"Ignoramus465" wrote in message

Good idea about renting a car with a manual trans!

The only significant difference between driving the Army truck and my Beetle
was the control effort. Whenever I got back into the car afer a long truck
trip I nearly ripped out the gearshift lever and pushed my clutch foot
through the floor.

Neither had any power. The 10-year-old VW had a 1200cc engine that maxed it
out at the same top speed as the truck, 100 KPH / 60 MPH. I rarely drove it
on the Autobahn, much preferring the back roads and quaint villages anyway.

That little engine would run with three plug wires disconnected, and I could
crank start it by hand with a dead battery by jacking up and turning a rear
wheel. I think it was a Euro-only ~30 HP low compression version, though the
body trim was US spec.

I had the least impressive car on the Kaserne until a buddy bought a new
Pinto.

jsw