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I am surprised no one mentioned old motorcycles though. Before 68, British bikes had the shifter and brake on opposite sides from American bikes. This also reversed the shift pattern from down to get first and then up for the rest to up to get first and down to upshift

Yep, I had a British bike (BSA 650 Lightning), and riding any Japanese bikes was a challenge - wrong foot and upside down. Many was the time I wanted to press on the rear brake and changed gears instead.. There were some Japanese bikes that had a totally crazy shift pattern, where neutral was at the bottom. I preferred shift patterns that assured that, in a pinch, if you stabbed downward on the lever, you'd get a gear - maybe not a good gear to be in, but a gear that will keep you moving nonetheless.

I was working in Norway in the mid ‘90s. The boss (another American) asked one of the locals to take his company car (Volvo with auto tranny) to pick up some supplies across town. The Norwegian walked back in the boss’s office ~30 minutes later, handing back the keys, and apologising, but without the supplies. He explained that he couldn’t figure out how to drive the automatic transmission.

Years ago while in the USAF, I was stationed in Germany. My wife and I bought a used German-made Ford Taunus. It was a small 4-door sedan, with a V-4 engine and a 4 speed on the column.

Today, I own a 37 MG VA Saloon. Right hand drive, with 4-speed transmission. Floor shift, shift with your left hand. Only 3rd and 4th are synchronized, so you have to double clutch (or double de-clutch in Brit Speak) going into and out of the lower gears.

RSX11 wrote: Wed Aug 15, 2018 10:07 pm

I am surprised no one mentioned old motorcycles though. Before 68, British bikes had the shifter and brake on opposite sides from American bikes. This also reversed the shift pattern from down to get first and then up for the rest to up to get first and down to upshift

Yep, I had a British bike (BSA 650 Lightning), and riding any Japanese bikes was a challenge - wrong foot and upside down. Many was the time I wanted to press on the rear brake and changed gears instead.. There were some Japanese bikes that had a totally crazy shift pattern, where neutral was at the bottom. I preferred shift patterns that assured that, in a pinch, if you stabbed downward on the lever, you'd get a gear - maybe not a good gear to be in, but a gear that will keep you moving nonetheless.

This made me think of a friend I had that had lost his left hand and had a hook. He got a honda 90, reversed the levers, and mounted an eye bolt on the left handlebar for his hook. He did great, but drove the mechanics at the bike shop nuts.

srothstein wrote: Wed Aug 15, 2018 9:13 pm ...I also remember being amazed the first time I drove an M151 Jeep in the Army. Yep, they hid that starter button alright. And one of the weirder trucks I test drove was a new 2007 (I think) Volvo. ...

Speaking of old military jeeps and controls in funny places: in college I worked summers in a state park. One of the vehicles for use by park staff (and only within the park) was an old military jeep. It not only had the starter button, but the windshield wipers were activated by a lever switch on the dash, and I think it had a couple other things that were different from civilian autos of the day. Anyway not only was this confusing to new summer labor kids joining the park staff, but the fulltime mechanic on staff got bored and wired the horn into the wiper switch, while the horn button now activated the headlights or some such, and so on. Took awhile to get the hang of the thing, but it was fun to drive.

srothstein wrote: Wed Aug 15, 2018 9:13 pm I am surprised no one mentioned old motorcycles though. Before 68, British bikes had the shifter and brake on opposite sides from American bikes. This also reversed the shift pattern from down to get first and then up for the rest to up to get first and down to upshift.

Some of the motorcycles that Sears sold under the Allstate name in the 1960's (re-badged eastern European manufacture. Puch?) were like that too. High school buddy of mine had one his dad picked up somewhere, that we'd ride around the pasture. Required some mental concentration, especially if we had just arrived at his house on a japanese product of the time (early/mid 1970's). Sometimes 'muscle memory' is NOT a good thing.

jason812 wrote: Wed Aug 08, 2018 9:29 pm
Or 4 wheel non powered drum brakes, no power steering, no air conditioning, and no cruise control. Probably don't know about a carburetor with a manual choke either and the joy when you get it to crank the first try and keep it running when its freezing outside.

Well I have a deeelux automobile... my 1967 Caprice has climate control with a thermostat AND an honest to goodness 8 track tape player!

The best anti-theft device I ever had was on my second car: an '80 Subaru hatchback (the one with three headlights).

I broke off my key in the ignition, so I wired up a flip switch and push button on the dash, one on either side of the steering wheel. Get in, flip the switch, and push the button, and you were off & running.
Then, my brakes died completely, and I was a poor college student, so I didn't replace them. Even the parking brake was nonexistent. You could pull the handle or stomp the brakes, and the car completely ignored your command.
I simply used the stick shift to slow down. I lived in the hills of Tennessee, so I'd see a stop coming up, my technique was different whether I was driving uphill or down.

• If driving downhill, I'd downshift to slow the car to a crawl, and then flip the 'off switch' to hold it in place. When I needed to start again, I'd clutch, flip the switch, and press the start button, and start driving again.
• If driving uphill, I'd downshift to first, allowing the car to slow down, and then rev the engine just enough to hold me still on the grade. When I needed to start again, I just pressed the gas a bit harder.

Then my starter died. I needed to roll start everywhere I went. The uphill stopping / starting technique remained unchanged, as did the downhill stopping technique. But to start downhill, I needed to flip the switch back on, ignore the start button, and pop the clutch.

I drove it like this for 1.5 years. Needless to say, I was a very careful driver, and I planned every step of my trip. I usually routed my trips to be on the most advantageous roads to meet my driving needs.

During the whole time, I had no car key (remember, I broke it off in the ignition), so I never locked the car. My motto was, "If you can figure out how to start it, you can take it. If you can figure out how to stop it, you can keep it."

Judging by the reactions at the inspection station, my '64 Valiant's pushbutton shifter makes for a good theft deterrent - if the unfortunate paint and appliance-like appearance aren't enough.

The techs get in, reach for a shifter stalk that isn't there, then look at the plain transmission hump, back and forth ...

Wow, I had forgotten all about that one. My fathers '61 Dodge had that and that's what I learned to drive on.