In the U.K., we all drive manual gear shift cars. Automatics are just as ubiquitous as manuals, but the majority of cars driven are manuals as we love them so much. Now as a kid, I always thought when they discussed Michael being able to drive a car - “Now for God’s sake he can’t drive a car!” - “He was doing very well last night! Maybe someone round here gave him lessons…” - I thought they meant a manual gear shift car. A manual car definitely does need some teaching to operate. I don’t think I could have ever sat in a manual when I was younger and moved off without having being taught exactly how to use it. Whereas in an automatic, I assume it’s pretty easy considering you just have your gas and brake peddles and don’t need any skill in finding the biting point with the clutch to move and knowing when to change gears appropriately. Just curious to know if manual cars were a big thing in America back in the 70’s? Was the station wagon a manual or automatic? If it were automatic, wouldn’t it be more believable that Michael possibly knew how to drive from just watching his dad or something?
I always guessed it must have been automatic, they are almost like kids toys/go-carts in operation.
He doesn’t have to worry too much about the rules of the road.