I had plenty of chores for yesterday … a big bag of soda bottles to drop off at the humane society (they get 8 cents/bottle don’tcha know), pick up some chicken breasts at Primal, all that stuff.
So as I’m driving out of my neighborhood, I happened to spot a young man who was trying to push this beat-to-death little Honda, while another young man was in the front seat, trying to steer.
Hmm.ย This can’t be good.
So I pulled my car over.ย “You guys need any help?”ย I asked.
“Well, if you could, we’d appreciate it,” the driver said.
Okay, I’m figuring I’ll turn my car around, we’ll get some jumper cables, and recharge his battery.ย I’ve done that before, you just do nice where you can.
“We just need a push,” the other guy replied, “if we can get the car going, we can pop-start it and be on our way.”
Okay.ย Never heard of pop-starting a car before, but apparently the process is that if a car is in motion, somehow the engine can be engaged and the car will start.
The pusher and I placed our hands on the rear bumper.ย This was a little Honda, so pushing it wasn’t a problem; it wasn’t like trying to push a Lincoln Navigator.
We got the car in motion.ย The driver turned the ignition.ย There was a belch of smoke from the tail pipe.ย No.ย Car would not start.
We tried again.ย Hands on the car.ย Push push push.ย Belch of smoke.ย The engine would not turn over.
The driver then said, “If you want, we can try to pop-start it in reverse.”
We put our hands on the hood.ย The hood was quite hot from all the previous pop-start tries.ย Push push push.ย And then … boom the car started.ย The other guy got in the car, thank-yous were exchanged, and they were off.
Okay.ย Apparently this is a work-around if your car has a manual transmission, as their Honda did.
I wouldn’t try this with the automatic transmission in my Chevrolet, but then again, if something like this ever happens to me, and there isn’t a Good Samaritan to help me out, I’ll just remember that I have my AAA membership in my wallet. ๐
Chuck The Writer 
That was a stunner: people have forgotten about push-starting cars? Are automatics so prevalent these days or are vehicles just that much more dependable? Sad to think this is becoming a lost art. In my day it was a regrettably common practice, especially among the young and monetary-challenged. I remember one notorious Triumph Herald that my dad got as a loaner when his VW bus was being repaired. The Triumph had to be pushed every time because its starter was defective. He ‘thanked’ FA Motors every day for a week!
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