Michiganders Love Tweeting About Their Stick Shifts

This isn't a euphemism. Michigan loves bragging about the fact we still use a manual transmission.

There was a day in this fair land when the only way to drive a car was to learn the foot dexterity it took to shift through the gears of a manual transmission.

But some wuss invented the automatic transmission, and the manual tranny has gone the way of the Dodo bird. Or has it?

According to the Autowise web site, Michiganders tweet more about their manual transmissions and stick shifts than just about any other state.

Other states that share a love of ramming through the gears are Washington, Missouri and Tennessee.

Given that the automobile was invented and mass produced first in Michigan has led to a car-culture that believes you're not a "real" car geek unless you love to shift.

Full disclosure: my first four cars were manuals, but then they started charging more for them and I went to an automatic.