Is driving an old school car manual transmission harder than newer cars?

Question

When I say old school i mean 1950s-1970s. Is it harder to shift in an old school car then new car?My grandpa said all his cars back then were stick shifts and he said you needed to know a technique called "double clutch" in order to drive them. He said new cars today are made more efficient so shifting with the clutch is easier.

And if the shifting technique for older cars is different, in what ways do they differ?
I'm considering getting a 1968 Chevelle 4 speed and I just wanted to know how tough that would be compared to a modern shift stick now a days.
Thanks.

Answer 1

My experience has been that it's easier to shift in the older cars. Bigger engines meant more torque, and combined with low ratio 3 or 4 speed transmissions, made for a much larger margin of error when trying to shift.

Double clutching wasn't necessary, but you could use it if you missed your first shift. Just rev the engine, let out the clutch slowly, and climb into second gear.

A much funner thing to do, especially if you were driving someone else's car, was to speed shift. No clutch, just shift by ear. At certain RPM's, the transmission can be shifted without engaging the clutch. Find that point, and you could shift through all the gears and be flying in no time. Miss the shift at speed, and you would destroy the transmission instantly. Either way, it was always good for an adrenaline rush.

Answer 2

Double clutching only applied to some of the old cars. Mainly the cheap ones that didn't use synchronizers on the gears. The '65 & '66 Mustangs with six cylinder engines are a prime example. The first gear was unsynchronized and had to be double clutched if you wanted to shift into first while the car was moving. In '67 they got rid of that transmission and used the same one as the V8's which had all gears synchroed. The '68 Chevelle 4 speed is a synchronized transmission and should pose no problems. Actually from the 40's up, unsynchronized transmissions were the exception. Cadillac and LaSalle led the way with fully synchroed transmissions in the 30's and most manufacturers followed suit in the 40's. Ford left them off first on their cheapest models but the majority of transmissions in the 50's to 70's were fully synchroed.

Answer 3

They are no real differences from the 50-s through now . The only thing that will be noticable is that the older cars have manual clutches which means there is no assist. Newer cars use hydraulics to make it easier to push the clutch in, The only difference is the pedal is stiffer (harder to push in) on the older cars.



Older cars 30s /40s may require double clutching..but 50s and 60s transmissions do not!

Answer 4

Look around and ask a friend or neighbor to do it. I attempted to teach my teenage daughter myself and it was a disaster. Nearby neighbor offered to do it and was successful just after 3 days. Cost me a thank you and two bottles of wine I added in appreciation. Daughter drives like a champ and I kept my sanity.