[Old Blue 66]

Thanks for all the replies. The more I think about it, the more confident that Ill like it.

As I said before, I like driving a stick. Ive just never owned one in a fun car like this.

[BertMac]

Something I read on the trunk of a car about 35 years ago and it has always stuck with me. It said "I'd Rather Eat Worms Than Drive an Automatic"

[67drake]

Paul,get the stick,or turn in your man card.

[Ben M.]

I've driven nothing but automatic older cars. I finally picked up a manual transmission car a few months back and it's a different change. Mostly my foot just gets annoyed at riding that super heavy clutch in traffic. Other than that it's great fun.

[GT182]

My first GTO was a 4speed as this one is now. I would never have an automatic in a GTO of any year. 66 Tempest Custom and 63 GP were daily drivers and I actually didn't miss the 4peeds with them.

The 1st GTO was my 1st car and was a daily driver for the time I had it. Not really a great thing to have in the winter months up north on icy roads. But now days seeing this one is out only on dry roads Spring Summer and Fall, it's the only way to go even with the traffic here in my neck of the burbs.

So I say go for it... you'll have more fun with the 4speed Paul.

[carcrazy]

All my Pontiacs (GTO's) over the last 30 years have been automatics. That being said, I have a preference for manual shift. Just a better experience in my opinion. May do something about it in the near future!

[Old Blue 66]

Originally Posted by 67drake

Paul,get the stick,or turn in your man card.

Well I wouldn't want to loose that. Hey is that card worth money like a credit card? Can I buy parts with it?

[67drake]

Originally Posted by Old Blue 66

Well I wouldn't want to loose that. Hey is that card worth money like a credit card? Can I buy parts with it?

Well,you asked for my thoughts. I was just razzing ya
I would think this is not a daily driver,if that were the case I'd say maybe don't get it. It's hard to drink coffee,steer,and shift. That's the only time it bothered me on a daily driver car.
On our older cars a 4-speed is the only way to go IMO. The times where I did have a muscle car w/auto trans,I was always wishing it were a stick. The only time I wish it were not is at the dragstrip. Driving it in heavy traffic does not bother me either. The padal is a lot stiffer than the newer cars,but I'll be driving stick till my knee gives out. I don't think you would even think twice about the shifting after you get used to it,you would just hop in and go.

[lust4speed]

I mentioned in another thread a week or so ago of hitting miserable traffic when driving down to the Petersen museum with our club. I didn't really think anything about it except how crappy it was inching along for over an hour in stalled traffic. Got down to the museum and one of our guys was limping walking around the museum. Then it dawned on me - the only one of us in the group with a 4-speed.

My manual has been off the road for awhile and I am really getting the urge to speed up getting it back on the road - even if I'm the next one hobbling around. It's worth it.

[george kujanski]

A few years ago i bought my son a T shirt with a picture of a clutch, brake, and accel pedal on it. The caption read "The MAN pedal".

`nuff said.

George

[72projectbird]

Originally Posted by tom s

REAL muscle cars have 3 pedals!PERIOD!Tom

Well when I swap in my Th350 I'll remember to keep the clutch pedal installed!

[geeteeohguy]

I have always preferred 4 speeds. True, distilled essence of musclecar. I passed up a lot of clean GTO's back in the day because they were automatic cars. I ended up buying a '67 GTO convertible with an automatic 30 years back because it was the only decent ragtop GTO I could find, and it was a TH400 and not a 2 speed like the earlier Goats. I still had my 4 speed '65 and '66 GTO's, though. I ended up driving the automatic goat about 90% of the time, because I had a terrible, clogged up commute from Oakland to San Jose in the mid '80's....it was brutal on the clutch leg in my stick cars. Put almost 70,000 miles on the '67 in two years. Still have it to this day, and I have to say, I enjoy the cruise-ability of an auto car with a lazy rear gear. That said, I still have and drive my 4 speed '65, and wouldn't have it any other way. My '67 is the ONLY vehicle I own with an auto trans (everything else is manual,even the 'modern' stuff). If I had to have only one GTO, it would have to be a 4 speed. But, a good automatic is less and less of an issue as I get older and time marches on.

[David Jones]

I got to the point where I really wanted something with an overdrive.....get rid of the GTO automatic I'd had 10+ years or switch it to a later 4 spd auto overdrive, or go nuts and swap in a 5spd manual. I like my car so I went manual. Shifting your own with Pontiac grunt is pretty hard to beat.

[elefantrider]

4 speed is more fun and the locked up drivetrain is better for cornering, hills, etc.

Auto is good for cruising, in-town, and frees up your hand for the ipod or coffee, etc.

Both are good for different reasons.

[Deadhead]

I grew up with manuals for 2 decades. I like both, but I do not like driving a big car with a 4 speed in town for any length of time. It is great in the curves, but I like driving a TH400 like a manual & I love being able to recline in the seat, jam down on the gas and have the 2ndries or the trips cut in when I drop into 2nd with my right arm stretched out across the back of the bench seat. I stick it in 2nd or 1st if I am in hilly/curvy settings and get a nice whine. I may build my next one as a 4 speed, but I would not have my only vintage car be a 4 speed car.

What if something happened to me and I could not use the shifter?! Not going to risk not being able to dump gas into a big Pontiac.

[65WJ]

After reading all the posts the only thing I will ask is how are your knees? Do not know age but as we get older knee replacements are very common. Will you be able to press that clutch pedal for a long time without pain?

I enjoy both, sometimes it depends on how you want to drive on a particular day.

patrick
ps hips go bad as well.

[Old Blue 66]

Originally Posted by 65WJ

After reading all the posts the only thing I will ask is how are your knees? Do not know age but as we get older knee replacements are very common. Will you be able to press that clutch pedal for a long time without pain?

I enjoy both, sometimes it depends on how you want to drive on a particular day.

patrick
ps hips go bad as well.

I figure that if the 4 speed becomes a problem at any point, there's always a way to convert it to automatic.

[pont3]

Manual transmissions are primitive tech. If you enjoy them, good for you. I've owned a few manuals in my life with the most recent being a 2005 GTO. Traded that one a year later for a 2006 A4 and never looked back. The 2005 was not a daily driver and had less than 2k miles when I made my decision.

I currently own NOTHING, with a manual transmission. And Don't plan to ever do so again. And trust me, my "slushboxes" are every bit as fun to ME as your manuals are to YOU. The A4 can be shifted to "1" or "2", AND create the same sensation as a manual.

There's nothing wrong with my legs and there's nobody more adept with manuals than myself. I just prefer automatics. It's simply old low-tech bs disguised as "fun".

But hey, I don't care what you like or prefer, that's YOUR choice. I'm fine with whatever YOU choose.

I'm "stickin" with automatics.

[Norwood]

Originally Posted by Old Blue 66

Whats your thought on driving around here Craig? With a 4 speed? Im sure since yo know me, the car is an A Body.

You Drive a 4 speed, an auto you put in drive............Paul for fun you can't beat shifting it. Nothing like the feel of winding out the gears.......

[Norwood]

Originally Posted by 65WJ

After reading all the posts the only thing I will ask is how are your knees? Do not know age but as we get older knee replacements are very common. Will you be able to press that clutch pedal for a long time without pain?

I enjoy both, sometimes it depends on how you want to drive on a particular day.

patrick
ps hips go bad as well.

58 now, drove my Trans Am to the T/A natz like 400 miles... with a torn hamstring.......it all about what you like and I like the control and feel of being in total control