Quarter mile and zero-to-60 times for a mid-engined sports car are pretty irrelevant. Those cars are meant for curvy roads, and there are a lot fewer curves they need to slow down for! I never had a chance to drive an Esprit, but had other underpowered mid engine cars (Porsche 914, first gen MR-2) and, in the right hands, they are a ton of fun. Mid-engine cars are just different.

What a car you had. A friend bought a 69 GTX in 1975 with 7200 miles on it. Pristine. And fast.

and EE for me.

Regarding car salesmen, my experience matches yours. I don't think I have ever bought a car from a salesperson who knew as much about the car as I did. All they seem to know is financing.

Once driving with manual shift is learned, there are automatic, as with other automatic activities, actions not needing conscious attention. Even starting on a hill and down shifting happen without much attention.

Ah. The ClickClack Brothers. They were fun to listen to. Love Jay Leno and his collection.

Love those stick shift oldies. I learned on a Falcon, drove Mustangs, Celica GT, Mazda 2+2, a homemade beauty (made by a former friend) called a Martini because he designed it one night over a pitcher of martinis. My Ranger was stick, so many cars I love were stick. I drive automatic now because my hubby worries that I might get a ticket. He's turned into a worry wart LOL

Gotta go to MIT to have the right smarts for automotive journalism. Like Tom and Ray Magliozzi, "Car Talk." Wait a minute, it seems that at MIT ("The Institute" to those who know) they both majored in "soft" science, so-called humanities.

Another theory smashed into oncoming traffic. Oh well, ...

Tommy's gone about 8 or 9 years now and we still miss him. At least we have Jay Leno, not afraid to turn a wrench or to set his face on fire.

I encounter lots of kids who want to be veterinarians, and I'll ask them, "What's six times nine?" If they can't get that right, they'll never get into vet school. Some say, "I'll use a calculator." I reply, "Not for MY horse you won't."

Gotta be a better driver AND an amateur mechanic with some of those old 3-tree beasts. My dad had one (was it the '46 Plymouth?) that would get you stuck into two gears at once, and you had to know how to clobber the knuckle levers with a chunk of wood to get it working again.

Now instead the car catches on fire.

Oh man the old “three in the tree” I had one and loved it. I’d take a v6 manual over a v8 auto in a sports car. In fact I did just that once with my Camaro. But when it came to my Vette I could have both. :)

As a female, I do know what you mean. I grew up reading Dad's car magazines, then subscribed to Cars and Parts and Automobile, loved David Davis. But I hate talking to the check in gals at the dealerships, as they usually do not understand what I want, I am used to talking to mechanics. I hate the ideas of the feamile head of GM, she does not seem to be a car person. I was in a Corvette Club, and we had factory reps come and talk to us about the models and the quirks of the cars we drove. We had two females, the rest male members, and they expected us to be able to talk cars. I read a psch. approach called "Driving Passion" several years ago, which somewhat explains why cars are not what people want, people lie to be correct. They said women want safety and mileage. My first question, what is the horsepower and what are the options. The book was interesting in how people go in wanting, even several years ago, to appear politically correct! Loved reading Richard Pettys autobiography, about how racing used to be, before it was all about money. I have no use for electric vehicles, nor the fires they create. I want my engine as in our Camaro and Challenger family cars. I know the UN wants them gone, all even EV, as a control method and us in high rise urban housing, but totalitarianism is not my style. I read UN Agenda 21, I know the goals, and they will use women to achieve them. When epeople finally realize that Green New Deal is a lie and that is is UN Agenda 21 plagiarized, it will be too late. Also, be aware, too many young salemen are stupid about cars also. I knew the guys from Cars and Parts, as they were published in our town, they did a feature on my first Corvette.

You know air bags have made people less safe at driving... There is something about knowing that you will likely DIE if you screw up, that helps you focus.
I feel that way at the shooting range. My days worries do NOT enter my mind when I am touch a loaded weapon!

slide rules...
brings back my memories of chemistry class....

It sucked even before when the "hate American Cars" generation manifested after the 1970, and it was fashionable to consider US cars junk. I still recall 1/4 mile and 0-60 times for the 1987 Lotus Espirt Turbo, with "*"

"with rolling start"

Because those pathetic little 2.0 liter engines had not torque or suspensions that could hook up off the line.

