OT. Classic Pickups

[Dean Hoffman]

I've driven pickups with four speeds but never one with the three on the tree.   

[hubops]

My first car was 3-on-the-tree '62 Comet .. my first pickup was 3-on-the-tree '80 F100. I remember picking up a couple hitch-hikers one time in the pickup - ~ 15 year old guys heading to the beach - they knew about 4-on-the-floor but asked me how I knew where the gears were - it wasn't imprinted on the shifter knob ... :-) John T.

[Ed Pawlowski]

You don't really know how to drive stick shift until you know how to double clutch to shift into a non-syncro first gear.

Best learned on someone else's truck/car.

[rbowman]

I had a '62 Dodge D100 with three on the tree and a 225 ci slant six. It was a step-side although Dodge did have a straight side that was more popular.

The truck was a little tired. A previous owner had installed clearance lights on the cab and modified the exhaust to go to a vertical piece of iron pipe behind the cab. At least in New Hampshire to pass inspection if there were lights they had to work so I had to fix them. As long as the exhaust exited behind the cab you were good to go so the DIY Kenworth look passed muster.

[rbowman]

My second car was a '51 Chevy with three on the tree but I was used to that as all the family cars, '57 Chevy, '62 Rambler, and '65 Dodge were also. My father didn't believe in automatics. After he died my mother bought a Duster but first I had to convince her she could drive an automatic. She'd been driving since the '20s but never an AT.

A friend had a Saab 95 with the shift on the tree but iirc the pattern was different. Most things about that car were. She liked it because she lived out in the woods and it had FWD which wasn't very common at the time.

The weirdest pattern I ever drove was on a Volvo-White cabover with an OD transmission.

1 2 5 3 4

I put over 150,000 miles on that truck and would still miss the shift occasionally, always someplace where you really didn't want to miss a shift of course.

[Clare Snyder]

How about a 4 speed "rock crusher" - NO SYNCROS PERIOD. About like an old tractor.

[rbowman]

If you're really good you don't need the clutch at all.

[Snag]

My first car was a '62 Pontiac Tempest with a 3 on the floor (rear transaxle) . First wasn't synced , I got pretty good at matching R's on a downshift .

[Wade Garrett]

My first pickup was a top of the line jacked up, big tires/wheels, short bed '77 Ford 4X4 with the 400 inch V8. That baby could have climbed straight up a pine tree if there was a way to make it stick on.

It had two 25 gallon fuel tanks (with fill necks awkwardly located on opposite sides!) and believe me, it needed them. MPG never saw double digits.

Sold to me by the local Ford dealer as new/untitled, it had 375 miles on the odometer. I think some bad stuff had happened it though as the 4WD never really worked properly and eventually needed the transmission, transfer case, front wheel hubs and front gearbox rebuilt. My guess is it sat in water up over the axles.

Nonetheless, I loved that truck-- even though it was a real POS...

[Ed Pawlowski]

Had a 63 and 64. The 64 was the best auto buy ever, no depreciation. Paid $150 for it. Drove it for a year. The lady I bought it from missed it so I sold it back to her for $150. We were both happy.

[Snag]

Was '64 the first year they used a traditional solid rear axle ? Since it was the first year for the GTO ...

[invalid unparseable]

'49 Chevy with me. It was 10 years old when I bought it for $200 and had to spend another $25 for a carburetor. Used it for three years to commute to university and sold to a friend's brother for $25 and it threw a rod first time he drove it.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Don't think it did.

[Snag]

Just di a little diggin' , yes , the 64's got the trans up front and a solid rear axle . Apparently they dumped the slant 4 at the same time and they got a straight 6 . I'm betting a 389 V8 was an option ...

[Dean Hoffman]

Dad had a Dodge truck that I don't remember much about. It was big enough to be called a truck instead of a pickup. It didn't have a box hoist so the guys at the Coop had to use their lift to raise the front end to unload it. The first pickup I remember was a 1965 or so Ford F-250. It was a four speed with granny low. I had a 1999 Subaru 2.5RS. One of the neighbor kids wanted it until I said 5 speed manual.

[micky]

4 years ago when it was time for me to buy another car, I went to see a Mustang convertible, red, with extra trimmings, several years old in beautiful condition. The ad could be understood two ways and I didnb't know until I got there that it was a stick shift, so rather than drive it on the test drive, I let the owner do so. He knew I wasn't going to buy it.

He had two sons, 16 and maybe 14 and even the one with the drivers license couldn't drive a stick and didn't seem to want to learn.

Now I can drive a stick but I didn't want one for my only car. However, if I had a father with a beautful mustang, I'd learn the next day. I'm disappointed in him and he's not even my kid. I'm sure his father was, but he was selling the Mustang.