For those of you who read my columns regularly (thank you), you're aware I usually stick to politics.I'm going to shift gears for this one. Literally.I recently came across this headline in The Washington Post: "The death of the stick shift is almost here." It wasn't completely news. I've noticed the dearth of manual transmissions in newer vehicles for years. But I'd hoped there was enough demand left that it wouldn't disappear.AdvertisementAdvertisementI was wrong.According to a 2025 Environmental Protection Agency report on automotive trends, less than 1% of new vehicles made for the U.S. market are manual transmissions. In 1980, roughly 35% were. Europeans remain more attached to the stick shift, but even there, demand is fading.Stick shifts are dying. And I don't think it's just electric vehicles or autonomous features driving this. It's that more of us have started treating driving as an interruption, something that happens between checks of our phones, rather than an experience in its own right.Can I still buy a manual transmission? The list of cars with stick shifts has gotten shorter and shorter.I learned how to drive on a stick. I've loved them ever since. Ingrid Jacques' brother taking her for a spin in the Corvair in the 1980s, and prior to either one of them having mastered the stick shift.Thirty years ago, when I learned to drive at 16, it was in our family's 1971 mustard-yellow Volvo station wagon. It definitely had a stick shift, one with a mind of its own. It wasn't always easy, but what my dad told me turned out to be true: "If you can drive this, you can drive anything."AdvertisementAdvertisementWe also had a 1962 Corvair convertible growing up, which my brother and I both drove around town.Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store.We learned all kinds of tricks that only come with a manual transmission. If your car doesn't start – and given the age of ours, that was a fairly common occurrence – you can pop the clutch: Find a small hill, shift into second and let gravity do the work.It worked on several occasions.The first new car I bought was a 2002 Honda Civic, shortly after I graduated college. And guess what? It had a stick.AdvertisementAdvertisementCandace Owens? Nick Fuentes? Hunter Biden's weird rehab tour. | OpinionDriving a stick shift is like a dance with your carMaybe I've reached the age when the old days start seeming rosier than they were. But I think what I feel about the stick shift is more than nostalgia.It's fun. And when you're shifting gears yourself, you feel connected to the car and the road in a way that's just not possible in an automatic. Pushing a button to start the engine and turning a knob to "shift" isn't the same thing.If you've never driven a stick, imagine it as a dance with your car. As the RPMs climb, the car is telling you when it's ready to step into a higher gear. Coming into a turn, you downshift instead of hitting the brake.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdding a third pedal – the clutch – to the mix takes some getting used to, especially if you learned on an automatic. I recall stalling the Volvo more times than I'd like to admit (OK, a lot of times) while my mom coached me through it in a high school parking lot back in 1995.It's intuitive once it clicks, though. And like riding a bike, you never really lose it.These days I don't get to drive a stick often. My car is a 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee – automatic – which comes in handy during Michigan winters but is comparatively boring to drive. Whenever I visit my parents, though, I make a point of taking their 2015 Honda Accord (a stick, of course) out on Oregon's back roads.There's really no better way to hit the open road. I'm going to keep doing it as long as I can find one to drive.Hundreds of custom and classic cars kicked off the 2026 KKOA Leadsled Spectacular with the Sundown Cruise on July 23 down Santa Fe Avenue. The annual car show brings more than 1,000 cars each year to Oakdale Park in Salina.Ladies donning poodle skirts and other retro clothing wave to the crowd while sitting on the back of a Chevy Corvette during the 2026 KKOA Leadsled Spectacular Sundown Cruise on July 23 down Santa Fe Avenue in Salina.Salina Masonic Lodge No. 60 had a 1966 Corvette Stingray on display at the 2026 KKOA Leadsled Spectacular. The car is set to be raffled off in March 2027.Streets in Oakdale Park were lined with classic and custom cars during the 2026 KKOA Leadsled Spectacular. The car show brings thousands of people into Salina each year in July."Wile E. Coyote" sits on a motorcycle in the back of a vintage Chevrolet pickup truck as it leaves Oakdale Park. The park hosted the 46th annual KKOA Leadsled Spectacular.A 1961 Ford Galaxie with a paint scheme of the Modesto Police Department was part of the Cars of "American Graffiti" collection at the 2026 KKOA Leadsled. In the film, the rear axle is ripped off after being chained to a light post.The traditional location for the KKOA Leadsled Spectacular sign stands in front of a scale of the Statue of Liberty at one of the entrances to Oakdale Park in Salina. The sign is used as a popular photo opportunity spot during the car show.A group of car enthusiasts admire a 1958 Chevy Yeoman owned by Lee McComb of Grand Island, Nebraska. The car was one of more than 1,000 that were part of the 2026 KKOA Leadsled Spectacular July 23-26 in Salina's Oakdale Park.The KKOA Leadsled Spectacular brings parts, collectibles and antique vendors of all varieties each year to Oakdale Park in Salina. Taking place in July, the annual car show features more than 1,000 classic, custom and antique vehicles on display.A collection of cars like those seen in "American Graffiti" were on display in Oakdale Park during this year's KKOA Leadsled Spectacular. The 1973 film is set in the cruising and car culture of the 1960s.James Hanson Jr. of Abilene brought his custom 1962 Chevy Bel Air to the KKOA Leadsled Spectacular. The car includes customizations like Cadillac tail lights and hand made fender skirts.A red Shelby Cobra was among the more popular cars for visitors to look at during the 2026 KKOA Leadsled Spectacular. The car show in Salina brings more than 1,000 custom, classic and restored vehicles each year to Oakdale Park.Everett Reynolds works on a car as part of the KKOA Backyard Garage. The garage is a collection of people who are brought together each year during the Leadsled Spectacular.1 / 13Cool custom and classic cars cruise around Kansas streetsHundreds of custom and classic cars kicked off the 2026 KKOA Leadsled Spectacular with the Sundown Cruise on July 23 down Santa Fe Avenue. The annual car show brings more than 1,000 cars each year to Oakdale Park in Salina.Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at ijacques@usatoday.com or on X: @Ingrid_Jacques.AdvertisementAdvertisementYou can read diverse opinions from our USA TODAY columnists and other writers on the Opinion front page, on X, formerly Twitter, @usatodayopinion and in our Opinion newsletter.This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: I'll drive a manual car wherever I find one. Here's why. | Opinion