Behind the wheel...

[hoover1060]

I thought Matt's pics of his new Honda were very cool, so I will share this experience, kind of a landmark of sorts for me, even at the tender age of 43!
I spent 4th of July at Michael's, we hit the pool and then hosted his family for a cookout. Everyone was gone by about 7pm, and Michael suggested we go for a driving "lesson" in his "dream car"
Now you must remember I've pretty well had the same car over and over again since I've been driving: a full size, rear drive V8 sedan.
Yeah boring...
Michael has way better taste in cars, I love driving his Mini Cooper, but was kinda afraid of the other car.
First, just for the record is my car, a 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis GS

 

[hoover1060]

This is what he wants to teach me to drive ***GULP***

a 2002 Pontiac Trans Am, 6-speed manual on a 5.0 V8

 

[hoover1060]

mean looking isn't it?

no comments on the license plate either

 

[hoover1060]

I stand corrected, its an LS2 Corvette engine, 5.7 Litre!

Here is the interior...

Yes thats a Betty Boop steering wheel cover

 

[hoover1060]

Off we go...

I'm a little apprehensive, I'm not all that experienced with manual shifting, I am thinking I will be lucky to find reverse!
Good thing the driveway rolls downhill some!

 

[hoover1060]

well, not nearly as bad as I thought

I did pretty well driving this thing, in spite of the fact that I tend to give it too much gas. The gas pedal was not as sensitive as I feared, and it shifted smoothly.
I could get use to this!

 

[hoover1060]

Fun!

Ok so I am hooked...
Maybe just maybe I could drive a manual car every day and enjoy it.
First I'd have to get use to having the shifter on the floor instead of on the steering column.
AND, starting from stop with a manual going uphill scares the bejesus out of me!
I need some more practice I think!

Michael bought the Trans Am new, last year they made them, it has 9000+ miles on it now.
Here's the view from the drivers seat

 

[petek]

Nice car, looks like fun. You'll get the hang of it and it soon becomes second nature, even starting up on hills. I grew up riding motorcycles and my BIL's old VW was the first stick I ever drove when I was around 14 before I had a licence, just round the block and stuff for fun. In 82 I traded my 76 Delta 88 in for a standard Volvo and boy was my other half pissed off cause he couldn't drive it. Said I did it intentionally LOL Anyways, I had to teach him, back in Vancouver where there's plenty of hilly streets with lights. He eventually got the knack and loved it, bought himself a standard Nissan pickup after that. I gave up on standards when my back and sciatica flared up and it was too painful some days to even push the clutch in. But then that Volvos clutch was extremely stiff.

 

[scott55405]

Looks like fun Jeff! I always wanted a car from that group (Camaro/Firebird/TransAM/any I'm forgetting?) when I was in my 20s but never did. I guess we'll let my BMW next car make up for all that, LOL

Manual shifting is fun, though I wouldn't recommend it as a daily driver if you spend a great deal of time on the freeway stopping and starting when you go to work.

I don't think even the Grand Marquis/Crown Vic offers the column selector anymore, so next time yours will probably be on the floor regardless of what you get. Either that, or a floor style shifter on the dash, which seems to be becoming increasingly popular.

 

[red_october]

Column selector...

Is still on the GM/Crown Vic. I worked at a Ford Dealership until the laid me off last week... (For the record Ford is not healthy these days). All the advertising literature (even the salesman's handbooks!) just shows the floor selector, though, probably to make them look more "modern", in spite of the fact that most of the buyer group WANTS old land-yacht style cars that have gobs of power, steer-with-a-pinky effortless steering, and room for six plus three stiffs in the trunk!

I love manual shifting AND big boat cars, just a shame the two come together so rarely.

 

[fnelson487]

Well dear

Methinks it's just a bit too butch for you Agnes.

Love Ida

 

[fnelson487]

Well dear

Methinks it's just a bit too butch for you Agnes.

Love Ida

 

[appnut]

Lookin' good Jeff. And no, it ain't too butch, in fact it suits ya!!

 

[brettsomers]

no comments on the license plate either

what could anyone possibly say? namby-pamby it's not!

 

[oxydolfan1]

Cool cars. I had a Camaro and loved it.

