I was never a fan of auto boxes but then the traffic volumes in my neck of the woods were light in the 60`s and 70`s thus playing tunes on the exhaust system with a bit of heel and toe while swapping cogs, was very much part of the enjoyment of driving. I did drive an 80`s mini with an auto box which would have put me off auto boxes for life, had it not been for the 60`s Jensen Interceptor I owned for a while, which had a Chrysler Torqueflight auto box which other than by the flick of the rev counter needle, I would defy anyone to detect that it had changed gear, I guess having a 6276cc engine helped smooth out the process somewhat too... (-: Seems Rolls Royce of the same era used the Chrysler Torqueflight box..?
It seems such have been the increase in traffic volumes in most places in the last 30-40 years that we were as ever following in the footsteps of the US and adopting auto boxes as the norm, a manual is no fun in stop/start traffic, and less so if it might be connected to an engine with a lumpy cam and a tendency to run hot at tick-over...perhaps with a competition clutch and a lightened flywheel... OK I took that too far, but I did run a 60`s Lotus Elan very much like that in the 70`s
As you typed John, modern engine performance and auto boxes have come on in leaps and bounds, so much so that even the numbers of Porsche drivers preferring PDK over manual has increased considerably over the years and as you noted the performance of those boxes can equate to an average driver beating the 0-60 times of a manual box in the hands of a racing driver, and be more fuel efficient in the long run too.. Changed days when even high end performance cars may not even offer a manual option in some of their machines...
However I guess that as I rarely have to contend with traffic, manual would have been my first choice, though as I aged and my good lady chose auto for her car, her/our daily, I got used to it and could see some advantage, and as she would be likely to use as a backup, the tin top sports car I was contemplating purchasing a couple of years back, I went for PDK, which worked out well for her and just slightly less so for me, but then I admit to having Luddite tendencies..(-:
Tesla... well now that is a whole different ball game.... and as a basic transport system it well suits the old man I have become, with enough acceleration to ..err...surprise..at almost any speed, bringing smoothness in the accelerative process to a whole different level..!!!