I had a 1971 Mercury Gand Marquis with a 429, 3:1 gears in a 9" with a posi. I stuck "7.0 liter" vinyl mailbox stickers on the front fender. That car was awesome! $350!

Makes me even happier that I never watch anything with ads.

If women and tatas caused the decline in auto journalism back in the 90s, what will the current advertisements cause. I see it is a great time for TV commercial actors to be gay, obese, a biracial couple or anything other than white. We even saw a commercial yesterday advertising to black woman a cream for the removal of pubic hair.

👍 " I don't for the life of me know how I escaped "
Police back in the day were more likely to give warnings to otherwise innocent drivers.
Police had not been militarized and according to legend were more interested in
extracting funds from visitors, not locals. You probably also had some luck. ;^)
I learned on a 4 on the column (Peugeot) and graduated to 4 on the floor (Plymouth,
Jensen, Mercury) then 5 and 6 on the floor (Mazda, ...) as I became more skillful.
I drove a lot of automatics as rentals and friends' cars. The only one that was really
fun was a '69 Chevelle 350 convertible. Lots of GO and lacking in Stop and
Handle.

+1 for all that, LOL!

Not only that, OUC, but there really isn't any style anymore. A Cadillac looks like Toyota that looks like Ford that looks like a Kia that looks like a Chrysler that looks like a... name it. I find myself looking at insignia to know what I'm looking at.

Those here who are in their 60s and 70s probably learned to drive in a manual shift vehicle. Mine was a 3 speed column shift followed by a 3 speed floor shifter and then 4 and 5 speeds.
I'll digress, although a manual shift vehicle does keep us more in tune with the act of driving I won't agree these vehicles make us necessarily better drivers. My last 4 and 5 speed stick shifts made me a road demon because they tend to be the sportier versions of vehicles and much more fun to drive. I don't for the life of me know how I escaped speeding tickets and reckless driving charges when I had such cars. I do know back then with those cars I always enjoyed having female company with all of their optional equipment.

Reading the article, me dino thought of all the lady legs you get to see on Fox News.
Sometimes a guy or two are added to a group for diversity.
Ha! Ha! Ha! Me dino makes a funny.

Agree, from a reader of almost all car mags to a reader of none, 30+ years now.
I grew up on Car and model car magazines, hot rod, car craft, road and track, motor trend etc.

The Trend, as the article describes, has lead to the ugliest, mundane and down right Uncomfortable (in spite of multi, electrically adjustable seats) cars in history.

I guess we're going to have to agree to disagree on this one. I've driven automatics and sticks as well as used electronic calculators and an abacus (and a slide rule for that matter) and think on the bottom line sticks and abacuses (abaci?) are a pain in the ass compared to the modern alternatives and, yes, I can do math in my head quite well. Call me "lazy" if you wish or "uncool" because I see no benefit to slapping around a stick and stomping a clutch on a car to get from A to B, nor do I need to impress anyone that I can. With an automatic there is still plenty of driver involvement and it's still driving - you just don't have the added distraction of being forced to deal with an extra lever and a pedal to accomplish something rather ordinary - and you have the added bonus of not having to fix a clutch problem in the snow, which I've done. The only stick shift I don't mind today is when I shift my Ram pickup from 2 wheel drive to 4 wheel drive when I'm up to my butt in snow and back again when the snow is gone.

Bottom line: If you like fooling with a stick have at it, but I was done with them years ago.

Edit add: Had an automatic in my '69 440 GTX. Put 4:56 in the rear end and had no trouble blowing the doors off stick shifting street competition. Had to keep both hands on the wheel, for sure! However, my older brother with the Pantera gave a good run for the money.

This bring up one of my pet peeves. Considering that doing it poorly can get you killed, very few people seem to be interested in learning to drive well. It requires being involved. A manual transmission keeps you more involved, and forces you to pay attention. In the sports car club, it was frequently said (back in the day) that with a manual trans you are a DRIVER. With an automatic, you are merely a MOTORIST.