Just be advised...not the BEST on ice and snow!!

(Just remembering the snowy photos from your office window, Jeff!)

 

[exploder3211]

LoL.. Back in my car selling days i drove many of these.. I just don't like sitting on the ground.. I wanna sit up. Although the grand marquis is way to big for me.
I did own a 2005 Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V.. 180 HP in a 2950 lb car.. 6-speed manual.. An ok car, but had to give up due to my bankruptcy and the insurcance was $900 every 6 months for me...

 

[swestoyz]

Burn Out!

If Michael would have let ya! Nothin' like driving around in a TA, one of the greatest feelings. Hopefully he holds on to it - that is a car to be proud of.

Ben

 

[exploder3211]

Heres a car i sold.. Don't recall the year but the thing was like 18 or 20 ft long.. It was bigger than a suburban.. HAd like 34,000 miles when i sold it

 

[hydralique]

So long as cops buy Crown Victorias, they'll be available with the column selector because cops don't like console-mounted selectors at all - this has been cited as a reason that very few police departments have bought the Dodge Charger, in spite of it having better performance in many respects than the Fords. Chrysler's appalling parts and service support may have something to do with this too, but the console selector is a stated reason.

Column selectors seem to be making a comeback in big land yachts anyway. A friend of mine came by three days ago with a brand new M-B S550, and it had a column selector. He was kind of tickled that you just push the end in for "park" instead of having to move the lever all the way up. The BMW 7-series has had one for awhile too.

Frankly, I don't care where the lever is mounted so long as it's not an automatic. I've never owned one and just prefer a manual box, even in LA traffic. If I HAD to have an automatic, I would want someone to bring back pushbuttons - so VERY cool it would almost make putting up with a shlushbox tolerable!

Starting up a hill with a V-8 Firebird ought not to be a problem because that is a very torquey engine and should not be at all picky about clutch engagement. Cubic horsepower is your friend in that situation! Oxydolfan is right about it not being great on ice, although my experience was as a passenger. A good friend of mine owns a similar very late V-8 Firebird, and it has a big bump in the passenger's floor, right in front of the seat - I've never seen anything like it in another car, and according to my friend it is supposed to be there. First time I ever got in the car one icy night at the El Paso airport my left heel snagged that bump as I lowered myself toward the seat. That threw me off balance and my right foot slipped on the icy parking lot paving and I took a nasty spill. Now when I visit (always in the winter) I'm very careful if he brings the Firebird and not the Lincoln. He really loves the Firebird because it is fast and sexy looking, although in his experience the Lincoln wins in reliability.

 

[selectomatic]

Me, I'd stick with the Grand Marquis.

I've never cared for sporty, never liked being down low, never cared about exceeding the speed limit.

Give me something huge, cushy, and totally automatic. I've driven more than enough manual-transmission cars, thank you. I want my driving experience to approximate relaxing in my living room as closely as possible. Shifting your own transmission is about as much fun as bussing your own table in a restaurant.

The Grand Marquis is a bit small for my tastes, so I drive the essentially similar (but larger) Lincoln Town Car.

If I want to feel the road I'll park the car, step out, and get on my hands and knees. So far, this urge hasn't hit me.

-kevin

 

[red_october]

Here I am in the middle

I understand both points of view. Sometimes I just want to sit back, one hand on the wheel, and cruise. Other times I want to carve up the roads like a plasma cutter through cheap steel.

I drive a Buick LeSabre which is nice and big, and I dream of a Fleetwood Brougham, specifically a 94-96 FwB with the LT-1 Corvette motor. People ask me why I like them; the answer has always been simple: "It's a Cadillac with a Corvette motor. 'Nuff said." That is where I'm coming from. Someone once stuck a manual transmission in one of those cars and that's what I'd like to do; I'd even go so far to say as that's probably my ideal vehicle.

 

[spaniel50]

behind the wheel

Jeff,
I hear you! I have driven nothing but Buicks all my life. I did get real wild in 1990 and bought a new Volvo. It was a good car but I only kept it for two years and then back to a Buick again. I love the new Mustangs but I know the love affair would be short lived. Every time someone looked they would just think there goes some old "fool" trying to look cool. The Pontiac is a very sharp car.

