny. It's only since I've owned my Explorer (last 5-6 years) that I've had a car with an automatic transmission!

My husband taught me to drive in a '73 VW Beetle (sold with 200k miles on it ). I've only had standard transmissions and love my Mini Cooper -- one of the few stick shifts left.

1964 Ford Pick up, looked a lot like that ^^, only faded.

It was an old farm truck. Definitely, not in that prime condition!

About 1970 or so. I was about 11 yrs old, it had "3 on the tree" and but the gear shift was gone and we used a huge screw driver to shift with. I had to sit on a stack of burlap bags to see over the steering wheel. hahahahaa!

Practiced in the pasture. Then when I had the shifting downpat, I got to drive when we hauled hay. I was the designated driver, since I wasn't big enough to throw the bales.

I took driver's education in high school and learned on that car, but my car was a 1952 Buick Roadmaster, Maroon and white....big lead sled. LOL It belonged to my dad. The first car that I purchased was a white 1955 Buick, used. My first "new" car was a 1964 Chevy Corvair Monza which I loved and still had when I got married in 1970. Since then we had Ford Pintos and loved them and many other cars, then I got my 1975 Ford Mustang....my dream car. Now, although I don't drive any more, my car is a Toyota Scion XB...my bright yellow little box on wheels named Tweety. Love that car.

I started driving at an early age so it would have been a '57 or '59 DeSoto. '60 Dodge was the first manual I drove. For driver ed. it was a Chev Impala (or possibly Caprice but I'm pretty sure it was an Imp.)

I learned on my dad's 1958 Pontiac, custom made with manual transmission and a truck clutch.

I wish I had learned to drive a manual shift, but I can only drive an automatic. I have no clue what cars we used in Driver's Ed. to learn to drive...some sort of four-door sedan.

I learned to drive in several cars of friends, so there wasn't the white-knuckled parent teaching experience.

I vividly remember learning to drive a stick in a total POS VW Rabbit 4-speed. That car was total crap and couldn't get out of its own way, but it set me up for a lifetime of being able to drive a manual, which is SO much fun.

I took drivers ed in high school and learned on a 1958 Plymouth push button. I didn't learn on a stick shift and don't know how to use one. Our only car to have one was the VW Beetle. Daughter only drives a stick shift. First her Miata, next her Mini Cooper which her son now owns and now a sports car Audi. The large Audi is their family car...all stick shifts.

Rambler station wagon. I learned how to drive stick shift after HS, and hubby and I began buying our own vehicles, and those were less expensive.

My Dad, Mom and brother taught me to drive our 1956 Plymouth Belvedere stick shift when I was 16 in 1957. When I was 17 1/2 I had a fender bender and refused to drive again. In 1983 when my DH at age 43 had to have major heart surgery, he decided that I needed to learn to drive again, just in case. Since a progressive disability made it difficult if not impossible for me to drive a stick shift, we bought a new 1983 Dodge Omni automatic and then had a hand break installed in it before he taught me to drive all over again after all those years.

I don't remember the make/model of car when I learned to drive. I take the position that one car is much the same as another! It was a stick shift, though, and I remember the jolt when I was speeding along and thinking I was shifting into a higher gear when it was actually lower. Also going up a hill and operating the clutch and gas so as not to lurch quickly ahead or stall the car. Those were the days! Give me an automatic every time.

I learned on a Ford Falcon, in 1964.

I was afraid of the Pinto. Their gas tank would explode in a rear end collision. Although I think they found a fix for that.

Well, I'm a true car guy & I love hearing about all these cars. It amazes me how many can drive a stick!!

We had a stick shift Cortina that we would drive back and forth in the driveway. I think out on the road was a manual Datsun car of some sorta. My first car was a VW Bug so I learned to drive a stick shift early on.

II was a 1934 stick shift Oldsmobile (in 1939).

A 1969(?) Falcon station wagon. By the time I was old enough to learn how to drive, it was 1976 and the driver's door no longer opened due to a previous accident. The driver had to enter from the passenger side and slide across the bench seat.

The rear window of the gate (I think that's what the rear door of station wagons were called in those days) was permanently stuck in the down position and there was always a bale of straw or hay in the back of the car. It had no air conditioning, so when the car was being driven bits and pieces of straw/hay would blow out the back.

On the day I had to take my driver's exam at the DMV, it was most embarrassing when the gentleman conducting the test got in the car and I had to ask him to get out so that I could get in and slide across the seat to the driver's side. Looking back, I'm surprised he let the exam proceed as a non-opening door is actually a safety hazard. But he did and off we went with hay flying out the back.

To my great relief, I passed on my first attempt which meant that there wouldn't be a repeat performance!

1956 Ford station wagon. Standard shift.

Seniorgal, WOW WOW!! I had to look that one up.

I learned on a standard Volkswagen Van. On my first test the only two things I did right was parallel parking and starting on a hill - pretty much failed everything else.

The first car I owned was a 1965 Standard Austin Cambridge which got me through university.

Then I bought a standard bright yellow Pinto. Oh I loved driving that car - especially back and forth to Whistler on the highway - even put it into the ditch off the highway one snowy night. Left it there for the weekend (along with 13 other cars that wound up off the road along the same stretch as a result of black ice) I continued to drive that car until it just died.

@Scott - the PInto had a problem with the gas tank being improperly encased but the other problem was that for one year (?) the factory tires on the car were Firestone 500's which were the exploding tires. My car had both and were both under recall. Once they were fixed that car really was fun to drive.

We could get a "learner's permit" at age 14 in Kansas. But my father had been taking me to the country on old KS dirt roads, teaching me to drive, starting when I was 12. I was driving our 1950 Mercury with a stick shift (no auto in those days).

