Last three spd.

Streetwiseguy wrote:

Gearheadotaku wrote: my 89 Chevy has a shifter marked 1-2-3, with an 'L' for the compound low. Does this count as a 3 speed for this discussion?

Not directly, but I bet its the last 4 speed standard shift trans available. I'm pretty sure they added overdrive 5th on those in 90.

Wasn't a 4-speed available on the second gen CRX DX, and Civics of the same era?

Will wrote:

Streetwiseguy wrote:

Gearheadotaku wrote: my 89 Chevy has a shifter marked 1-2-3, with an 'L' for the compound low. Does this count as a 3 speed for this discussion?

Not directly, but I bet its the last 4 speed standard shift trans available. I'm pretty sure they added overdrive 5th on those in 90.

Wasn't a 4-speed available on the second gen CRX DX, and Civics of the same era?

Certainly possible- I remember having a hell of a time finding the right clutch for a 4 speed Civic at one time, since most of them had 5 speeds. I don't remember the vintage of the car, though.

I would wager that a 3 on the tree could be left with the keys in it, parked in a bad area for quite a while without being driven away.

My '79 CJ-7 had 3 on the floor, though 1st was geared so low it was pretty much a 2 speed.

I learned to drive in an early 50s Plymouth with 3 on the tree.

I also had a 64 Olds F-85 with 3 on the floor. Had the mightly 225 Dauntless V-6.

My 1987 Nissan Stanza had a three-speed. (1st and 5th stopped working, along with reverse.)

Will wrote:

Streetwiseguy wrote:

Gearheadotaku wrote: my 89 Chevy has a shifter marked 1-2-3, with an 'L' for the compound low. Does this count as a 3 speed for this discussion?

Not directly, but I bet its the last 4 speed standard shift trans available. I'm pretty sure they added overdrive 5th on those in 90.

Wasn't a 4-speed available on the second gen CRX DX, and Civics of the same era?

Not the CRX, but the base Civic was a four speed, at least up to 1991.

I know my friend's dad had an 80's bodystyle E150 that had a column shift manual... did those ever come as a 4-speed? If not, I suspect it's the last of the non-automatic 3s.

Wiki says last North American column shift was '87 Chevy PU

novaderrik wrote: i've seen a couple of mid 70's Chevelles with a 6 cylinder and a 3 on the tree.. i'd love to see anyone under the age of 30 try to drive one of them..

I'm only 24 but I'd love to give it a shot. Some times I wish my fairlane was a column shift manual just to give it a try. Probably wouldn't want it for daily use though.

Nitroracer wrote:

novaderrik wrote: i've seen a couple of mid 70's Chevelles with a 6 cylinder and a 3 on the tree.. i'd love to see anyone under the age of 30 try to drive one of them..

I'm only 24 but I'd love to give it a shot. Some times I wish my fairlane was a column shift manual just to give it a try. Probably wouldn't want it for daily use though.

actually, it's not that bad once you get used to the shift pattern and as long as the linkages are all properly adjusted.

Nitroracer wrote: I'm only 24 but I'd love to give it a shot. Some times I wish my fairlane was a column shift manual just to give it a try. Probably wouldn't want it for daily use though.

Why not?

I drove a column shift three-speed for years as a daily and I'm only 34.

It's no worse than any other shifter.

Makes automatics a bit rough though. I stuffed our old work van into park trying to grab another gear one day.

Shawn

I'm only 21; I've only seen one in person. I'm pretty sure that I could drive one if I were allowed 30 seconds playing around with the shift pattern before hand. It isn't any different than driving a floor mounted manual, how hard could it be?

(Don't say that!)

mtn wrote: I'm only 21; I've only seen one in person. I'm pretty sure that I could drive one if I were allowed 30 seconds playing around with the shift pattern before hand. It isn't any different than driving a floor mounted manual, how hard could it be? (Don't say that!)

i drove an 87 Celebrity with a column mounted automatic for 7 months.. i've been driving an '04 Cavalier with a floor mounted automatic for about a month.. about every 4th time i get in the car, i hit the windshield washer squirter when i want to put it in gear..

driving a 3 on the tree is kind of like that at first, but it's actually a very intuitive way to drive once you get used to it.. there is a part of me that wants to figure out a linkage in something to shift a modern internal rail 5 speed overdrive trans with a column shifter..

The shift pattern is the same whether on the wheel or on the floor. Just flipped 90 degrees.

HappyAndy wrote: My '83 F-150 had an I-6 and 3 plus O/D. Ford called it a 4 speed, but for all intents it was a 3 speed, O/D was useless below 50mph.

Co-worker just bought that exact truck but it's an '85.

i had a '81 chevy g10 van with a 250 6cyl. and 3 on the tree. loved that van