I have two female friends, one in her late sixties and the other in her mid 50s who will only buy a car with a manual transmission. Both like to drive and the friend in her late 60s commutes 60 miles each way to work. Her car is a Mazda3. My other friend has a 15 mile commute each way with much of her drive in city traffic. Her car is a Honda Civic. This friend came from a family that didn’t own a car. When she had to buy a car, she bought a used Renault Le Car from her neighbour. After the LeCar she has had nothing but Honda Civics with manual transmissions. Both women are very feminine and both really like to drive.
My last manual transmission car was a 1965 Rambler. I am o.k. with shifting gears, but when I replaced the Rambler, the automatic was more common in used cars. Now that I have to have a minivan, there really isn’t any choice–all minivans are automatics.
I did like driving the MG Midgets from the early 1960s through the mid 1970s. At one time I thought about getting a Mazda Miata, but Mrs. Triedaq nixed the idea. She says that Miatas are for wimps who don’t want to get their hands dirty. The MG Midgets or Austin Healey Sprites are acceptable to her-she says I need to be a real man, fix my.own car and be able and willing to get out and push when it breaks down.
I would say I have big feet, but have wondered if that accurately expresses my problem, as opposed to clumsy feet. I learned to drive on manuals, including a 1936 Chevrolet. (Not practical, but a load of fun.)
I also drove large straight trucks for a year or so before the draft. Even the big Crash Rescue firetruck in the Army had a semi-automatic transmission. But, otherwise cars had manual transmission, heh, heh.
In 1973, i was facing a dramatic life change, ahem. And, bought a 60’s Biscayne or Belair, big thing with auto transmission. Suddenly, driving in town was not a major pain any more. Since that date, in 44 years, I have driven a manual transmission a total of around 250 yards.
For the same reason, big or clumsy feet, take your choice, I have driven with both feet, right foot on throttle, left foot on brake. A few years ago, we had a NYC cable guy come on here, and he said the cable company had all their drivers take training from a driving consultant who taught them to drive with both feet, as I described.
The main objection is that bad drivers who drive with both feet sometimes ride the brakes. That is not because of driving with both feet, but because of bad driving.
Older people have trouble keeping track of where their feet are, and when trying to use the right foot for both throttle and brake, there are odds that eventually a mistake will be made, which results in a large number of people getting run over.
Older drivers should be taught to use both feet, and when getting in the car, to look down and get their feet in the right place, and these terrible accidents will not longer happen.
If someone rides the brakes, require them to install a buzzer, a loud buzzer, which rings when both brakes and throttle are on at the same time.
So what happens if you’re a bad driver who wears size 13 shoes . . . ?!
Several years ago, I was afraid my manual transmission driving days might be over. I had a bad heel spur and an orthopedic surgeon wanted to amputate the foot. I decided he had a “defeetist attitude”, so I went to a podiatrist who fitted me with orthodics. Unfortunately, I can’t find a minivan with a manual transmission, so I am still sentenced to automatic transmissions.
Exactly how did he go about explaining WHY that would necessitate amputating your foot . . . ?!
Seems kind of drastic to me 
@db4690. Don’t take Triedaq seriously. He has been telling this sick joke for years. He thinks a defeetist attitude meant that the surgeon wanted to remove his foot. He does suffer with a heel spur, but found a podiatrist who was able to fit orthodics that gave him relief. I’m trying to find a way of getting relief from Triedaq’s terrible jokes.
Mrs. Triedaq
As someone who has bone spurs on both heels I knew better and did not find the ‘joke’ to be amusing.
The heel spur put an end to my running days. I would use my lunch hour to go run for three miles. I loved it–particularly when the weather was nice and I could run outside. I was running one day and suddenly the pain in my heel was so great I barely made it back to the shower room. I haven’t been able to run since that time. I had cortisone shots in the heel, but the relief didn’t last very long. After several appointments with orthopedic surgeons, I came down with an unrelated issue and went to a walk-in clinic. The doctor that examined me and gave me a prescription said I should feel relief within a couple of days. I asked if she could do something for my feet. She took a look at my feet and said “We have an orthopedic surgeon on staff, but if these were my feet, I would see a podiatrist”. I did just that. My running days are over, but I am able to do my 3 mile fitness walk five days a week and complete the walk in 50 minutes. Mrs. Triedaq does the.walk with me.
Great! I had a heel bone spur but it went away after a month or two. If it comes back, I’ll try the podiatrist.
No, you should learn to drive a stick shift before buying one.
The best reason to buy a car with a manual transmission is that you think they’re fun. You might hate driving one.
Yes, get the manual transmission version. You’ll save a few bucks now, and you’ll save even more later when your friends with automatics have them in for a rebuild, you’ll still be on the road. How hard is it to move the shifter anyway? Once you have the truck in your driveway you’ll have incentive to drive it, and will learn in no time how to work the clutch. I think Ray’s idea that he explained on the radio show to a caller like you, that is where to start: Find an empty parking lot on level ground, and practice letting the clutch out slowly enough that the engine doesn’t stall even though you are giving it no gas at all, foot completely off the accelerator pedal. You’ll stall out a few times while getting the hang of it. Once you can do that time after time without stalling, then practice with a little gas at the same time you let the clutch out. Once you can do that repeatedly, then practice shifting into first, then second. I’m guessing within an hour of practice you’ll be ready to drive your manual transmission truck. It’s not as complicated as it sounds, you just have to learn some muscle memory is all. Come back here once you are pretty good at shifting and we’ll explain how to double clutch for better downshifts.
Since about 1940, manufacturers tried all kinds of ways to make shifting gears easier. Packard had an electric clutch that eliminated the need to depress the clutch pedal. Hudson had its drivemaster vacuum system that operated the clutch and moved the shift lever. GM started moving the shift lever from the floor to the column in 1938. Most 1939 Chevrolets were equipped with a vacuum assist on the shift which was then standard on Chevrolets from 1940 through 1948. Chrysler corporation had its fluid coupling which allowed one to come to a stop without depressing the clutch pedal and take off, albeit slowly in high gear. Later, this was coupled with a semi-automatic box which retained a clutch pedal to select reverse, neutral, low range or driving range. In drive range, one started in third gear and accelerated to 15 or 20 mph, released the accelerator, and the car dropped into fourth gear or direct drive. Low range had a first and second speed. The Cord automobile had a system whereby one could preselect the next gear and then release the accelerator when one was ready to shift.
The only system that survived was the fully automatic with no clutch pedal introduced by GM in 1940 on the Oldsmobile and called the Hydramatic.
For this 75 year old geezer, give me a manual with a floor mounted crisp shifting lever. I don’t want a sloppy shifting column shifter or any of the other systems to make shifting easier. I liked the four speed on my 1950 Chevy one ton pickup. Normally I would start in second gear. First gear was only used for pulling a heavy trailer or stretching fence.
Volkswagen started selling VWs with “automatic stick shift” in the 60s. They had electrical contact points on the bottom of the shift lever that operated a clutch. I worked at a VW dealer and hated driving those things.
I actually had a girl friend who bought one because she thought Bugs were cute, but couldn’t drive a manual transmission. She called the shift lever a “Didgy-Poo.” 
CSA
When I got my driver’s license, my parents had a 1954 Buick with a V-8 engine and a 3 speed manual transmission and a 1952 Dodge coupe with the Gyromatic “lift and clunk” transmission. The Buick was more fun to drive. However, the Dodge was my preferred car on a date. IMHO, that is the only place where the automatic has an advantage.