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THE LOBBY A gathering place. Introductions, sports, showin' off your ride, birthday-anniversary-milestone, achievements, family oriented humor. |
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#41
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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
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I don't know about other brands, but Ford went from a floor shift in 1939 to a column shift in 1940.
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#43
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We have a 3 OTT in our family.
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#44
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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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Production number is reputed to be around 100 but I don't know if anyone knows for sure. |
#45
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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
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Not a great idea.
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__________________
“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” ― Calvin Coolidge |
#47
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Better than in the crotch with a floor shift....
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#48
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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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1969 Firebird 350 convertible, t-5, Carousel Red 2008 Solstice GXP 5speed manual, Sly 2008 Grand Prix, Ink Slate, Winter daily driver 2009 G8, Switchblade Silver, summer daily driver |
#49
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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.
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#50
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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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72 Bird |
#51
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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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74 LEMANS GT 350 4SPD MAROON |
#52
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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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Ed 1968 GTO (Thanks Mom) 2006 Silverado 2007 Cadillac SRX 2015 Chevy Express |
#53
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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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A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. 1966 GTO Hardtop - PS 14.84 @ 97mph |
#54
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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
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#55
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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
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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". |
#57
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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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71' GTO -original 400/4-speed/3.23 posi 13.95 @ 102.1 on street tires @ 4055lbs. ‘63 LeMans- ‘69 400 w/ original transaxle. 2.69 gears. |
#58
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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! |
#59
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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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A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. 1966 GTO Hardtop - PS 14.84 @ 97mph |
#60
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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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