<p>Non-automatic cars that aren’t sports cars are pretty rare in the U.S. these days…I doubt that they account for much more than about 2-3/// 5-7 percent of the market share, if that.</p>
<p>Way back when the auto had just been invented, I did a lot of my learning and took my driver’s test in then-standard-shift car. Haven’t driven one in a couple of decades. But I’m scheduled to drive a standard-shift Skoda or some such from Vienna to Prague around the first of next month…the sound you don’t hear is from me stalling the engine a few times. Just got the paperwork today. The dice are on the table.</p>