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OH NO!!!!! THE RABBIT KILLED THE BEETLE!!!!!

Jason you are correct sir when you state the Beetle was killed by the Rabbit (doesn't that sound like a story that might of happened if Alice had ened up in Hell instead of Wonderland LOL). With the intro of the Rabbit to the US for the 1975 model year the Beetle's fate was sealed but another reason for the discontinuation of the was because the Beetle enginge couldn't meet the stricter pollution laws that were about to go into effect here in this country.
 
nevertheless

The Corvair was still a great car, loads of fun, I did know 2 teens who experienced the problem and were killed tragically, and Ralph's book was written in 1967. The corvair was maybe a little too different like the betamax VCR and the GM Frigidaire washer. People like familiarity and that is a marketing point. I haven't had as much fun in a car or truck since my Corvair days. The closest was a BMW 528 5 speed. There are always going to be great ideas, but without the market they won't last. A lot of people also like mediocrity, simply not interested in anything but a plain old vanilla car or appliance.
 
Thanks appliguy and all

I just could not remember when AMC ceased to exist. Thank you for the input. Hope everyone had a nice weekend, .....and monday is over YAY.........
 
Stick vs automatic

Well, I have to counter here, I absolutely HATE stickshift cars with a passion. To me a stickshift in a modern car makes as much sense as building a new house and putting an outhouse in the backyard instead of a bathroom or remodeling your kitchen and putting in a wood burning cookstove instead of a range. The time has passed for stickshift. If I want to drive like Grandpa did, I'll go out and get a car like Grandpa drove, not a modern car. I like old things, but for me, there's a practical limit. To me, the convenience outweighs the dis-advantages(less performance, poorer gas mileage, though even THOSE issues have been addressed in modern automatics) I can drive a stick, but it gets on my nerves REAL fast. I don't like even being a passenger in a stickshift car, especially if the driver is agressive or downshifts coming to a stop so you feel like you're always landing in a plane. Gets very annoying having your head snap back and forth all the time. Most people really don't know how to drive a stick properly, and end up getting worse gas mileage than if it were an automatic. Plus, the potential for engine damage over the years is much greater since since it's easy to over-rev a stickshift car. I suppose if I lived in TX, MT, NE, KS or another of the "flat" states without a lot of traffic, I could deal. But driving a stick in a place like L.A. has me pissed off within about 10 minutes of driving. Screwing around with the parking brake trying to start on hills, tight parking places, or tight parking spaces ON hills is a pain-in-the-a**, too. Latly, to me, I have enough to do watching for other idiot drivers in traffic without having to worry what gear the car is in, it's another distraction I can do without. Whenever I'm forced to drive a stick, and then get back into my own car, I breath a sigh of relief as I drop it in "D" and step on the gas, no muss, no fuss.
 
I do like the idea of a constant velocity transmission, such as on scooters, some motorbikes and some cars like the Mini Cooper. The engine stays at a relative rpm while the car accelerates.

The performance isn't that great but it is an automatic and a unique way to get goin.

The mini cooper is one of the most AUTOMATIC cars there is. Automatic wipers, headlight, temp control, transmission. It's basically turn the key, select drive and go. Of course, the Escalade is pretty nice and has lots of automatic stuff but unaffordable for me.

Even if I had a Cooper with all the a-Mini-ties, I'd stick order one with a 5 speed.
 
I couldn't imagine Kenmore trying to drive a stickshift in that traffic mess out there...I couldn't imagine trying to drive out there period!! I occasionally end up for my job having to venture into the mayhem of Northern Virginia, and I'm sure glad my work van is not only huge, but has a big engine and transmission. It demands respect in that traffic up there, especially since it's got dents and dings all over it and looks like hell. No yuppie wants to even think about getting his new SUV close to that thing!!! I couldn't imagine living in a big city like that, dealing with all the expensive prices, sluggish traffic, etc, bad attitudes, bad customer service, etc. It tries my patience just going up there a few times a month!

