Oh damn - it's a stick! We can't steal it!

[Fairportfan]

Would-be carjackers foiled by mysteries of the stick shift

An attempted stickup was confounded by a car's stick shift, when would-be carjackers failed to understand the mechanics behind a manual transmission.

Randolph Bean tells WOFL FOX 35 that two men attempted to steal his 2002 yellow Corvette at gunpoint outside an Orlando hospital, but they ended up running away after they couldn't figure out how to drive his car.

"They apparently couldn't start it," Bean 51, is quoted as saying in a police report. "I had to tell him four different times to push in the clutch, because it's a standard transmission."

After several failed attempts, the thieves eventually fled the scene.

"My first thought was I guess we don't have driver's ed. in school anymore, because no one knows how to drive a stick. And my second thing was, don't shoot me because you can't start the car," Bean said. "I'm trying to help you out here, you know. Thankfully they didn't."

However, the foiled carjackers did not leave entirely empty-handed. "They got away with my phone, they got my keys, they got my wallet," Randolph told the Fox affiliate.

Still, Randolph was pretty forgiving when asked what message he had for the "handsome young men, who did not look like car thieves."

"Guys, turn your life around. You guys have got a lot going for you," he said. "Thank you for not taking my life for something silly as a car."

[Boxilar]

*Sigh* Kids these days. What kind of car thief can't drive a manual transmission?

[Julie]

*Sigh* Kids these days. What kind of car thief can't drive a manual transmission?

I know LOADS of people who can't drive a stick. True, a car thief should know how to drive a standard transmission vehicle...just to be sure that they can steal any car they want...but it's kind of becoming a lost art. I know that when I took drivers' ed (about 15 years ago), there wasn't an option to learn how to drive a standard. My parents had to teach me after I got my license (by buying me a car that was a standard and telling me "If you want to ever drive it, you have to learn how...and you can't borrow our cars until you can drive your own."), and given how more and more cars are being made as automatics (it seems) I doubt that we'll see too many kids learning how to drive a standard unless their parents step in like mine did.

Then again, I'm kind of a fan of this progression since driving a stick has ensured that not just anyone can drive my car, which was great when I drove cars that my friends thought were "cool" (though it also limits my ability to have a friend step in as DD when we're out).

[jwhouk]

I always thought the terms were "manual" and "automatic."

The second car I purchased new was a green '93 Ford Escort with a five speed. That thing got to be a little tedious to drive at times, and I bet that whoever bought it after I traded it in on my truck probably had to replace the clutch.

[scantrontb]

My roommate's kids are fascinated by their grandparent's CORDED phone!! they've never seen one anywhere else in their like. the kind that has a ROTARY dial on it to boot!

[Fairportfan]

I always thought the terms were "manual" and "automatic."

"Stick shift" is a term that may be fading out, now that most people have never actually seen one...

[Mark N]

When I had Drivers Ed in high School in the late 80's all of the cars were automatic transmission and to learn a clutch you had to know someone that drove one so it is not a hard thing to find people that don't know how to drive a stick. Outside of trucks it is not all that common now or then.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Heck, my first car was a VW Rabbit that was a stick. Not only that, 'reverse' was set to the LEFT of 'first', so you had to be careful throwing it into gear at an intersection or you could rear-end the guy behind you

[Julie]

I always thought the terms were "manual" and "automatic."

"Stick shift" is a term that may be fading out, now that most people have never actually seen one...

And I've always used "standard" in addition to "stick shift" because that's what my dad always said..."Standard transmission" or "standard" for short...and "stick shift" for slang.

[DinkyInky]

Manual is great fun... My mother is a tailor, and one of her customers is a Ford dealership owner. He let me test drive the new Shelby Cobras when they first came out(automatic for those is an expensive custom...especially when they start at 35k).

I felt bad for the poor dealer that sat shotgun and told me to go ahead and "open her up" on the highway.

I gave my best joyful grin, and raced her out on 80-94.

I told them when we got back the guy needed air and a change of clothing, and thanked my Mothers customer for allowing me to drive such a fun car.

[Fairportfan]

I got to sit in (not drive, of course) the GT40 that ran third at Le Mans the year Ford finished 1-2-3 (1967, i think).

I was one of the last Western Union bicycle messengers in 1966 and 1967, and had a telegram to deliver to the local Ford dealer; the three cars were being trucked around to Ford dealers all over the country for promotional purposes, and the Greenville dealer got that one.

[jwhouk]

Funny thing about Fords - I was a "lot jockey" for a Ford dealer where I lived post-college. I was kinda forced to learn how to drive stick, as I had to move the trucks and various vehicles around in the lot. (The dealer was a bit rural, and their business was mostly trucks.)

It was actually fun after a while.

[DinkyInky]

Funny thing about Fords - I was a "lot jockey" for a Ford dealer where I lived post-college. I was kinda forced to learn how to drive stick, as I had to move the trucks and various vehicles around in the lot. (The dealer was a bit rural, and their business was mostly trucks.)