 

[hoover1060]

Grand Marquis..

This is my 2nd one, I like the car, nice ride, comfy, and the mileage is decent.
Its just not very NIMBLE!
For me, I could drive the GM for hours and miles and its not fatiguing. Thats mainly why I bought it. The gas mileage is not horrible either. I filled up this morning and mileage last week was 20.3 MPG driving to & from work and two trips to Michaels and back.
Just for comparison, here's the inside of the Grand Marquis, This is not the super fancy version, but it suits me just fine. The rug is on the seat to spare it having coffee spilled on it. Some mornings I am driving to work with barely one eye open!

 

[hoover1060]

The best car I ever owned was this

1976 Buick Electra 225 Limited Park Avenue. This thing was HUGE but was it ever fun to drive!
I wish I'd kept it!!

On the driveway is a car my dad loved and nobody else in the family could stand, a 1983 Cadillac Coupe DeVille.

 

[programcomputer]

shifting thru the PERNDULL

Wow nice car there...

I have only a few times driven a car like that...the Trans Am that is.

Jeff, I don't know if you remember that I used to for a time work for Davis Pontiac,Buick,GMC in Charlotte Mich. as their new car procurement associate; they, G.M. put out a special final edition of the car. It was white and ORANGE...lol the orange being in the speed lines,or air intake nostrils on the hood and down the rear deck.

Anyway..we ordered two of the last batch of production, and recieved ONE special edition on June 18th, 2002 that date stick's out in the mind because I had worked there one year.. When we placed the order we were "informed" that our order would be filled and received by them and us on a on a whatever is available basis. We were not allowed to "special order" anything for that outgoing series at that point. Nor did we ask for, or intimate that we wanted this SE Trans Am.

The truck came, and on it one of the cars was covered with a fleece lined cover which created a stir with all the salesman and people inside alike.. And I had noticed that the other two TA's were Not covered as somehow we ended up with THREE final cars. As the truck was unloaded with other various Pontiac's including MINI-vans...lol.

I inquired about the one on top in the fleece liner. I was then informed, "as the crowd outside was growing due to this strange arrival" by way of the order manifest that had just been shoved in my hand by the mute truck driver that we had indeed received one of the LAST special edition TA's made.

I unloaded the car and parked it in a free spot. I only shifted it thru two gears 1st and 2nd. It was NOT me and very stiff and nimble, too nimble for me I suppose lol. Every salesman drove it that day and a few of the bigwigs. It immediately had to be discounted tho because someone scratched it..EEEEKKK, and then it now had almost 150+ miles on it. Thankfully the scratch buffed out tho.

It sold the following day.

I parked it at the front of the lot that morning when when we did our repositioning of the "key" cars. I hadn't even gotten out of it..when out on Lansing Ave that ran in front of the dealership; I saw a huge GMC truck lock up it's brakes and do a U-turn and shoot into the lot. The guy..who's name escapes me grabbed the keys from me and claimed.."I want this car".

My friend Chip McGowan sold it to him. And like that..It was gone. the other two sat for a while and when I got the job with Hoover we still had one left. That was October 20th. they wer very popular and saleable cars. It's a shame that G.M. had to axe them.

I am in the transmission control wand on the column crowd as I have had a succession of FoMoCo products including my current 1995 Town Car that have all had column shift. Even the used low mileage 2003 I'm eying right now at my local Lincoln - Mercury dealer with just 41,000.00 miles in dark spruce green has it.

A few of the NEW 2007 Grand Marks and the Crown Vickie's CAN be had with the floor shift as I still drool over that which I can't afford occasionally. I also have read and heard that they will be replaced by 2011 with a new replacement platform that will underpin the successor's to the Vick,Markie and Towny.

BUT yes..those last TA's were something ..that's for sure. And driving one sure is a thrill.

