I know it's a memel, but as a millennial with a 6MT, I know far more people in my age group who own manual cars, than older people (say over 45) who can drive one period. My brother an I are capable, as is my dad; one of my four aunts can, and none of my 7 grandparents can either. If I start looking at co-workers (fairly broad and distributed age range of 20-70) the same rings true, the only people daily-driving manuals are under 40, while easily 2/3 of that 20-45 age group can drive manual; conversely of those in the 46+ range, it seems closer to 1/3 are capable of driving, and almost all of them because they have a manual classic.
People seem to forget the automatic transmission started mass production in 1939, and take-rates in the US well-exceeded 50% by the late '60s/early '70s.
Maybe American millennials. When I did my test in the UK manuals were most cars. You can do your test in an automatic but if you do, you can only drive automatics legally. Which can cause some problems especially if you want to hire a car.
Almost all the millennials my age can drive and and a good percentage probably own a manual. Automatics are gaining ground in the UK but they're still typically more expensive. I suspect 17 year olds are still learning to drive manuals in the UK right now.
Europeans in general have way more car skills than the average American.
My understanding is that EU driving tests are vastly more difficult than US. You lot are throwing cars sideways, on purpose, and recovering from it to get your license.
Here it’s just use your turn signal, stay between the lines, and don’t crash.
This! About ten years ago, I had to make a late visit to a rental property in a rougher part of Atlanta. Walking back to my 1995 Accord Ex Coupe w/ manual gears (they probably made about a dozen of these…) some kids appeared out of the darkness. One had a gun pointed at me. Asked for the keys. I handed them over. And then asked, “do you know how to drive a stick?” Gun-boy said yes, and they climbed into the car. Engine starts. Car sits there. About 30 seconds later, they all got out and asked what else I had.
Cost of that evening? One already vintage iPhone 4. Still driving manual, but not visiting properties in the dark any more.
And here lies electric_mayhem, buried with the last manual transmission, just as he always wanted. No grave robber will disturb his grave, nor know how to use his buried treasure.
Maybe you're thinking Gen Z? I'm a millennial and I learned to drive around the turn of the millennium (midwestern state so a year or 2 earlier than most). My parents owned a few sticks over the years and they weren't that uncommon in the 90s. Alot of our first cars would be hand me downs from 80s/early 90s, when stick was not uncommon.
Just another example of us being the butt of jokes from boomers, even when it's not the case. :)
My current car is a low milage 1991 Acura Integra 5-speed manual. I bought it party because it would have been one of the cool cars to have back in high school. No one would have thought the manual would be that out of place back then.
