Why It Took 80 Years to Kill the Stick Shift

In 1940, Oldsmobile would sell you a car that changed gear by itself, for $57 extra. By 1957 nearly four in five new American cars were automatics. Yet in 1980, counting imports and pickups, about one new vehicle in three still had a stick, and manuals didn't fall below one in a hundred until model year 2021. So why did it take 80 years to kill the stick shift? The answer runs through GM's own films, a 1953 fire that destroyed the only source of Hydra-Matics for seven makes of car, and the EPA's fuel-economy figures. Every claim in this video was fact-checked, and the sources for the main ones are below. Spot a mistake? Tell me in the comments and I'll correct it. CHAPTERS 0:00 Nineteen operations 1:09 Driving was a skill 2:59 The $57 option 4:23 Everyone wants one 5:28 One fire 7:00 The stick fights back 8:34 The automatic gets smart 10:30 Under one in a hundred SOURCES Automotive News, 22 August 1928 (Cadillac Synchro-Mesh): https://archive.org/details/sim_autom... US War Department, TM 10-585, Automotive Power Transmission Units, 10 April 1941: https://archive.org/details/TM10-585 Automotive News, 25 September 1939 (Hydra-Matic announced, $57): https://archive.org/details/sim_autom... Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Consumer Price Index since 1913: https://www.minneapolisfed.org/about-... US War Department, TM 9-1727C, Hydra-Matic for the M5 light tank, 5 February 1943: https://archive.org/details/TM9-1727C Sikeston Standard (Missouri), 29 September 1939 (Oldsmobile's release): https://archive.org/details/sikeston-... Automotive News, 24 February 1941 (Cadillac): https://archive.org/details/sim_autom... GM's Hydra-Matic magazine, November 1954 (wartime output): https://archive.org/details/hydra-mat... Aaron Severson, Curbside Classic, 22 June 2025 (early Hydra-Matic users): https://www.curbsideclassic.com/?p=56... Automotive News, 9 January 1950 (Powerglide price): https://archive.org/details/sim_autom... Motor Trend, November 1951 (Ward's figures): https://archive.org/details/sim_motor... Automotive Industries, 1 October 1953 (after the fire): https://archive.org/details/sim_autom... National Fire Protection Association, "The General Motors Fire", October 1953: https://archive.org/details/sim_fire-... Automotive News, 9 November 1953 (Willow Run): https://archive.org/details/sim_autom... US EPA, The 2025 EPA Automotive Trends Report, February 2026: https://www.epa.gov/system/files/docu... US Department of Energy, Fact of the Week #1127, 30 March 2020: https://www.energy.gov/cmei/vehicles/... US Department of Energy, Fact #850, 8 December 2014: https://www.energy.gov/node/989506 Aaron Severson, Curbside Classic, 15 February 2025 (1960s manual shares): https://www.curbsideclassic.com/?p=54... Congressional Budget Office, December 1980 (fuel economy standards): https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/fil... US Department of Energy, import shares of cars and light trucks (Ward's): https://www.energy.gov/node/924946 Aaron Severson, Ate Up With Motor, 2017 (lock-up torque converters): https://ateupwithmotor.com/terms-tech... Byron Hurd, Autoblog, 17 July 2020 (Accord): https://www.autoblog.com/2020/07/17/h... Chris Tsui, The Drive, 27 October 2022 (Corolla): https://www.thedrive.com/news/the-reg... Chris Rosales, Motor1, 2026 (every manual car you can still buy): https://www.motor1.com/features/80035... Credits: in the pinned comment and its reply, with a link to each film, photo and sound. Photos under CC BY-SA 4.0: Michael Barera, Ghostofakina. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Photos under CC BY 4.0: Coolalabright. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Photos under CC BY 3.0: LuK USA LLC / Michael Poehle, Tupungato (Marek Ślusarczyk). Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Photo under CC BY 2.5: Infrogmation. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Photos under CC BY 2.0: Sicnag, dave_7, GPS 56, John Lloyd, Greg Gjerdingen, Spanish Coches, Jeremy (Sydney), Seattle Municipal Archives, Niels de Wit, Michael Sheehan, Shixart1985, Yahya S., Charles (Port Chester, NY). Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Sound under CC BY 4.0: Work With Sounds / Konrad Gutkowski. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Animations and graphics: made for this channel. #StickShift #ManualTransmission #CarHistory