Stick?

[Lemur]

Nothing wrong with loving the Mini. If I didn't have two little lemurs, I'd be driving one right now. Unfortunately, I do have to cram two growing children into the vehicle, so a small sedan was as close as I could get to Mini lovin'.

[Vuk]

Nothing wrong with loving the Mini. If I didn't have two little lemurs, I'd be driving one right now. Unfortunately, I do have to cram two growing children into the vehicle, so a small sedan was as close as I could get to Mini lovin'.

I have never owned or driven a Mini actually, just ridden in one. :P I fell in love with the car though, and as soon as I pay of these loans and get a little money, I am gonna get one. It is pathetic that my dream car is not a Lamborgini or a Ford GT, but a Mini. :P

[Lemur]

Green body with the white top. That's what I'd be cruising in if not for my cursed progeny. And I'd definitely spring for the better stereo. Mmmmm ... I even test-drove one, just to torture myself ....

[miotas]

well i was actually laughing at the fact that you call it a truck but anywho.

while were on dream cars, mine is a 77 TE cortina 4.1L straight 6, drove my cousin's a few years back and i've wanted one ever since, that is a machine it would be a crime to get as an auto. My cousin has 600 hectares with a makeshift racing track and i almost killed myself many a time in that thing, good times, good times.

[Vuk]

Green body with the white top. That's what I'd be cruising in if not for my cursed progeny. And I'd definitely spring for the better stereo. Mmmmm ... I even test-drove one, just to torture myself ....

So am I not the only who has went to the site and eaten my heart out "building" my own dream Mini? :P
I have not test drove one yet, if I did I would probably go do something really dumb and get even deeper into debt. :P

@miotas: The truck I was referring to was a real truck. I have two. One is a gas Ford, and the other is a 87 or 88 (It is a crime that I forget) Sierra 4X4 diesel. It is the first time there was diesel and 4X4 that I know of, so I think it is kind of a classic. It is big, it is mean, and it is tough. :P They do not make trucks like that anymore. That thing can go anywhere and do just about anything. I do not cut down trees like a smart person would, I dig around the roots about a foot under the ground, chop and saw as many off as possible, then either use a come-along or a truck to pull them down. Thus eliminating the need for a nasty stump disposal job, because you use the leverage of the tree to remove the stump. It is a bit slower, but it works and my sexy lawn looks better for it. I was pulling down a massive boxelder with my Sierra, and I mis judged the length, and the top 4 feet of it came crashing down onto the back and cab of the truck. I expected that to crush the cab and shatter the windshield, but instead, it made a tiny dent, and that is all. The thing is perfect for plowing snow too, not even the worst Wisconsin snow stands a chance. :P I really love that truck, but unfortunately everything on it is finally starting to go, so I am not sure how much longer I will have it.
GMC still makes an ok truck, but it is nothing to Ford. Chevy trucks with few exceptions are jokes, and are mediocre at best. Toyota trucks aren't. Dodge makes a mean truck, there is no denying that, but Ford still makes the best out there.

[Strike For The South]

People from Wisconsin driving trucks? LOL LOL LOL

[Vuk]

People from Wisconsin driving trucks? LOL LOL LOL

lol Strike, we like our trucks. WI has a lot of farms, and a large paper and logging industry (at least we used to :P), so there is plenty of need for trucks. My family saves a lot of money by heating with a wood stove, so I have been going into the woods with my father since I was a little kid helping with aquiring firewood. Things have changed a lot, but it is still cheaper to heat with a woodstove, so my brothers still harvest wood with it to this day, and when I am over, I help them. :P (cause nothing is as kewl as sawing down trees and spending all day cutting off brush and hauling it to a pile, then loading logs into the back of a truck, dragging it home, sawing them up more, and splitting them) Cannot do that without a truck unless you like to take lots of long hard walks and get close to nothing done all day. :P We also used to to transport 100s of tons of massive stones from what used to be an old barn. We have went through a few trucks, and these ones have seen their share of work. :P You think the Texans are the only ones who know how to work?

[Strike For The South]

lol Strike, we like our trucks. WI has a lot of farms, and a large paper and logging industry (at least we used to :P), so there is plenty of need for trucks. My family saves a lot of money by heating with a wood stove, so I have been going into the woods with my father since I was a little kid helping with aquiring firewood. Cannot do that without a truck unless you like to take lots of long hard walks and get close to nothing done all day. :P We also used to to transport 100s of tons of massive stones from what used to be an old barn. We have went through a few trucks, and these ones have seen their share of work. :P You think the Texans are the only ones who know how to work?

