Tips on Buying Cars: Rental a manual car, medium duty truck, manual transmissions

Question
Jeff:

 I want to teach my 16 year old son to drive a car with a manual transmission, and I'd prefer that his first attempts be on a rental -- not my car.  Can you recommend a place to rent a car with a manual transmission in or near Westchester County, NY.

   Thanks, Mike

Answer
It's virtually impossible to rent a manual-transmission car in the U.S., yet they're very common in Europe.  It may sound like a crazy suggestion, but try one of the truck-rental places like Ryder.  Their larger moving vans come with manual transmissions, and their heavy-duty internals would stand up to a beginner's mistakes.  He may not be able to park such a behemoth, but take him out in the country, or a big open parking lot.  If he can master driving a medium-duty truck, then he'll be prepared to drive anything!