Photo of a gearshift on 1953 Ferrari 340 MM; woman driving a sports car by Ed Eckstein, 1980.

Growing up, both my parents drove stick and it always intrigued me. There's a certain control, power, and synchronicity that a manual transmission car provides its driver, unmatched by anything automatic. Learning how to drive stick can be embarrassing and frustrating (especially for the teacher), but once you have it down, you really own your car. My husband used to drive a stick car before we were married, and let me tell you, it was a big selling point. Do you drive stick? Have you ever?