Grinding gears

Washington Post: "The death of the stick shift is almost here - Driving a manual vehicle is a lost art. Hopes of a revival have fallen flat. With the rise of EVs and autonomous vehicles, only a few die-hards are holding on."

Less than 1 percent of new vehicles made for the U.S. market in 2025 were stick shifts, according to preliminary government data. At just 0.6 percent, it was an all-time low.

My first car was my father's hand-me-down Volkswagen Rabbit which (nobody recalls) had a helpful "shift up" light in the center of the dashboard console.  Soon the knowledge of operating a manual transmission will fade from memory like an ancient language.