#econocar — Public Fediverse posts

When I was around 18, I had the chance to drive a friend's AMC Gremlin. It was actually a pretty cool small, cheap car, roomier on the inside than it appeared from the outside. As with many small cars then, it was fun to drive even with the limited power of 1970s North American engine technology, because they were *light*. No one who grew up with modern small cars that weigh two tonnes knows what throwing a light, nimble #econocar around the streets could do to instill a love of driving in you.

One thing that caught me off guard was the transmission - it was a three-on-the-floor [1], with a shift pattern like this:

R 2
|----|
1 3

where I was used to the more common four-gear transmission that went:

R 1 3
|----|---|
2 4

Before I set off, I asked him "How do you adjust and avoid accidentally putting it in reverse when you come to a stop?"

He said "By doing it once at a red light, with a car behind you."

(It was fun as hell, by the way. Right up there with a Chevrolet #Chevette, Volkswagen Rabbit (aka first-gen Golf) or my Mazda #GLC.)

[1] Yes, manual (or what we called "standard" at the time) transmissions. Kids, ask your grandparents. It's one reason those cars were hundreds of kilograms lighter.

#car #driving #AMC #AMCGremlin #gremlin #transmission #ManualTransmission #clutch

When I was around 18, I had the chance to drive a friend's AMC Gremlin. It was actually a pretty cool small, cheap car, roomier on the inside than it appeared from the outside. As with many small cars then, it was fun to drive even with the limited power of 1970s North American engine technology, because they were *light*. No one who grew up with modern small cars that weigh two tonnes knows what throwing a light, nimble #econocar around the streets could do to instill a love of driving in you.

One thing that caught me off guard was the transmission - it was a three-on-the-floor [1], with a shift pattern like this:

R 2
|----|
1 3

where I was used to the more common four-gear transmission that went:

R 1 3
|----|---|
2 4

Before I set off, I asked him "How do you adjust and avoid accidentally putting it in reverse when you come to a stop?"

He said "By doing it once at a red light, with a car behind you."

(It was fun as hell, by the way. Right up there with a Chevrolet #Chevette, Volkswagen Rabbit (aka first-gen Golf) or my Mazda #GLC.)

[1] Yes, manual (or what we called "standard" at the time) transmissions. Kids, ask your grandparents. It's one reason those cars were hundreds of kilograms lighter.

#car #driving #AMC #AMCGremlin #gremlin #transmission #ManualTransmission #clutch

When I was around 18, I had the chance to drive a friend's AMC Gremlin. It was actually a pretty cool small, cheap car, roomier on the inside than it appeared from the outside. As with many small cars then, it was fun to drive even with the limited power of 1970s North American engine technology, because they were *light*. No one who grew up with modern small cars that weigh two tonnes knows what throwing a light, nimble #econocar around the streets could do to instill a love of driving in you.

One thing that caught me off guard was the transmission - it was a three-on-the-floor [1], with a shift pattern like this:

R 2
|----|
1 3

where I was used to the more common four-gear transmission that went:

R 1 3
|----|---|
2 4

Before I set off, I asked him "How do you adjust and avoid accidentally putting it in reverse when you come to a stop?"

He said "By doing it once at a red light, with a car behind you."

(It was fun as hell, by the way. Right up there with a Chevrolet #Chevette, Volkswagen Rabbit (aka first-gen Golf) or my Mazda #GLC.)

[1] Yes, manual (or what we called "standard" at the time) transmissions. Kids, ask your grandparents. It's one reason those cars were hundreds of kilograms lighter.

#car #driving #AMC #AMCGremlin #gremlin #transmission #ManualTransmission #clutch

When I was around 18, I had the chance to drive a friend's AMC Gremlin. It was actually a pretty cool small, cheap car, roomier on the inside than it appeared from the outside. As with many small cars then, it was fun to drive even with the limited power of 1970s North American engine technology, because they were *light*. No one who grew up with modern small cars that weigh two tonnes knows what throwing a light, nimble #econocar around the streets could do to instill a love of driving in you.

One thing that caught me off guard was the transmission - it was a three-on-the-floor [1], with a shift pattern like this:

R 2
|----|
1 3

where I was used to the more common four-gear transmission that went:

R 1 3
|----|---|
2 4

Before I set off, I asked him "How do you adjust and avoid accidentally putting it in reverse when you come to a stop?"

He said "By doing it once at a red light, with a car behind you."

(It was fun as hell, by the way. Right up there with a Chevrolet #Chevette, Volkswagen Rabbit (aka first-gen Golf) or my Mazda #GLC.)

[1] Yes, manual (or what we called "standard" at the time) transmissions. Kids, ask your grandparents. It's one reason those cars were hundreds of kilograms lighter.

#car #driving #AMC #AMCGremlin #gremlin #transmission #ManualTransmission #clutch

When I was around 18, I had the chance to drive a friend's AMC Gremlin. It was actually a pretty cool small, cheap car, roomier on the inside than it appeared from the outside. As with many small cars then, it was fun to drive even with the limited power of 1970s North American engine technology, because they were *light*. No one who grew up with modern small cars that weigh two tonnes knows what throwing a light, nimble #econocar around the streets could do to instill a love of driving in you.

One thing that caught me off guard was the transmission - it was a three-on-the-floor [1], with a shift pattern like this:

R 2
|----|
1 3

where I was used to the more common four-gear transmission that went:

R 1 3
|----|---|
2 4

Before I set off, I asked him "How do you adjust and avoid accidentally putting it in reverse when you come to a stop?"

He said "By doing it once at a red light, with a car behind you."

(It was fun as hell, by the way. Right up there with a Chevrolet #Chevette, Volkswagen Rabbit (aka first-gen Golf) or my Mazda #GLC.)

[1] Yes, manual (or what we called "standard" at the time) transmissions. Kids, ask your grandparents. It's one reason those cars were hundreds of kilograms lighter.

#car #driving #AMC #AMCGremlin #gremlin #transmission #ManualTransmission #clutch