I learned to drive in the 90’s using my dad’s late 70’s Mitsubishi Celeste. Driving a stick was pretty much common at least back then. The wheel doesn’t even have power steering so it was a beast to handle but you get used to it. And boy did I get used to it when I had to drive up and down Baguio City in the Philippines. It’s a city up on the mountain and driving through 3rd world country roads is not something you do when you’re starting. There’s no concept of safety or at least safety is a relative term. Anyway most cars after that was handed down to me, after the Celeste I suddenly became the owner of a late 80’s Toyota Corolla which I drove pretty much all through high school. I was never a car person but enjoyed and did a lot of driving. To my family it was just a means of transportation. My first and only car I purchased was the uncool Honda Element, a boxy Lego like car with seats you can fold out to carry gear with. This is the car I drove through college till I started hustling and bustling. I was doing a lot of filming so it was an appropriate car as far carrying equipment is concerned. It’s so sporty you can literally hose down the interior. I drove it everywhere and also slept on it when I was on tour as a performing musician. I think I’ve racked up enough miles that could reach the moon.
I had the usual parking, speeding, and traffic tickets but the worst thing I experienced and wouldn’t want anyone to go through was driving under the influence. Penalties, and jail time wasn’t a fun ride, no pun intended. This is something I want to impart to everyone here. Cause we all do drink and drive, we just don’t know it. That one bottle of beer is enough for you even if you’re not inebriated to get into trouble. And with that drink all common sense goes out the window so be careful and don’t be stupid! Ever since I moved to NYC, I gave up driving altogether but I miss it occasionally.
Great episode, guys! I agree with always having a car with a manual. There's just nothing like rowing through the gears. My daily driver is a 2012 Mazda 5 micro van with sliding rear doors, huge cargo area, and a 6 speed manual transmission. With two small boys and a dog it's the perfect car for me right now. My wife is Norwegian and she learned to drive in a car with a manual. For the first few years of our marriage both our cars had manual transmissions. She now has a Mazda CX-5 and prefers the automatic, but I still take a manual over an auto any day. Cheers!
Driving a stick is the best. One of my favourite things besides being more in control of driving is “cold starting”. If your battery is dead, with a little push or rolling downhill will get it going. Also not killing your brakes as you can always down shift to slow down.
My first vehicle in high school was a ten year old 1964 Ford F-100 pick-up truck (I may be a bit older than the average TGN follower) with 'three on the tree,' three speed column shift, that I later replaced with a four speed stick shift.
While working my way through university on a tight budget, frequent "shade tree mechanics" kept that truck rolling. That included once parking my truck on a hill at work, my apartment, and the college in order to 'bump start' the vehicle for a week, before the payday I needed to buy a replacement starter. I installed that starter with two of my truck's wheel up on the curb in my apartment's parking lot to give me some additional clearance to wriggle under the truck with my Sears Craftsman tools.
While not an attractive vehicle for socializing, it wasn't not a bad off-road/camping vehicle, it made me popular helping to move college friends to new apartments, and did semi-reliably help me complete college.
I enjoyed this episode. I had the same Driver's Ed training back in '94 that Jason did. Full car dashboards and a simulation video on the big screen. Fun times, I remember it well.
Hi. I just listened to your podcast. The part where you did 135km in Germany in a 80 zone and you where breaking so driving faster still… and accusing the German police of taking bribes… or corruption. I think it came across arrogant and not classy at all. Nothing personal to you James because I don’t know you at all. Just wanted to let you know and perhaps you where not aware that speeding is not something to boast about. Just wanted to send you some feedback about that because it hit a nerve.
I learned to drive in the 90’s using my dad’s late 70’s Mitsubishi Celeste. Driving a stick was pretty much common at least back then. The wheel doesn’t even have power steering so it was a beast to handle but you get used to it. And boy did I get used to it when I had to drive up and down Baguio City in the Philippines. It’s a city up on the mountain and driving through 3rd world country roads is not something you do when you’re starting. There’s no concept of safety or at least safety is a relative term. Anyway most cars after that was handed down to me, after the Celeste I suddenly became the owner of a late 80’s Toyota Corolla which I drove pretty much all through high school. I was never a car person but enjoyed and did a lot of driving. To my family it was just a means of transportation. My first and only car I purchased was the uncool Honda Element, a boxy Lego like car with seats you can fold out to carry gear with. This is the car I drove through college till I started hustling and bustling. I was doing a lot of filming so it was an appropriate car as far carrying equipment is concerned. It’s so sporty you can literally hose down the interior. I drove it everywhere and also slept on it when I was on tour as a performing musician. I think I’ve racked up enough miles that could reach the moon.
I had the usual parking, speeding, and traffic tickets but the worst thing I experienced and wouldn’t want anyone to go through was driving under the influence. Penalties, and jail time wasn’t a fun ride, no pun intended. This is something I want to impart to everyone here. Cause we all do drink and drive, we just don’t know it. That one bottle of beer is enough for you even if you’re not inebriated to get into trouble. And with that drink all common sense goes out the window so be careful and don’t be stupid! Ever since I moved to NYC, I gave up driving altogether but I miss it occasionally.
Great episode, guys! I agree with always having a car with a manual. There's just nothing like rowing through the gears. My daily driver is a 2012 Mazda 5 micro van with sliding rear doors, huge cargo area, and a 6 speed manual transmission. With two small boys and a dog it's the perfect car for me right now. My wife is Norwegian and she learned to drive in a car with a manual. For the first few years of our marriage both our cars had manual transmissions. She now has a Mazda CX-5 and prefers the automatic, but I still take a manual over an auto any day. Cheers!
Driving a stick is the best. One of my favourite things besides being more in control of driving is “cold starting”. If your battery is dead, with a little push or rolling downhill will get it going. Also not killing your brakes as you can always down shift to slow down.
This is a FANTASTIC episode!
I greatly enjoyed the topic.
It brought back a lot of memories.
My first vehicle in high school was a ten year old 1964 Ford F-100 pick-up truck (I may be a bit older than the average TGN follower) with 'three on the tree,' three speed column shift, that I later replaced with a four speed stick shift.
While working my way through university on a tight budget, frequent "shade tree mechanics" kept that truck rolling. That included once parking my truck on a hill at work, my apartment, and the college in order to 'bump start' the vehicle for a week, before the payday I needed to buy a replacement starter. I installed that starter with two of my truck's wheel up on the curb in my apartment's parking lot to give me some additional clearance to wriggle under the truck with my Sears Craftsman tools.
While not an attractive vehicle for socializing, it wasn't not a bad off-road/camping vehicle, it made me popular helping to move college friends to new apartments, and did semi-reliably help me complete college.
I enjoyed this episode. I had the same Driver's Ed training back in '94 that Jason did. Full car dashboards and a simulation video on the big screen. Fun times, I remember it well.
Hi. I just listened to your podcast. The part where you did 135km in Germany in a 80 zone and you where breaking so driving faster still… and accusing the German police of taking bribes… or corruption. I think it came across arrogant and not classy at all. Nothing personal to you James because I don’t know you at all. Just wanted to let you know and perhaps you where not aware that speeding is not something to boast about. Just wanted to send you some feedback about that because it hit a nerve.