Manual transmission stumps would-be Virginia carjackers and they flee without car

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Cars-Disappearing Manuals
In this photo taken Thursday, Sept. 4, 2014, Marlo Dewing places her hand on the stick shift of the manual transmission of her 2012 Volkswagen GTI in Sacramento, Calif. Dewing prefers to drive a car with a manual transmission, and when she went shopping to replace her 22-year-old Mazda Miata, she had very few models to chose from. Only around 10 percent of vehicles made in North American now have manual transmissions, down from 35 percent in 1980. Dewing finally purchased the GTI that has a six-speed manual transmission. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) Rich Pedroncelli/AP

Manual transmission stumps would-be Virginia carjackers and they flee without car

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An attempted carjacking took place in Arlington, Virginia, on Monday, but the car was never stolen because the thieves couldn’t drive a stick shift.

The victim of the attempted robbery was confronted by three unidentified men when exiting his vehicle on Monday. The would-be carjackers told him to place his car keys on the hood of his car. He did as instructed and walked away.

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According to Arlington police, the three men seemed confused by the vehicle’s manual transmission. The would-be carjackers, described as being around 18 to 26 years old in all-black clothing, fled the scene and police were unable to find them.

Last March, two teens attempted to carjack a driver at a gas station in Germantown, Maryland, but were also unable to drive the manual transmission car. They fled, but police officers found them nearby and they were arrested on one count of carjacking and one count of conspiracy carjacking.

In July 2021, three men had plans to steal a blue 2006 Acura TSX in Detroit, Michigan, but they were foiled about 20 seconds into the theft when they could not operate the manual transmission.

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Manual transmission cars have been disappearing from roads over the years, though car enthusiasts still treasure them.

More manufacturers are cutting them from their vehicle inventory. There are still 31 vehicles from 17 manufacturers offering manual transmission. Some car manufacturers are still pushing new cars with manual transmission options, including Acura, which announced its new Acura Integra will have a manual transmission option.

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