This is my car . a 1995 Lincoln Town Car with 223,681 miles on it as of parking it last night. My granddad was the original owner, and it was passed to me when he passed. I was doing some stupid pose here for Alan who is a photo nut and he wanted to do all these glam shot things. ugh.. I look sooo white here...:-(

 

[red_october]

Had my eye on a '94

When I worked at the Ford dealership. It had 155,000 miles on it; I know from experience that that's barely half of one of those car's useful service lives. It rode and drove like a dream, was nimble enough for its size (the only time she showed her weight was steep off-ramps at speed) and was more comfortable than my sofa. Plus it had gobs of V-8 power! That's what I want for the most, honestly.

 

[helicaldrive]

Just relax

Don't think too much about what you're doing, and you'll be fine!

Once you get used to a stick, and all the added control it gives you, especially in the snow, you'll never want an automatic again. BTW, some people complain about driving a stick in slowly creeping city traffic. The complainers make it more difficult than it needs to be -- they keep clutching in and out and riding the clutch when it's not necessary. Leave it in first, and as long as the car is rolling, no matter how slowly, you can keep the clutch out. Just adjust the space between yourself and the car in front of you so that you don't have to stop. It works fine. Also, if you're on a slight incline so the car rolls forward slightly on its own when you take your foot off the brake, you don't need to give it any gas at all to start. Just let the clutch out first, and then step on the gas.

If you know what you're doing, the clutch should never wear out. My 94 Camry still has the original clutch 242,000 miles later.

The truly professional stick drivers, and 18-wheeler truck drivers, never step on the clutch again after starting out in first. Some people call this speed shifting, I think. The deal is, if you figure out what RPM's the car's shift point is, then it will synchromesh so you can shift without stepping on the clutch; just let up on the gas and shift, and it doesn't grind. I'm way too chicken to do it, but I know it works because a couple times when it was time to shift, people or things distracted me and I forgot to step on the clutch, but it shifted just fine.

For what it's worth, the original VW Beetles had a reputation for being easy to speed shift.

Happy driving with a real car!

Steve

 

[petek]

I/we had the 1975 Electra 225 Coupe and without a doubt it was the nicest car I've ever owned and how I wished I still had it. It got sold in the "divorce" We bought it year end of 75 when the 76's were coming out and got a deal on it but it was still an extravagance for the time, but I HAD to have it LOL Dark Blue, White landau top, white leather interior, blue dash and chrome for days. It was absolutely a gorgeous and sharp looking car, even nicer looking than the similar Cadillac CdV. I would love to have one again.

 

[scott55405]

Ah the 76, we had the same one in white. I know I've told this story before, but that's what I learned to drive in, and why I couldn't parallel park til I was 35 (and still not that good (LOL)). That and the 68 were probably my favorite of the 4 Electras we had in my lifetime. Despite the fact a lot of people didn't always use their seatbelts then, I managed happily not to put my father through the windshield with the brakes. You didn't need to put forth much effort, that's for sure. I miss accelerator pedals that go all the way to the floor. Thinking back though for a car of its class, it's funny to think about things we take for granted today that were all extra cost options even on upscale cars then.

I think it's unfortunate with the advent of SUVs that many people have lost sight of a large sedan as an alternative. As Jeff pointed out, they're quite comfortable and the gas mileage is reasonable.

I recall now that one girl in my class got a Trans Am as a graduation gift. I hadn't thought about that in a long time.

I always thought if I had room to accommodate two cars that I'd do one fun one and one more practical, as others have done.

I'm tempted by the new hardtop convertible BMW is offering, but may wind up settling for a 4 door with a moonroof, since I'm not entirely sure I want to go back to the whole you in first seat flipping and adjusting thing with a 2 door, fun as the convertible would be.

 

[scott55405]

Helical, I don't drive in heavy traffic very often, but I've learned to do the same thing. I've never had clutch issues on any of my cars.

I do like a stick for a lot of reasons and it's possible I may get stubborn and "stick" with them, despite their being increasingly hard to find and my never ending frustration that no one ever seems to know how to drive them and can't help with driving on trips, although I don't do many extended driving trips anymore and tend to be alone when I do.

In some ways I think we'd be better off with more of them, since people that drive them tend to be more engaged with what they're supposed to be doing when they're driving.

After I moved to CA, one woman who had also come from the midwest asked how I could stand driving a stick back in that weather, and I explained to her that I actually felt more confident doing so with the stick becuase of the control.