Carjackers jump in car, see stick shift -- and run away

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Two would-be Florida carjackers were foiled by an unusual adversary on Friday: the car itself.

A 45-year-old man and his 23-year-old girlfriend were reportedly leaving his workplace in St. Petersburg early Friday when two men approached the car.

One of the men pulled a handgun, ordered the couple out of the 2007 Nissan and demanded that they fork over a cellphone and cash, the St. Petersburg Times reported.

The couple exited the car and handed over a cellphone. The men then jumped in the vehicle, fired it up and went nowhere. Neither of them knew how to drive a stick shift.

The failed carjackers soon gave up and ran away. Authorities are investigating, the newspaper reported.

A stick shift similarly foiled a would-be carjacking a few weeks ago in Vallejo, Calif. This time, none of three would-be carjackers apparently knew how to drive a stick.

Perhaps more car buyers should consider the merits of manual transmissions as anti-theft devices.

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-- Stephen Ceasar