5/9     I'm going to Italy in a couple of weeks.  I want to rent a car but
        I don't drive manual transmission.  Will I be able to rent an automatic
        car around Europe?
        \_ Yes.  Depends on company.  Call their local office.  Why not just
           ask someone to show you manual?  It's not that hard, and you'll get
           a lot more out of Italian roads with it.  -John
           \_ I don't think I would recommend someone w/ "a couple weeks"
              experience w/ a manual transmission to use one in the alps.
              Shifting gears, braking, and making turns may be a bit much. :-)
              \_ Best way to learn.  Plus if he's confident enough to drive
                 _anything_ in an Italian city, he'll be fine anywhere. -John
        \_ All kidding aside, automatic cars are available on first-come-first-serve
           in at least the UK and Ireland. They do cost extra though, something
           like $10-20/day. My suggestion would be to practice, if $$ is an issue.
        \_ There are automatic Ferraris.
           \_ That's terrible.
              \_ No, it's not.  I believe the "automatic" Ferraris he speaks of
                 are those with gigantic engines in the the 600+ lb. torque
                 category (such as the Enzo).  Trying to shift these engines
                 with a traditional manual is challenging at best.  Most
                 "supercars" these days are equipped with F1 style paddle
                 shifters.  You shift the car, but the car handles the clutch
                 for you.  Even then, driving these cars is apparently
                 something of a challenge - paddle shift cars don't really
                 have a "slip" feature and the accelerator tends to act like
                 a switch, so the throttle is either on or off.  Parking at a
                 curb is probably something of a white knuckle experience.

                 Anyway, you can't "rent" a $750,000 car.
                 \_ Sure you can, it's just very expensive. Some of the GT
                    Porsches also do the weird tiptronic thing.  -John
                 \_ No, by "automatic Ferraris" I meant not the F1-style
                    shifter, but the real automatic as in the Scaglietti
                    4-seater.
                    \_ Oh, that thing.  I forgot about that.  Right.  The
                       Ferrari "sports coupe."  Geez.  Who wants a sports
                       coupe that spends more time in the shop than on the
                       road?  Ferraris make BMWs seem like paragons of
                       reliability.
                        \_ Isn't that true of Italian cars in general?
                           \_ What other Italian cars does anyone care
                              about?
                              \_ Uh, Lamborghinis & Maseratis for a start?
                                 \_ And Alfa Romeos.
                                    \_ And Fiats, ha ha!
                                        \_ Fix It Again, Tony