Until six months ago all of my vehicles had manual transmissions, going back to 2011 when I got my MINI Cooper. My mom taught me how to drive in a 1953 Plymouth with “three on the tree” and dad gave me a used Ford Falcon my second year of college. Also three-speed on the column.

To say the Land Rover had a manual transmission is something of an understatement. Ditto for the Jeep and the F-150. You needed two arms and two legs to drive them (three legs if you got stopped going up hill). I was borderline disdainful of manual transmissions (“That riding, not drive”).

After six months in the Ford Bronco I’m a changed man. Automatic transmission, AC, backup camera… I love it all. And I still drive the pickup and the Jeep but far less often. But according to an article in The Washington Post (by Dodd C. Frankel), “the death of the stick shift is almost here, A few excerpts:

Less than 1 percent of new vehicles in 2025 were manuals, a drop from 34.6 percent in 1980. The rise of automatic, electric and autonomous vehicles has contributed to this trend, with many automakers phasing out manual options.

The average new vehicle today comes with seven gears, thanks to computers, twice as many as in 1980

“The more the car becomes your couch, the less you’re going to want to shift your gears,” he said.

Ford CEO Jim Farley reassured journalists during a visit for the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix earlier this year that he has no plans to make the Mustang automatic-only.

Drivers often feel the need to be more practical about car-buying than in the past because cars are so much more expensive today, with the average new car price reaching about $50,000. And the total cost of ownership is more than $1,000 per month for a new vehicle

Another problem for stick shifts is that only about 60 percent of Americans know how to drive a manual transmission

Yesterday was sunny and warm so I decided to take a shot at removing the roof panels on the Bronco. (I’m not sure Ford calls this a “sunroof.” Watch on YouTube) By any name, it was a snap to remove. Took less than five minutes.

For the first few years I had the Land Rover, I removed the top. A chore that usually needed four or five friends to help. Getting it back on in the fall was also a pain in the ass. Some photos and videos here.