Five on the Floor

At one time I owned a Honda Accord with a 5-speed transmission. It was a very fun car to drive and Matt would always comment that he wished he knew how to drive a 5-speed car. When he got his driver’s license, I asked him if he still wanted to learn how to drive a standard transmission. He jumped at the chance.

Matt had often heard the funny story about how I learned to drive a standard transmission. My sister, Sandy, taught me in her 1960 Rambler. It had the shift lever on the steering column and she told me all of the gears backwards.  

I took Matt to the parking lot at the old Pick ‘N Save Grocery Store. I showed him the steering pattern on the gear shift lever which was on the center console. I explained that they called this 5 on the floor. He liked knowing that. We went through other terminology like 4 on the floor, three on the column and standard transmission. I showed him the pattern one more time and then we traded seats.

I explained the clutch and how to let it out slowly and learned to feel the friction point when it was ready to shift. He tried this a few times, jerked a little and by the 4th time he was driving the 5-speed like he had done it all of his life. Every chance we got after this session, Matt would ask to drive my car when he and I were together. You would have sworn that I gave him the combination to the main vault at the Federal Reserve. He was that impressed. 

As time went on, Matt would share instances with me where someone wanted to drive their parents cars but it had a stick shift. Matt would step up and offer to drive. He felt very grown up and capable when these opportunities occurred. 

Matt’s first car after High School graduation had to be a 5-speed transmission. He bought a Burgundy Nissan Sentra with a 5-speed on the floor. He was very proud of his ability to handle this type of car. The best part of having a standard transmission when he was away at college was that no one else could borrow his car. They would ask and he could ask them if they could drive a standard transmission. End of question.

I always enjoyed the part when he would explain that his mom taught him. The reaction was often one of envy and a request for me to come to college to teach his friends. I always found reasons not to do this. I enjoyed that Matt had the exclusive knowledge of driving a stick shift and had a great reason not to loan out his car.. Happy parenting moment for me.

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