three-on-the-tree

listen to the pronunciation of three-on-the-tree
Englisch - Englisch
On an automobile, describing the gearshift lever of a steering column-mounted three-speed manual transmission
On an automobile (especially those produced from 1939 through the mid-1970s), a three-speed manual transmission whose gearshift lever is mounted on the steering column

In driver's education, they used to teach students to drive in cars with a three-on-the-tree, but now the cars all have automatic transmission.