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  #41  
Old 08-21-2019, 06:25 PM
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The reason they came out with the column shift 3spd manual to replace the floor shifter was so you could put 3 adults in the front seat... Seriously.

I guess I'm showing my age because I grew up with the 3 on the tree being pretty common. My first car was a '60 Bonneville with an automatic, but the first two cars I ever drove were 3 OTT's ('65 Ramble Rebel and a '50 Pontiac). Many of my friends drove 3OTT's - I remember a '49 Chrysler Windsor, a '57 Chev and a '62 Plymouth Valiant (with no heater in northern MN) off the top of my head.

I've owned a '69 Chevy Bel Air with a 3OTT, and as I mentioned earlier, a '69 Opel Rekord with a 4OTT.

While stationed in Germany (1974 - 1977) I did about 50,000 miles in government sedans - mostly in '66 - 67 Rambler Ambassadors with 3OTT's. That got a little confusing going from a 4OTT to a 3OTT... More than once I almost took off from a stop light in reverse, but I caught myself every time.

  #42  
Old 08-21-2019, 07:17 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Simple Man View Post
Before that, it was a floor shift that was standard. It was a big deal, I think the late 30's, when you could get a column shift car, and get away from the floor shift.
I don't know about other brands, but Ford went from a floor shift in 1939 to a column shift in 1940.

  #43  
Old 08-21-2019, 07:45 PM
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We have a 3 OTT in our family.
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  #44  
Old 08-21-2019, 09:35 PM
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My older brother and I marveled at a '66 Buick LeSabre with factory 3-on-the-tree at a car show in 1999.

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I'd like to find a 1971 Catalina with a three speed some day. It was the last year a manual transmission was available in the full size Pontiacs; it was only available for the first half of the model year, and they only built a handful of them (I forget the exact numbers, but I think it was only something like 15 or 20.)
After seeing the '66 LeSabre mentioned above, my brother did some researching and found out about 1971 being the final year of availability for the column 3-speed in a full size Buick. A few years later, he found one in Montana. It was a LeSabre 4-door sedan (predictably), with 350 2BBL, no A/C. He kept it for about five years and sold it locally. I'd venture to say it is probably still in northern New England somewhere.

Production number is reputed to be around 100 but I don't know if anyone knows for sure.

  #45  
Old 08-21-2019, 10:42 PM
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Originally Posted by Lightfoot View Post
After seeing the '66 LeSabre mentioned above, my brother did some researching and found out about 1971 being the final year of availability for the column 3-speed in a full size Buick. A few years later, he found one in Montana. It was a LeSabre 4-door sedan (predictably), with 350 2BBL, no A/C. He kept it for about five years and sold it locally. I'd venture to say it is probably still in northern New England somewhere.

Production number is reputed to be around 100 but I don't know if anyone knows for sure.
I looked up the numbers for three speed manual big Pontiacs in 1971:
2 Grand Villes
4 Bonnevilles
6 Catalina Broughams
30 Catalina Safaris
144 Catalinas

So, I was off on the amount of stick Catalinas earlier but it was still a pretty small number.

  #46  
Old 08-22-2019, 12:59 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The Champ View Post
The reason they came out with the column shift 3spd manual to replace the floor shifter was so you could put 3 adults in the front seat... Seriously.

I guess I'm showing my age because I grew up with the 3 on the tree being pretty common. My first car was a '60 Bonneville with an automatic, but the first two cars I ever drove were 3 OTT's ('65 Ramble Rebel and a '50 Pontiac). Many of my friends drove 3OTT's - I remember a '49 Chrysler Windsor, a '57 Chev and a '62 Plymouth Valiant (with no heater in northern MN) off the top of my head.

I've owned a '69 Chevy Bel Air with a 3OTT, and as I mentioned earlier, a '69 Opel Rekord with a 4OTT.

While stationed in Germany (1974 - 1977) I did about 50,000 miles in government sedans - mostly in '66 - 67 Rambler Ambassadors with 3OTT's. That got a little confusing going from a 4OTT to a 3OTT... More than once I almost took off from a stop light in reverse, but I caught myself every time.
It sucked being the person in the front middle...might catch an elbow. lol

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  #47  
Old 08-22-2019, 06:44 AM
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It sucked being the person in the front middle...might catch an elbow. lol
Better than in the crotch with a floor shift....

  #48  
Old 08-22-2019, 09:39 AM
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I remember driving with my arm around my girl. She would do the shifting, I would do the clutch work. No speed shifting going on with that arrangement.

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  #49  
Old 08-22-2019, 10:29 AM
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Originally Posted by FirebirdHank View Post
I remember driving with my arm around my girl. She would do the shifting, I would do the clutch work. No speed shifting going on with that arrangement.
One fad back in the day was to move the shift lever to the left side of the column. I think it was mainly done to be different, but it also got the shift lever out of the way of your girl sitting close to you.

  #50  
Old 08-22-2019, 11:05 AM
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I am imagining someone at a car show trying to explain a 3 on the tree, 2 barrel 400, GTO. If it was brown on brown with a bench seat, that would be icing.

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  #51  
Old 08-22-2019, 11:13 AM
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I have only seen 1 three on the tree '66 GTO and that was many years ago and I want to say Mike Cooper owned it but cant remember for sure. Jim

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  #52  
Old 08-22-2019, 12:16 PM
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My parents always drove manual transmission cars. Moms first automatic was a 2001 Intrepid when she turned 70. I grew up learning to drive with a 60 Ford wagon and pickup, both with three on the tree. and then the GTO when my skills had improved somewhat. The GTO was the car I taught my oldest son and daughter how to drive in.

