We’ve covered cases where car thieves couldn’t drive a manual transmission, and it’s happened again, this time in Boulder, Colorado. The inability to operate a stick shift once again proved to be an unexpected anti-theft feature.
A clutch and gearshift remain a surprisingly effective deterrent in an age of automatics. The foiled theft is a reminder that the dwindling number of manual drivers includes plenty of would-be criminals, occasionally saving an owner’s vehicle.