Yes.

[miotas]

@miotas: The truck I was referring to was a real truck. I have two. One is a gas Ford, and the other is a 87 or 88 (It is a crime that I forget) Sierra 4X4 diesel. It is the first time there was diesel and 4X4 that I know of, so I think it is kind of a classic. It is big, it is mean, and it is tough. :P They do not make trucks like that anymore. That thing can go anywhere and do just about anything. I do not cut down trees like a smart person would, I dig around the roots about a foot under the ground, chop and saw as many off as possible, then either use a come-along or a truck to pull them down. Thus eliminating the need for a nasty stump disposal job, because you use the leverage of the tree to remove the stump. It is a bit slower, but it works and my sexy lawn looks better for it. I was pulling down a massive boxelder with my Sierra, and I mis judged the length, and the top 4 feet of it came crashing down onto the back and cab of the truck. I expected that to crush the cab and shatter the windshield, but instead, it made a tiny dent, and that is all. The thing is perfect for plowing snow too, not even the worst Wisconsin snow stands a chance. :P I really love that truck, but unfortunately everything on it is finally starting to go, so I am not sure how much longer I will have it.
GMC still makes an ok truck, but it is nothing to Ford. Chevy trucks with few exceptions are jokes, and are mediocre at best. Toyota trucks aren't. Dodge makes a mean truck, there is no denying that, but Ford still makes the best out there.

sorry, i just think it's funny when americans call a ute a truck

yeah i know what you mean about old vehicles that just dont quit, my family is full of labourers and car lovers. My pop has a datsun from the sixties which is basically just pieces of rust riveted together, the only reason it passes rego is cause he "knows" someone. the thing almost never breaks down and it goes like the clappers though.

And my nanna(different side of the family) has an old fergie that does absolutely everything, and has been doing so for over 30 years, it can climb a hill like a bloody sheep and hasn't once flipped, and its a godsend if you get bogged. all of my cousins first learnt to drive in it aswell, i knew how to drive it before i was old enough to go to school, i just wasn't tall enough

bloody hell i sound like an old timer don't i? better shuffle off before start talking about the good old days.

[PanzerJaeger]

Pickup trucks and are great and all, but it is inconceivable to me that so many people in the US buy them who have no use for them, when for the same money, they could have a sweet car. I mean, some of those big trucks are BMW money. Why would someone purposely choose a vehicle with less handling abilities, less acceleration, less gas mileage, and less feedback for absolutely no reason?

I'm a free market guy and I support people's right to drive whatever cars they like, but it does make me chuckle to see these guys trying to navigate their chromed out, lifted barges through parking lots, slowing to 15MPH around corners for fear of rolling over, and laboring to make it up to speed merging onto the interstate. The funniest thing of all is watching their wives try and climb up into them in skirts. I wonder if the image is worth it...

Of course I feel the same way about the legions of CamCord buyers who spend their money on boring appliances that don't even offer a pretense of style, performance, or interest.

[Strike For The South]

Questioning the pick up truck? Bringing up the BMW?

Does INS know where you are?

[miotas]

lol, yes those american utes are just ridiculous, if any are seen here, and they are few and far between, then it is seen as more as a novelty really, there are much more practical utes here.

of course we have our novelty utes too but they are more like sporty sedans than baby dump trucks

[Lemur]

Just stumbled across an article about the vanishing stick-shift:

In 1980, J.D. Powers and Associates estimates that more than 35% of all cars sold had a stick shift. By 2005, that number had dropped to 6%. Four years later, finding a car with a manual transmission is a big challenge -- you have to go either high end or very low end. 2008 was the last year that any manufacturer of full-size trucks offered a manual transmission. The 2008 Dodge Ram was the last to make manual an option. In 2009, the macho truck propelled by a driver with skill has gone the way of the buggy whip. [...]

It used to be that manual transmissions were lighter, more reliable, easier on gas. Today, that's not necessarily true, according to this report from Progressive Insurance, which favors automatics and says they get slightly better gas mileage than their manual cousins.

[miotas]

It used to be that manual transmissions were lighter, more reliable, easier on gas. Today, that's not necessarily true, according to this report from Progressive Insurance, which favors automatics and says they get slightly better gas mileage than their manual cousins.[/indent]

well maybe if you can afford a brand spanking new car, but most drivers can't, so maybe in 5 - 10 years this will be more relevant.

I'm quite surprised that all trucks have gone off manual in the states, an auto truck is a very rare thing here, although maybe in the city it is different