Something similar. I had the throttle cable break on my 280Z. After
tossing an old moving pad across the engine, I had my bud straddle the
engine (rear opening hood) and operate the throttle while I drove.

That actually worked well. He could watch traffic and know when to
change speeds, usually. We had to verbally coordinate shifting but
that wasn't hard. If I'd gotten scared, I was prepared to stab the
clutch and the ignition switch until we got our signals coordinated
again.

That's another applicatiuon where shoelace comes in handy.