[Paladin2]

"Ford Motor Company shares the passion for teaching young people how to drive manual transmissions"

Pure BS. Ford has not offered its F150 largest engined P/U with a m/t for DECADES.

[Errant]

Pure BS. Ford has not offered its F150 largest engined P/U with a m/t for DECADES.

Not sure what you mean. My '99 F150 short WB step side has a 5-speed manual tranny.

[Little Pig]

BTW, trucks aren’t the only thing Ford sells. The Mustang comes with a row-your-own, for one. The GT-40 *only* comes in manual (though not many kids are going to get to drive one of those). I’m pretty sure at least a few of their econoboxes come with a stick as well, or did until recently.

Interestingly enough, here in India something like 95% of all vehicles come with manuals. Automatics are still a “luxury”, and only come on high-end vehicles, and then generally only as an option.

[FredZarguna]

I remember a number of years ago (like, 1983) when the Ford Bronco II was a nice little off-road vehicle rather than the huge behemoth Ford eventually morphed it into, that Ford offered a five speed manual transmission. I grew up on manual transmissions and never drove anything else unless I had the unpleasant chore of temporarily driving some sissy's automatic vehicle for them or as a loaner.

Imagine my disappointment in 1989 when I tried to buy my second Eddie Bauer Bronco II, that the dealer could not trade for a five speed gearbox anywhere within 500 miles.

For us hardliners, there are still the semi-manual autos, which I still use. While it's not really the same, when you feel the absolutely wussified "response" of the latest eco-boosted "shifting," it's tough to let the computer make the decisions.