How To: Drive 5-Speed Column Shift Manual on a JDM Imported RHD Van!

[@jonkelleher7265]

42 years of car life and this is the first 5 on the tree I've ever seen thank you lol

[@arxg1934]

Extremely common here in nz on old jap utes

[@RandyPinkFloyd132]

I wish All Modern manuals had a column shift option...

[@electrikoptik]

I wish your wish never comes true.

[@ZE1WHO1]

I wish more modern cars had manuals. Because last time i checked there were not manual option for the most powerful model (it was 200+hp)

[@zacdambracio6411]

Bruh, that's just going to be confusing also I'm less likely to hit a wrong gear if I'm on a horizontal plane instead of a vertical.

[@qinisogasa9853]

No!

[@tinuvarun5806]

Nope , normal gear stick is way better

[@Zack-pb9nk]

Finally someone explained it better. I dad had a column shift car and I used to find it intriguing. I drive a stick manual but would love to have a go at column shift one day!

[@CrazyWoody1989]

I have a couple of 3 speed on the column trucks and I've wanted a 5 speed forever but retain the column shifter for the look of originality and I believe I finally figured out how to do it hah. We shall see!

[@RiffRaffMama.]

Thank you! I have been left a van with column shift and ive driven floor shift a million times, but the gear layout had been painted over and i was trying to figure it out without getting on the road and causing a problem if i couldnt figure it out, so thank you, i feel so much more vonfident now i know where all the gears are!

[@davidgrisez]

This is the very first time I have ever seen a 5 speed column gearshift. I am 73 years old. I have seen 3 speed column shifts in my young years and I have seen four speed column shifts.

[@RichoBCV]

I occasionally drove a Toyota Hiace 5 Speed column-shift manual van in the 1990s. Heaps of fun, even if a bit gutless with a pushrod 3Y-C engine that you had to rev the guts out of.

[@zastavanaz4G18]

Really interesting about RHD Column shift manuals. I'm used to seeing like LHD column shifts on USDM cars but since we use RHD in SG, I wonder how the operation would differ. Which isn't much but just gotta remember that the shifter is on the other side, great video!

[@Otani_Garage]

Wow people say having a manual transmission in the US is an anti theft device. This is taking that to an extreme. There’s probably next to 0% chance anybody else would be able to hop into your Delica and drive it away haha

[@ionpeen]

I can picture someone instinctively pulling the column down thinking it’ll go into drive then all of a sudden they’re going in reverse

[@5610winston]

@@ionpeen A friend had a Dodge Aspen back in the day (maybe ten years ago) and he left the keys in the switch in the rough neighborhoods. No takers. My Studebaker had the column shift stick, with the complication of a starter button under the clutch pedal so that the clutch pushed the button.

[@Varinki]

Lol. It depends. The first column shift I ever drove was a 5 speed Nissan. I was able to figure that out in about a minute.

[@neometalx9]

If you can drive a manual, this is not hard even if you go from left hand to right hand drive.

[@Corkoth55]

bro it has a diagram on the side. 🤣🤣

[@malcolmcluett5732]

Another advantage of a column shift. It is possible to have a bench seat in the front which can carry three people. (at least for short distances)

[@Sparky-ww5re]

Bench seats were nice. My uncle Frank used to own a 1990 Cadillac Brougham with I was a kid, and it had s seatbelt in the front center, so the car could seat 6 with plenty of room to spare. The front bench with the column gear selector made the car feel much larger than any sedan available today. The enormous size trunk was perfect for a couple of teenagers to sneak into a drive in movie unnoticed 😃

[@5610winston]

I learned on a three-on-the-tree in a '51 Studebaker Commander, ancient at the time. Somehow my Mom even found a three-speed '70 Buick Estate Wagon with the 455 engine (a couple of dozen were built, bought it from her boss). I think it was 1984 when we first had an automatic in the family. I bought my first floor-shift manual in 1985, and that's all I've bought since. Going to test-drive a six speed Subaru later today, give those heated seats a good workout.

