Changing gears: Is knowing how to drive stick in America still essential? (CNN)

<p style=”background-color: #faebd7;”> Changing gears: Is knowing how to drive stick in America still essential? (CNN)</p>

• <<p style=”background-color: #faebd7;”>In the wake of learning to ‘drive stick’ two weeks prior to my internship at CNN, I decided to explore the manual transmission’s future in America. Apart from interviewing car owners, I contacted representatives from international automotive corporations, transportation museums, auto digests, new energy labs and driving schools, among others, to illustrate the history of what some say is already a niche machine.</p>
• <p style=”background-color: #faebd7;”>The piece was ‘liked’ on Facebook more than 2,700 times and encouraged almost 500 readers to offer their thoughts in the comments section. It was featured on the CNN.com homepage.</p>