Disappearing standard transmissions!

[brutal]

BTW I assume that people who can't drive a manual are pretty much hosed if they ever want to go to a foreign country and rent a car. I don't know what it's like now but when I was in Germany in the 80's, automatics were virtually unheard of and the local rental places only rented vehicles with manuals. I rented a mini-van once (I think it was a Mitsubishi) to take a group of my buddies skiing in Garmisch - that thing had a 5-on-the-tree.

When my MP Company was deployed to Hungary in 1997 for OJG we did a liaison day with the Hungarian Highway Patrol - they were fascinated by our HMMWVs because they had automatic transmissions. Most of them had never seen one, much less driven one.

Our issued Vanagon had a stick. So did the 70's Dodge W200 mobile radio truck. :-)

I had a 1972 BMW 2000 Touring with an automatic... Loved that little car until the frame rotted away and wouldn't pass TUV and I had to get something else. Got a 2500 (with a manual) to replace it. My wife and kids can also drive stick - although she's hard on clutches.