It was actually fun after a while.

Did they let you drive the happy fun cars, and how many flare side Ranger xlt's did you play with?

[jwhouk]

Not many. They had mostly an F-150 dealership, with only the occasional 'stang and mostly non-fancy Rangers.

[DinkyInky]

Not many. They had mostly an F-150 dealership, with only the occasional 'stang and mostly non-fancy Rangers.

Awww...Rangers have good longevity. My sibling got an abused 93 xlt xcab with over 150k, I sunk a tranny(abused by being a sport rig in TX with car rims and zero maintenance)into it, we spent $1k on steel rims and heavy duty truck tires, and he got another 100k before selling it, and his friend put 200k with only changing universal and tie rods.

My ex had a 92 Ranger xlt xcab and before a new at the time Chevy S10 long bed committed harakiri on it, he was pushing 450k with no major maintenance on it. The guy completely totaled his new truck, while my ex drove his home to give me the bad news. This was also classed as a head on, as it hit midpoint on both front ends. Guy in new truck was unhappy because a judge ordered him to give him replacement fee for my exes. I still say the turd should have been jailed for how he caused it.

...wow. I just realised that turned into a rant o rama. Sorry! Anyway, I'd buy Ford if I needed a truck again. The Dodge Ram brand is decent with features, and mid-range durability, but I like high-range durability and dependability more.

[NOTDilbert]

My current drive is an 89 Dodge Dakota. Only major work done on it was after I hit a cow (it was a dark and stormy night), accidentally turned left into oncoming traffic (totally my fault) and a mule deer in Wyoming (whom we now refer to as 'Suicide Joe'). As long as I do regular maintenance, it runs like a clock.

[jwhouk]

That "ticking" sound is probably your transmission about to go. That was one of several reasons why I got rid of my '97 Dakota extended cab. (The other major one was "GAS MILEAGE".)

I liked Rangers. There was this one guy who would come into the dealership and buy a brand new one, every single year. And he paid cash. It was weird, but I didn't quite mind.

[Julie]

I liked the little Ranger (Splash, extended cab) that I inherited from my dad the first year I went off to college (because my car had been totaled that summer...not my fault). It was ideal for moving a lot of my stuff out and then back home every year (as long as it wasn't raining). She was a stick shift too (I've actually only owned one automatic thus far). I called her Little Red. I remember being kind of sad to let her go when my parents sold her for a song to an aunt who needed a new car and was moving.

Best memory of that truck: My dad tried to teach me how to drive it when I was 14. Little Red was a good little thing, and she always treated me well when she was mine...but she was not very forgiving when it came to learning how to drive a stick. Needless to say, getting behind the wheel when I didn't know anything about driving, and less about manual transmissions, was unnerving at best. My dad asked me to drive the truck from the front of the house to the back and park her in the driveway right outside the garage (where he usually parked since the garage was half full, and Mom always drives the nice cars). It was raining (not a good start), and I was halfway panicked that I'd do something wrong (also not a good start). The drive to the alley and around to the back of the house actually went pretty well. Then my brain froze as I pulled into the driveway. As I was trying valiantly to remember if I needed to push in the clutch when I wanted to come to a stop, I drove into the frame of the garage door. I was only going maybe 3 mph, but I took out a nice chunk of bricks, and pushed the frame of the garage door in about 4 to 6 inches. It scratched up the paint and dented the front bumper, but otherwise the truck was unharmed.

You may wonder why this was my best memory of Little Red. It's because that was the day I learned that my father was an exceptionally reasonable man. All my life I'd been subjected to his tendency towards hyperbole and high expectations (I'd fail a quiz in one class that I'd not studied for, and he'd rant about how I better be prepared to sell fries at McDonald's). When I did damage to his house and his vehicle, I expected him to start yelling and be furious. Instead, he calmly asked me to get out of the truck and look at the damage with him. Then he said, "This is what you did going 3 mph. Now imagine the kind of damage you could do going 30 mph." That was the last time I heard about it (until a coouple of years later when he started dragging it out as a "funny" story about the kind of "mischief his intelligent daughter could get up to when she didn't use her brains"). He never got that bumper fixed, so I drove Little Red with the dent and scratches I gave her in my first fumbling attempt to drive. It was almost like a badge of honor to me.

[jwhouk]

The one thing I always heard during the time when I owned my pickup is that a pickup doesn't really have any character until after it's had a few dents and scratches in it.

There are a few things I miss about my Dakota, but then I remember the time right before I got rid of it when it started lurching after I had accelerated from a stoplight. I came to the conclusion that I'd be spending a bunch of $$$ on a new tranny at that point, and I already had about 82k on the thing, and facing down the possibility of spending $50 a tank on the thing... a new car was pretty much a foregone conclusion.