I’m going to say it and I don’t care – I LIKE changing gear in my manual car! Judging the revs, pressing the clutch, shifting the stick – it reminds me that I’m driving a car, not just sitting in an armchair with moving wallpaper. It’s fun!
I liked hauling on the handbrake, too, but they’ve also all but vanished. I’ve only had 3 cars – 2 with manual handbrakes that gave me no trouble at all, and this one, where I’m having to take it into the garage every 8 months for reprogramming because the electronic handbrake keeps ‘grabbing’ when I try to release it.