At home though in Richmond, I've never personally owned an automatic vehicle. My first car was what was commonly referred to as the "Japanese Beetle", which was a 1978 Honda CVCC Civic. It was an air-cooled 1500 CC engine driving the front wheels through a 5 speed stickshift transmission, which was essentally two CBR750 motorcycle engines put together topped with their unique CVCC cylinder head design. This was the last year of the air cooled Civics before they went water cooled in 1979 and totally changed the transmission design, and enlarged the car overall (I imagine for the same reason VW stopped building air-cooled motors themselves) Driving that little car was like driving a go-kart. The car was tiny, with an optional back seat....you either carried 4 people, or 2 people and cargo. That little Civic was suprisingly fast, and had insanely tight handling. It had no problem plastering your shoulder against it's vinyl-covered cardboard door panels. In fact, in some aspects, I think that car handled better than the Saab 900 Turbo I currently own. The little motor would wind up and scream as it blasted you down the highway.

I always thought it was fun (and still do) when I get one of those impatient drivers on my bumper driving a big hulking sloppy vehicle right before I enter an interstate on-ramp. I would then crank the little car through the turn so hard it would make my face distort...the little car wouldn't even think about squealing a tire, I'd downshift at the end of the ramp, wind up the little motor, and already be at the posted speed well before I'd even touch the main road. The impatient driver a long ways back! Of course the impatient driver would eventually catch back up and pass me out on the interstate, but by that time they weren't a problem anymore cuz they could pass me without tailgating.
 
Parking brake

I find the parking brake a nuisance, but it is necessary in some situations. 99.9% of the time I just leave it into 1st without having to set the brake; it doesn't even think about rolling. I guess in a small car there's probably a better chance of it slooowly coasting forward or backward, but in my truck I have no problem.

The only time I use it is for parking on and starting from really steep hills. Other than that I hardly touch it.
 
I always set the brake when I park. Just habit I guess. I just hate it when I go to start the car and it starts rolling. I'm pretty anal about putting the car in neutral and reasing the clutch when idling.

I want my Beetle to last a LOOOOOOOOOOOONG time.

Starting from a hill is easy. I don't use the brake handle, I find the friction zone (where the clutch starts to touch the engine, apply throttle and slowly release. I can feel and hear what the car is doing.
 
Reading these several stories on sticks, Karmen Ghias, Mazdas reminded me of my own driving experiences.

A friend in high school had a new '73 Ghia convertible and tried to teach me how to shift. A complete and total failure! I was driving that tank of a 69 LTD by then and couldn't coordinate the clutch in his car, almost taking out a picnic area at the local park we were driving in. In our drivers ed class we learned on gigantic Oldsmobile 88s, all automatic.

Fast forward about 20 years, I started a business and driving my old 74 Fleetwood Talisman...a 4 seater Cadillac, just made for a couple of years, wasn't practical. I had to do a lot of in town driving. I bought a used 1979 Mazda RZ7 with a stick. I had the previous owner drive it home for me. After a couple of days, on a quiet Sunday morning, I got the nerve to drive the car.

After stalling it a couple of times, off I went. And I didn't do too bad! Of course, I later found out, the Mazda's rotary engine was trashed, it leaked oil like crazy as the seals were shot, the distributor shaft was bent, backfired almost every time I shifted. But with a little work, I nursed it along for a couple of years. It was just a fun car to drive. It even survived Phoenix's record heat one summer. I think it was 123 or 125 degrees that day.
 
Starting on hills

"Starting from a hill is easy. I don't use the brake handle, I find the friction zone (where the clutch starts to touch the engine, apply throttle and slowly release."

That takes a certain "touch" which some of us never can master. Usually the car starts to roll backward a little while one is searching for that "friction zone". That's OK if there's nobody right on your a** on the hill. If one tries to find the zone too fast, and it's not done *just* right, then there's either stall out, or a jerky, head-snapping start. The other thing I didn't mention before is the inconsistency between cars with sticks. Every manual trans car has a different "feel" as to how soon the clutch engages, the effort needed to dis-engage the clutch, the "throw" of the clutch, the "notchiness" and length of the gear lever throw. This is in addition to getting used to the differences in feel of the brakes and steering that's differnet from car to car. I re-iterate, stickshift car=outdated pain-in-the-butt (and neck).
 
Don't think that places like Florida and Texas are easy places for standard shift automobiles.