When I turned 14, my parents bought a new Plymouth and also a 1950 Chrysler Windsor. My father and I shared the Chrysler - I drove it to school and he used it for going to the country shooting (my mother had NO intention of allowing him to take our shiny new white Plymouth!

That Chrysler drove like a battleship - no power steering - and all the parking at my high school was parallel parking on the residential streets surrounding the high school. I sure built up some upper body strength getting that car into tight spaces!

OH!!! You're right! Now I remember that about the gas tanks. I actually had a car almost rear end me right when all that was happening, scared the bejippers out of me!

I learned on my mother's 1956 Chevy Bel Air station wagon. It was two tone red and white and an automatic. Later, my MIL gave us her old 1952 Buick. That thing was a tank and had so many funny features. It did not have power steering and it would take two people to turn the steering wheel when parallel parking. I learned to drive stick on a Subaru station wagon. I loved driving stick and the next two cars I got were stick. Now they are hard to find and my Honda is automatic, but I still find myself putting my foot on the imaginary clutch and reaching for the shifter.

I learned to drive on these. I don't remember what models were used for real life road driving. We had to drive on the freeway and parallel park back then.
I took my driver's test in my parents '67 Dodge Coronet.

I learned to drive in 1972 on a very old John Deere tractor. Kenny Chesney nailed it.

In 1974 I graduated to occasionally driving a boyfriend's 1967 Dodge.

What fun memories.

As for driving manual shift cars...the last few years (until I couldn't get a manual on my new Audi) I felt kind of smug about so few people knowing how to drive a stick shift...esp younger folks. Felt like it was kind of another layer of burglary protection. They might be able to try to steal it, but they might not have been able to drive it.

I remember hearing a story a few years ago about a couple of guys trying to steal either a UPS or Fed Ex truck - they hopped in but couldn't figure out the stick shift so weren't able to drive it away.

I don't actually remember -- trying to think what cars my parents had then (1970); I am sure that my dad drove a 1967 Chevy Caprice, which I bought from him some years later, but I don't remember if that is the car he took me out driving in (after drivers ed). I just can't remember what was my Mom's car. Might have been the Chevelle that they had at some point when I was in high school but again, no memory of driving it.

I learned to drive a stick shift in about 1978, I think (I don't remember if the Corolla had a stick, think it did, but I do remember that it didn't have AC but it did have these wonderful huge air vents that kept me cool) and continued to do so until 2000 or so when I traded my manual Subaru in for a Mazda Protégé with an automatic.

I started driving a Ferguson 2-plow tractor when I was 13 yr old using it to plow fields in preparation for spring planting. One yr later, I was driving and maintaining our 2-door Model A Ford sedan. I had a provisional farm labor learner's permit and got full license by age 16. I also drove a John Deere Model B tractor for 2 seasons for another farmer. Most of my early driving was on dirt or gravel roads.

My Junior yr of high school, I was working in a filling station for 3 hours after school and bought myself a 4-dr Model A. I was the head Grease Monkey. While working the filling station, I drove a variety of customer's cars when delivery was required. The most interesting of these was a 1950 Packard Hearse with an automatic transmission that took forever to get the vehicle rolling. After it passed 15 mph, the engine began to have more effect of accelerating the vehicle. The culprit was the fluid coupling in the drive line.

In a 64 Dodge Dart. Perfect for beginner driver. Not that big, power steering, no power breaks, not a terribly powerful engine. Had that push button thing for selecting gears... had nothing to do with driving it. Taught to drive by Dad. His "rule" was you had to know how to change a tire... good thing to know. Not just recite the steps, but physically change tires! With my birthday (and brothers) in February, we eventually got the job of taking snow tires OFF his car. Sister's fall birthday had her putting them on.

lukkiirish , my husband owns not one, but TWO Pinto's! One is the traditional looking hatchback. It's in pieces as he is rebuilding it. Well, he was until he was in his car accident, now he can't bend over for more than 30 seconds without getting a headached that feels like someone hit him over the head with Lucille (Walking Dead talk....), and he has a Pinto Station Wagon. I think that car just needs a seat put back in? Not sure, but it runs.

Learned to drive in my family's big Buick, an Electra 225. What a beast! Got my license in 1964 and my Dad promptly took me out in our 'Vomit Comet', a white Comet wagon, red leatherette interior, with 3 on the tree that he told me I had to learn to drive if I wanted to go anywhere. I was happy to do so. He had bought the Comet for my Mom to run around town with us kids. He also had a pickup for work with stick shift on the column that I learned to drive, but I didn't drive it much. It was his take to work truck and the guys would use it for some appliance deliveries.

I took a driver's ed class in high school--I have no idea what kind of car it was, but it had an automatic transmission. I practiced in my dad's '66 Chevy Impala Super Sport fastback. It might have looked way cool, but I hated the stick shift. I didn't learn to drive a manual shift efficiently until my first car, a used '65 VW bug, an 18th birthday gift from my parents, in 1975.

If we're counting tractors, we had an old Gravely. I don't remember how old it was or how big, but couldn't have been too big, because my dad let us drive it when we were early teens. I have no idea what happened to it--haven't thought about it in years.

I love all these stories. Brings back so many memories of cars & our history.

Gold Ford Murcery...at least I think it was. In the 70s, not sure what year the car was, it was my mom's car. She later bought a brand new Toyota Tercel without power steering or air conditioning. Drove it carpooling back and forth to work when I was 18 or 19. I worked with my mom back then in the desert, an hour away from where we lived. Good thing we worked graveyard shift.

Olychick, there was an article in the Ocala paper here in FL., some kids broke into a car to steal it, but none of them could drive straight stick.

I wouldn't drive anything but a stick if I could get away with it. So much more control! It's a pain in stop/go rush hour traffic, so my daily driver is an automatic. My Miata is a manual. Fun!