There was a time when any travel involved engaging in a delicate, tactile negotiation with the material world. To step into a motor car (or climb aboard a railway carriage or board a steamer) was not merely about changing your location but a chance to operate a complex mechanical instrument.  

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Car drivers listened to the rising baritone of the engine, felt the precise vibration of the engine revs and – with a smooth, practised movement – slotted the gearstick into place. It was a sensory dialogue – a minor act of humanity and engineering combined to delightfully punctuate any journey. I have adored changing gears in some cars, like a characterful old Alfa, a cheeky MR2 or a gun-bolt precision of a Porsche 911.  

Anyway, whatever the marque or memory, that dialogue will soon be silenced. Data released earlier this month via Auto Express Marketplace reveals enquiries for new manual cars have collapsed to a record low of under 8 per cent. In 2000, manual gearboxes accounted for 86 per cent of UK car sales. Now the industry expects no new cars will offer them within four years. 

Gear changes will be handled by the sterile efficiency of computerised multi-speed automatics or you’ll travel in a whirring single-speed electric thing.........

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