As teenagers, my sister and I each had 1965 Mustangs. My sister's was a three-speed. One day she parked it in a very flat parking lot, but forgot to set the emergency brake. Oops....it rolled back and ran into another car. So much for Miami having flat terrain.

As for Texas.....when I first moved here I had a 1973 Volvo 4-speed. OMG....the biggest torture of my life! Traffic was so awful that my left leg resembled that of a speed skater! I don't think I ever got out of first speed! Did I mention that the Volvo had no AC? A second no-no in Texas. Of course I had to endure the hottest summer on record (over 100 degrees for a week) with a non-air conditioned, four-speed car, panty hose, and a business suit. It took me 45 minutes to drive nine miles. By the time I got home I was ready to pack it up and move to Alaska.

I still like standards though. Here in a small town they are way more practical. I do, however, agree with Jaune about driving a standard in heavy traffic. It is a real pain (literally and figuratively). :-0
 
Venus

"Of course I had to endure the hottest summer on record (over 100 degrees for a week) with a non-air conditioned, four-speed car, panty hose, and a business suit."

Aren't you glad you're a stay-at-home mom now? :-D

Much better huh?
 
I've never even attempted to drive a stick shift (I am my mother's child, automatic all the way). The first car I ever drove was my mom's 1979 Ford LTD. It was cobalt blue, 20 feet long, and had a very strange sort of power steering. The wheel didn't feel like it was hooked to anything, so there was no sense of the tires on the road. The LTD lasted until I was sixteen, when Mom took me out for a driving lesson...which ended when I hit an embankment at 40 mph.
 
It took me a couple of weeks of jumping, peeling out, and stalling to re-learn a standard, and I was really thinking about going back to an automatic. However, I easily and quickly found the "friction zone"...and still laugh when the "automatic parents" have to move my truck for some reason. Revving, bouncing up the driveway, you name it, which is why 99% of the time I'm the only one who drives it, to save the clutch!!!
 
Automatic who?

Austin....

Oh pleeeeeeeeaaaaaassssseeeee....I was driving a stick shift before you were a twinkle in your daddy's eye (Corvette, Triumph Stag, Beetle, Volvo, 280ZX)! ;-)
 
Learning stick

HA!, you learned on that MODERN stuff. *I* learned on the old-timey three-on-tree with a clutch that challenged your leg muscles and had what seemed like a foot-long "throw". This was in a 1963 Chevy pickup with 6 cylinder.
 
Jaune

1963 Chevy pickup with 6 cylinder-I can still hear that beautiful stright six engine whine in second gear. Learned stick on a 59 Chevy Belair-columm shift-on a 4 door hardtop;strange combination indeed. Can still hear that 6.
 
Pardon the ramble...

Ironrite, you had a Talisman?!

For those who don't know, this was the top of the line Fleetwood, offered from '74-76. Longest non-limo, most luxurious post-war auto. And '74 was the only year that it was a 4-seater, with posh crushed velvet, plus a lighted center console in the front with flip-up notepad and pen, and a console in the rear as well.

Sink into the driver's seat, telescope the wheel, fingertip adjust the seating position, mirrors and windows, put in the 8-track, set your desired temp on the climate control, pull that gear shift down to D and engage the cruise!
 
Yes, it was a Talisman! And to add to that glamour, the car had its original paint in Terra Cotta Firemist, with a white vinyl top and dealer added landau bars. The interior was done in yards of Medici Velour, in matching terra cotta. The original pens were gone, but it came with Cross pen and pencil, which I replaced.

Mine also had the optional anti lock brakes. If memory serves me, I think they only acted on the rear wheels of the car. If I can find a picture of the beast I'll post it.

My favorite, of all the old Caddy's I've owned, was a 1966 Fleetwood Brougham. In the late 80's that car took me across country from San Francisco to New York City twice, with just basic oil changes and tune ups. Now that one that the walnut trimmed doors and the fold up writting tables in the back.
 
PIMPIN!

I did a search on the caddy Talisman. Wow what a car! My dad had a 78 Coupe De Ville for a short while. It was neat with all the buttons, the climate control and yes, the 8 track player! Woohoo!
 

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