[@bradleyszarejko689]

5 on the tree

[@Sparky-ww5re]

never knew they existed. I know that, many years ago, particularly before the mid to late 70s 3 on the tree was common, worked well for cars with front bench seats. also for a short period in the 1960s, 4 on the tree was available on some ford and chevy/GMC vans, they apparently were far less common than 3 on the tree, and of course the column shift automatic which was also very common at the time. Funny how today, very few new car models offer a manual transmission but in the 50s and 60s an automatic was considered a luxury.

[@karlporath8904]

We had left hand drive minivans with a five on the tree in Saudi Arabia during Desert Storm. All I can remember was the transmission and a jump seat on top of the engine box between the front seats.

[@therealbaglady]

Thanks for the lesson. Enjoy the ride!

[@ssennonojohnmary4406]

Excellent, demonstration.

[@waiikiedwards638]

This is helpful. I just brought a 1993 Toyota hilux column shift. Very different to a floor shift. It’s not diesel unfortunately however since I’m in NZ gas is more affordable.

[@6speedguy845]

A 3 speed column shift manual transmission is sometimes called a 3 on the tree

[@cumulo25]

How much more difficult is it to make left turns? I imagine it's harder to see oncoming traffic when the drivers seat is on the right side of the vehicle.

[@Sparky-ww5re]

so cool!!! I know you mentioned imported. Was this video shot in the U.S.A, if you don't mine me asking? the road signs appear to what we have in the US. I never knew 5 speed column shifters existed many years ago, like before the 1980s, 3 speed on the column was very common, worked wonders for cars with front bench seats. for a short time in the 1960s, some Ford and Chevy vans had 4 speed column shift, there apparently were far less common than the 3 speed.

[@ericgo1783]

Hello! Yes, shot in the US! I imported the van from Japan earlier this year :) Thanks for watching!

[@5610winston]

Don't forget all those imports (SAAB, Citroen, Mercedes, BMW, Peugeot, DKW, Fiat, Renault, and many more) with four-speed colun shift. I remember reverse in the SAAB was pull the lever out to the right, back toward the driver, and down. Some column manual four-speeds had fourth as the dogleg shift (outside the H-pattern) instead of reverse.

[@FiveTwoSevenTHR]

That honestly looks super awkward but one day I want to try a column shift.

[@wallbanger1968]

The 3 speed on the column was so common, and the shift pattern so universal, they didn't need a shift pattern plate.

[@glengallwas6283]

In all honesty, they're nice, my favorite type of shifter. You don't have to move your hand far from the wheel to reach it. The caveat is, most made from late 50s up to the late 70s were garbage and mostly 3 speeds. They were integrated in the column tube and had alot of play, plus completely worn out most of the time. The best one I've driven from that era was an AMC. Cars older than 1955 tend to have shifters with their own assemblies, separate from the column itself. Those were better to an extent, primarily when not completely worn out.

[@yashiroku]

Front-mid engine.....four-wheel-drive.... manual....turbo.......diesel......mini van.... the days of innovation are really over... now its just slap a battery in it and have a tablet for bluetooth in the middle so you can watch that screen as you drive.......lol

[@6speedguy845]

I bet that van has the dash in metric measurements

[@MiltonMaluze]

How to change down

[@alihuseein9422]

Good

[@pavlidesgeorge848]

CHINESE RESTAURANT STARTES IN 70S IN AUSTRALIA AND THEY DONT MAKE CHICHEN COW MIN ANY MORE PLEASE SEND NE RECIPY MAKE VIDEO OK CHEER ❤

[@rockyracoon3233]

Reverse and 1st should always be parallel to each other. Just makes common sense.

[@Drauntabuxy]

I like having them the opposite, if i want to start moving forward, i bring the shifter towards me to the front of the vehicle, if i want to start to reverse it's completely opposite, i move the shifter away from me and towards the rear of the vehicle. The shifter is pushed/placed in the intended direction of travel. Seems intuitive to me.