When the American car makers took to putting the gear lever on the steering column it allowed the front seat to become a bench seat like the back seat.

dXb, we haven't had 3 on the tree (as stick shift on the steering column was commonly known )for well, a very long time.

no, wait.. it not been that long.. i mean .. i learned to drive 3 on the tree, and then 4 on the floor, and now 5 on the floor..

to be fair, americans haven't had 3 on the tree, since, oh i'd say, before Jazzo was born.. the first car i drove was old, when i got to drive it.. it was a 1963 dodge dart..back in days when a a V-6 slant car, that seated 5 was considered a compact car! really it wasn't that long ago.... i am not that old..i am not that old..

actually the first car i drove was an automatic, a 1961 Plymouth Fury, a former NY police car that was recycled (bought for the World Fair, it never left the fair grounds till 1965, when it was sold.)but it too was old by the time i got to drive it!



my other obsession