Three on the tree......Am I gettin old??

I think Chevy used them up 87 on half tons. I had an 80 GMC wth one. don't raelly know about dimmers. 77 Mavericks had'm in the floor. I wished they were still there.

 

I had a '79 Power Wagon with one. It was also full time 4 wheel drive.

 

I learnt to drive in a 1949-ish Citroen Light 15. It had the manual gearstick sticking out of the dash.

 

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Straightpipes, I learned to drive on a '67 Dodge PU 318 three on the tree and dare I say it I am 47 years old, so we are not old they are just inexperienced . I would like to see one of them figure out how to unlock one after it has jambed! But for even more fun get a young mouthie one to sit in a Model T and figure out what the pedals do.. and no shifter !
I was raised by an older father so at 18 I knew how to drive a "T" Dad told me how as he learned to drive on one. You get some pretty odd looks at 18 driving a car probably is more than three x your age.
I know a little off subject but could be funny just the same . Rob

 

You're not gettin old,you're probably just used to driving cars that are worth owning,old ones.These late model shit boxes wouldn't make a pimple on your cars ass.I should know,I work on the damn things every day for a living!

 

I helped the local upholstery shop make deliveries in their early 80's era Ford cargo van that still had a three on the tree......never seen another one.

 

im not a gezzer but i had to do the same thing when my dad gave me my 65 f-100 but i didnt know any better because i had to teach myself to drive the damm thing, i put a automatic in my truck and right after i did i missed the 3 speed,...go figure

 

I am driving my survivor 59 Ford on a daily basis, I am so in love with its three on the tree and the gutsy 223" 6. It is a radio delete car and I dig hearing the engine. Strange how simple lifes pleasures seem cruising a cool old ride. ~Sololobo~

 

Had a young customer several years ago with a recently acquired 6 or 8 year old Chevette or Citation ask me how to adjust his rear view mirror. I told him, "Well, adjust it so you can see what's going on behind your car."

He replied, "No, no. How do you adjust the outside rearview mirrors?"

So I explained that he should adjust them so he can see the horizon behind him and a little bit of the sides of his car.

"Of course," he said, "but how do you adjust them?"

After a bit more explanation and debate, it dawned on me that he'd never seen a car with manual outside mirrors. He couldn't find the little toggle lever on the door panel and didn't realize that he could just reach out and move the mirror with his hand. Hopefully he'd already figured out how to crank the windows up and down.

 

It's all relative. I'm 53, and I'd have a little difficulty driving a Model T...maybe even starting one up, LOL. I've seen it done...watched closely...there's even a youtube video tutorial on it...just never actually did it.

So yeah, the kids don't know the old stuff. On the other hand, I can't figure out some of the new stuff...fasteners I've never seen, etc. And forget about pullin' a dash.

Pretty big deal when they went from strictly floor-shift to column-shift...better for neckin' too.
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You are not getting older,you are getting cooler,keep the 3 on the tree alive !!! I love having 3 on the tree,not many people even want to attempt to drive my car.

 

Three on the tree is alive and well on my 57 150. It is too cool when you wind up 1st and shift, take second gear out some more and drop it in third. All my kids got a hoot out of me driving and shifting, they also liked the wind out wing windows and the wing window locks.. Hey we all have to get older but we do not have to get old!.

 

I am 30 and learned to drive on my 1953 plymouth with the column 3 speed. Last year when I took my dad's '65 F100 in to get it inspected, I had to drive it in because no one there knew how to shift on the column. All but 2 of the techs were older than me. I enjoy keeping this kind of knowledge alive. I imagine there was a time when old-timers complained that these whipper snappers had no idea how to retard the spark, or hand crank an engine without breaking your thumb. I can't imagine what it will be like when I am an old timer.

 

Back in the late '60s in SoCal, finding a 3-on-the-tree was a rare sight. There may have been as many as two in the parking lot of my high school, back then. Most cars were slushboxes and only a few car had four-speeds in 'em.

Driver Training in the L.A. City School District included classroom driving simulators that allowed students one whole hour of learning to drive a column shifted manual 'box (complete with early Falcon dash) - I ended up teaching a whole lot of my friends how to drive a stick, as I was one of the only guys who drove a 3-speed stick car (converted to a floor shift, as column shifters were sooo uncool).

My 18 year-old grandson was shocked to find our 26 year-old project car had no power-steering or air conditioning! I wonder what he'd have made of driving a column shift, no power brakes, bench seats, &c?

 

I just bought a '58 Fairlane, and haven't even SEEN it, since I'm still deployed - all I know is that with a straight 6, 3 on the tree, and no radio - all I have to think about when I'm in there is just driving. I can't wait to learn.....

 

feel the same here, I'm only 30 but feel the vintage knowledge must stay alive. At least I know most younger hooligans probably won't know to use the pushbutton start on my fifty chevy if I leave her unlocked overnight.

 

Geez, everyone knows that a 3speed is a mountain bike, points are on whitetail deer, a condenser makes canned milk and a flathead is an Indian from Montana!!!!.......kids these days, don't they teach them ANYTHING?

 

You guys are talking like it's some lost art or something. And i guess it is. And yeah its cool to know something that the general public doesn't, but i think if you explained it to most people they'd be able to figure it out in like two minutes. It's not brain science. Or rocket surgery for that matter.

 

Hmmm what would they say about my SAAB 96 or Simca Aronde with the column shifted 4 speeds.

 

I remember in the 80's having a 63 Falcon with a 3 on the tree with a non-syncro 1st gear. It was an art to getting it into 1st while rolling. Almost like driving a big rig...

 

Why are people surprised that youngsters don't know what a 3 on the tree is, or vent windows, etc? They stopped putting them in vehicles a very long time ago, right? Sooooooo........how would a typical teenager know about them?

 

To me almost any American made car with vent windows is cool!

 

i love this stuff, being young is overrated, i drive three on that tree almost every damn day on that 61 econoline of mine' .. just my .02

 

Try explaining how to drive a Model T. "This lever on the left is the hand brake, the pedal on the left is the low/neutral/high pedal, this one is reverse, and the other is the foot brake. Oh, that lever is the Ruxstell".

 

My 57 Anglia had the turn signal "switch" on the hub of the steering wheel above the horn.

 

Yes, and it is a good thing as far as I am concerned. 3 on the tree is a great theft deterrent too. The kind of asses that typically steal cars most likely would not even have a clue as to how to start up my truck, let alone drive the 3 on the tree. It is super easy to get into regardless and not worth locking anyway, but with the 3 on the tree shift I think nothing of just leaving it unlocked with the windows down pretty much anywhere, even in thefty areas of San Francisco. Plus, I don't ever leave anything of any value in it either. So, I am glad virtually no one anymore knows how to drive it and the ones that do are few and far between and not likely to be ones to try to steal it anymore. Saves me a lot of worry and hassle.

 

Yet another example of why I don't "interface" so well with the current world! I rarely ever drive late model vehicles, so it always a shock to me to find out where things are today... I can't imagine relying on something in my everyday life as much as you do with a car, and not knowing any thing about how it works, or where it evolved from. As for all the crap they slather on new cars - @$#!%*&^$#!!!!!!

 

What, I don't hear so well at my age. There's three what in the tree ? Had a 53' Chevy 210 that was so sweet to shift on the tree. All you needed was 1 finger for any gear. Ya it's funny to see kids / teens look at the older cars. I like when I open the tail light to put gas in my car, they think I made it that way. I say no thats factory and they say "no way dude".

 

Why explain how to drive a "T" it is more fun just watching the learning process. Also as I learnt from Dad turn on the mag or nothing happens. Rob