Learning to drive stick.

Last weekend, Jenn decided it was time to learn how to drive a stick-shift, and our new Volvo seemed like the perfect car to learn on.

The Good News: Jenn did great! After only 30 minutes in the Best Buy parking lot, she got the basics of a manual transmission!

The Bad News: I hadn't anticipated that the abuse inherent in learning to drive stick would result in the untimely demise of our poor 122's tired, 43 year old motor and tranny mounts.

Before buying the car, I noticed the motor mounts needed to be replaced. I just hadn't anticipated it'd happen so soon. A cringe-worthy metal-on-metal thudding now beckons replacement of the mounts ASAP. (Hopefully the tires won't fail quite so catastrophically.)


bulging rubber and cracked metal. yikes.