Change and rethink
09/24/2024
It is not often that a Ferrari 365 GT 2+2 is the most common in a round of five cars. During our visit to the classic car gallery in Toffen last Friday, however, this unusual case occurred - if you don't go by the number of units or technical sophistication, but use the gearbox as the only criterion.
For all its V12 glory, the Ferrari was pleasingly down-to-earth: first gear on the left at the front, reverse gear on the right at the rear, and in between four further forward gears in the usual arrangement and count. This is as normal as in a Fiat. The BMW M3 varied the theme only slightly, with the starting gear on the left at the rear, but otherwise stuck to the usual: It gets faster to the right.
In the Renault Alouette with its longitudinally mirrored four-gear layout, you had to shift gears a little more consciously over the first few meters if you wanted to engage third gear instead of first after second. However, the Opel "Laubfrosch" demanded the greatest concentration. Not only did the unsynchronized gear counting start at the right rear and increase to the left. No, as a small additional complication, it also had the steering wheel on the right and the accelerator pedal in the middle.
So every change of vehicle also brought with it a new operating concept. You could only drive off in the De Tomaso Deauville without thinking. It had an automatic gearbox.
