The old Chevelle I began learning to drive as a teen had a three-speed manual transmission.  The shifting lever was on the steering column, and the pattern was in an H-shape with reverse at the near-top, first gear at the near-bottom, then second gear up at the far-top, and (finally!) third gear down at the far-bottom. That’s known as a “Three on the Tree” column shifter. As a kid just learning to drive, the manual transmission was hard enough to master without requiring my attention be drawn to the steering column as I aimed that screaming rocket sled down the … Continue reading Why’s there a tree in the column? Post #2 in a series about the Global Flood