I too had my dates shift for me when we were out driving. Thanks for the memory.

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  #53  
Old 08-22-2019, 12:38 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by OG68 View Post
The GTO was the car I taught my oldest son and daughter how to drive in
Good to know. I want to teach my oldest (16) how to drive a manual. Problem is, the only manual I have is my 66 389 Tri-Power 4spd 3.90 GTO... I'm struggling with that concept a bit. HAHA

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  #54  
Old 08-22-2019, 04:06 PM
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My 69 F100 had a 302 with 3 on the tree. I was the only human being on planet earth that could find second gear. The cab mounts were rotted away and the cab leaned so much that the column linkage was whacked. Loved that truck. Second gear all the way up to 60 MPH

  #55  
Old 08-22-2019, 05:26 PM
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Originally Posted by spartazoo View Post
Good to know. I want to teach my oldest (16) how to drive a manual. Problem is, the only manual I have is my 66 389 Tri-Power 4spd 3.90 GTO... I'm struggling with that concept a bit. HAHA
Not a big deal.

I taught my grandson how to drive a stick in my '64 GTO with a 462...

Back in 1994, my daughter hadn't even had a ride in the GTO yet. She came home from college and had brought her laundry with her to save some $$$.

I was out detailing the GTO - I'd only had the car out of paint jail for about 2 weeks. I told her to go throw the laundry in the washer and I'd take her for a ride.

She said, "Sure, you'll take me for a ride, but you won't let me drive it.".

I said, "Who said I wouldn't let you drive it?"

Her eyes lit up!!!!

I drove her out in the country and pulled over and we switched seats. She had driven a stick before, but just a 1.5L 4 with a 5spd. I told her just remember, this ain't a 4 banger.

I'm happy to report she managed just fine and after 20 minutes of driving on backroads, I let her drive it back to town to her boyfriend's house to show it off.

They're just cars. What ever you happen to break can be fixed.

  #56  
Old 08-22-2019, 09:34 PM
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Default Not a clutch car,

but maybe humorous to some.
In the mid 90's my daughter had reached the age of getting a driver's license. She wanted something sporty and I wanted solid and safe. The solution ended up being a 1984 Hurst/Olds. I had come across a decent example that needed a fender (Bambi damage) and a paint job.
I brought it home from the shop to her completed on her 16th birthday. The following week we rode in it together to the DMV license office, where she was to take her driver's test with a DMV officer.
I watched her drive out of the parking lot with the female officer, and they returned not long afterwards. After a brief wait, she was issued a driver's license.
While she was driving me home I asked how the driving test went. She said that it went well, but the lady asked her what the other shift levers were for.
I asked her what her answer was.
She replied, "I don't know, but my Daddy told me not to touch them".
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  #57  
Old 08-23-2019, 01:23 AM
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In high school my best friends dads work truck was a 60’s Ford van filled with all his appliance repair parts. There must have been tons of brass fittings, thermocouples,copper pipe, etc in that weighted down POS. But it was always available for parts runs for my friend and I while working on our GTO’s. Anyway, that thing had a 3 on the tree and a straight 6. I think if you can drive that your pretty much set for anything else.
All my kids drive my GTO with the 4 speed. As Champ said, it’s just a car. Hard to bog down a GTO with 3.90’s and a wide ratio!

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  #58  
Old 08-23-2019, 10:52 AM
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This is a good nostalgia thread even if it wandered off-topic! Thanks for reminding me of some good times.

My 1st car was a 20-yr-old 1950 Chevy coupe my grandfather gave me when his sister could no longer drive.

The column shifter didn't last 2 months. It was quickly replaced by a cheap floor shifter (Spark-O-Matic?) so I could "race" my friend in his Mustang.

We were 16, had a blast "racing". His was a 200-cube 65 mustang convertible, mine a 216-inch 6 with maybe 50 hp? We would put on canvas aviator helmets (like Oddball in Kelly's Heroes) to get attention and race from light to light.

Both cars were so slow that nobody could tell we were racing but we had a blast.





My 2nd car was also 3-on-the-tree. Was a base 68 Chevelle with a 250 6 cyl. The engine was soon replaced by a 327. I remember loaning the car to my aunt. When I picked it up, she told me she had put her foot in it and scared the crap out of her. She was not expecting the power and noise of the tire squealing with secondaries kicking in... the column shifter did not predict how quick that car was with the low-ratio 6-cylinder rear end.

We need a gif like this with a column shifter!
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  #59  
Old 08-23-2019, 10:59 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The Champ View Post
They're just cars. What ever you happen to break can be fixed.
Just a car I have had since I was 17 that is a duplicate of the one my dad ordered brand new the day he got out of the Navy...

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  #60  
Old 08-23-2019, 01:48 PM
Baron Von Zeppelin Baron Von Zeppelin is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bird72 View Post
I am imagining someone at a car show trying to explain a 3 on the tree, 2 barrel 400, GTO. If it was brown on brown with a bench seat, that would be icing.
1966 was the only year a GTO could come that way. [3 Tree]
389 4bbl = 400 cars built
389 3x2 = 12 cars built

Biggest weirdo/sleeper i can imagine would be 3x2 Mission Beige with Bronze Roof and Bronze Interior.
Bench seat too
Wire hubcaps and whitewalls

Look what Opie did to Aunt Bee's Tempest !

That would sure get a lot of murmuring going at a local show
Would have fooled me too , up until a couple days ago.

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