Aug 20, 2012
But This Goes To Eleven
The above bit of automotive pornography is Bossy’s manual gear shift in her new Mini Cooper.
Perhaps Bossy should back up. And see how Bossy did that? Inserted a car pun right here in the middle of her car post? Anyway. Bossy recently purchased a Mini Cooper to ease the fuel expense of her very long work commute, which is uphill both ways in a snow laden heatwave.
Bossy’s Mini Cooper is truly a dream, especially if your dream involves the desire to crawl on all fours down the middle of a busy highway. And so far everything is just as Bossy imagined it would be when deciding to sell her very functional Honda CRV and purchase a car with all of the functionality of an opera clutch:
And speaking of clutch, finally we come to the point of Bossy’s post! You see, Bossy’s manual gears go to six!
When Bossy learned to drive, her parent’s Citroen featured four speeds on a gear shift attached to the steering column:
And then Bossy graduated to five gears, which is like four gears but better because it goes to five.
These days Bossy admits to being flummoxed about how to spell flummoxed. And when she’s done with that, she’s flummoxed about how she should use her sixth gear to best advantage. So Bossy looked it up on a little tool she likes to call Big Fat Google.
It turns out gear ratios selectable by locking gear pairs to the output shaft is a very complicated topic. But as far as Bossy is concerned, this remains the takeaway:
I LOVE your car!!
Sweet little car – enjoy in good health for many years! I hope you found a suitable home for your CRV – I would have been honored to buy it, had I known it was threatened with homelessness. I love my Odyssey, but it just passed its 17th birthday and 211,000 miles, and my DH doesn’t want it to leave the county. What kind of mileage did your CRV get?
p.s. glad to have you back. I hope life is going reasonably well for you and your family, and that you are all enjoying good health. Missed you. Seriously. Paula j.
Love the mini cooper! I almost bought one. I got the last rotary engine car in production, Mazda RX-8. (Now discontinued.) It has 6 gears too. BUT…. (geek alert: gearhead comment approaching) the RPMs redline at 9k! I can putter along at 50 in 6th, OR I can make the engine sound like a giant swarm of killer bees while doing 75 in 2nd. See, the torque is higher at the upper revs… oh never mind. Let’s just say it’s a fast, fun car. Maybe not as cute as yours, but it’s got it’s own type of fun.
But, I need a photo of how Tall Bossy fits in the Short Car. Knees to chin?
Great car. I love minis. I’m looking for a new car and I was thinking about getting one of those cute little Fiats, but I’ve read some bad reviews on them so now I’m thinking a Mini might be good.
Don’t get too infatuated with gears, lest you go to trucking school where you start at 13.
A Citroen? Wow – Ally didn’t know you could buy them in the US ever. I grew up as an army brat in Germany, and even then only my neighbor had one. I was accused of sliding down it as a 5 year old, but luckily another neighbor saw the Citroen owner’s kids doing the sliding.
I gave up my 5 speed Nissan 240SX 3 years ago when I got tired of shifting in rush hour traffic after years of manual (been shifting since 1985, yessiree, up hill both ways. and sometimes in San Fran.)
Okay, technically I gave up my 5 spd 240SX ‘drift car’ when I was run into in rush hour traffic.
Miss reading you, Bossy! Cool on the Mini.
I learned to drive a 4-on-the-floor courtesy of Dad, who got me my first car. Poor little car barely survived all my lurches and false starts while I was learning, but after that it ran great.
Until my college boyfriend wanted to learn to drive a stick.. Then my friend thought she should learn too, then another friend. Lurch-cough-squeal-stop-die. Repeat, repeat. Time for a new car. This time Dad made sure it was an automatic.
I have a stiff neck I thought was from too much computing, but it’s probably latent whiplash from my college driving experiences.
If your daughter wants to learn how to drive a stick? Send her to driving school. It’s cheaper in the long run.
I call Big Fat Google “The Google Machine”. I keep thinking it’s going to stick, but thus far no one is repeating.
My husband likes the mini but as far as small cars go I am partial to something BIGGER like the volvo C30. DROOL.
My little car with clutch and gears was a Chevy Vega. Fun to drive while it lasted. My Hyundai Sonata has a gearstick and can be shifted, but I trust it to make all those decisions for me. Three years old, just turning over 20 thousand miles.
Mini lovers are all around. Adventurous Bossy!
–>I love the title is a reference to Spinal Tap.
My first car was a 5-speed and I loved it.
I learned to drive using a manual transmission on a motorcycle (4-speed). I never owned a car (several more motorcycles, though) until I got married and graduated to a 3-speed Mustang that came with the new spouse.
I, too, would like to know how well Bossy fits in the Mini car because Jami has the same amount of tall as Bossy and was also considering purchasing a Mini.
I just love your car posts.
So glad Bossy is back. Were you being held hostage in a car dealership?
Pick me up at eight.
SK
I’ve had my mini for 7 years. Pretty much identical to yours minus the roof rack + automatic. I adore my car, and drive to work every day with a smile. Enjoy!
Stick shift was fun at one point, then I grew up and got a Scion IQ with continuous automatic transmission, and let my left leg sleep while I drive in traffic. Much calmer
You have no idea what a jolt I get when one of your posts pops ups up in my reader. I love your new car!
I was gone for a year getting a “real” divorce without internet OR cable only to come back on July 20 sumthin’, and Whaaaaa? No new Bossy for weeks?? I was afraid something terrible happened like, you decided to stick with the straight job. Searching old posts I missed gave no clue, so I was thiiiiiis close to asking Suzy C. in Evanston wha’s up. But I was patient and here you are with a new pretty car.
ps I love manual. Tried auto for a few years. Hated it. My son didn’t understand why I made him learn (no one uses manual these days MOM). Then he discovered how cool it made him.
Tried a Miata, meh. Now I have a Mazda 3 hatch. Cute, cool enough AND you can help the 20 something son move his sheet. Or buy lots of plants.
mini-coopers are the bomb. I traded my Ford F450 for the sedan. I put roof racks on it and use it as my work truck.
Only a few construction guys have peed on it.
Thanks to Bossy for the car porn. Since my 1972 Maverick got t-boned and totaled last year, I look wistfully at classic cars on eBay. Special thanks for the interior pic of the Citroën five-on-the-column shifter. Never seen a “five on the tree” before. 8-track tape player optional?
And congrats on the Cooper. Very snappy. Rock on.
Hey, Boss! You are back!! Love the mini and yes, I learned to drive a stick back in the olden days. Learned on a Studebaker and then my step father got a little foreign car. I tooled around in it some.
I didn’t know anyone besides Somon Baker had a Citroen, and I couldn’t believe I knew what it was the first time I saw it on “The Mentalist”.
Boss, when did you get tall? When you were lost to us for a while?
I’ve had you on my mind lately. I found the name tag from when you were in Dallas sometime in the past month. It is hanging on the coat rack in the laundry room. It says Amber* They wouldn’t put my whole name on it so I put the *. *wink* I think of you when I come in or go out. Take care and drive well.
Hey, Boss…my friend Kate over at Shambles Manor has post about Minis, too. She is at
http://lunatic-kate.blogspot.com/
It is cute!
Bossy…Bossy…I’m SO glad you finally posted something new! Don’t do that to us. You’re original, clever, funny as all get out…:-)
I love Google images.
I think I might go Google image the word “Bossy”.