Do They Still Make Stick Shift Cars?

Wondering why anyone would drive stick shift when most cars are automatic? With the economy in a slump, grabbing a classy old stick shift can save you some big bucks. It might cost way less than an automatic, whether it's for you or someone else. Plus, on the flip side, many luxury rides still come with a manual option. There is actually along list of cars offering the manual option: from BMW Z Series, to Volkswagen and the Ford Fiesta, the latter which is aimed at the younger crowd. So now that you've decided hey maybe driving manually is the way to go, we include the best way to learn how to drive defensively on the road with a stick shift car:

• Not to steal the slogan from NIKE but JUST DO IT! This blogger at 16 years of age inherited a stick shift car from a family member. After receiving about 1 hour of training I was ready to hit the open road and was basically on my own. There were some setbacks and rollbacks into a car when I realized I had stayed in neutral instead of shifting into gear ( I still thank that guy on York Blvd. for dismissing that minor bump on his fender; hopefully you’ve had lots of good karma since then). I was thrown into the lair of cars in the Big City driving scene and came out alive successfully driving stick shift. Basically I just did it and you can too.

• Know the important parts of the car. Get in and find: CLUTCH NEUTRAL REVERSE BREAK GEARS

• Here’s a video and more instructions. WATCH. And then JUST DO IT! (Ok find a friend that knows how to drive manually, have them give you a lesson ... and then JUST DO IT!)

Time to waste? Ford has created the FIESTA MOVEMENT campaign trying to instill the love of “stick” to the 21-35 something social media climbers. Watch a YouTube flick produced by one of the Ford Team Agents La Lucia.