I used to own a 2002 extended cab F150 XLT with stick shift and, while it was nothing spectacular at the time, I find myself daydreaming about it and how I miss it.

It could be the timing on owning her was as a freshman at UNT, and my sophomore and Junior years at A&M (before replacing with a 2010 Silverado) or it could be the manual transmission that always felt unique compared to my friends' rides.

Has anyone had the itch (and acted on it) to own a stick shift vehicle after years of moving on? Was it satisfying to get back into the driver seat of a manual or is this all revisionist history and was it really not as special as I seem to recall?

You aren't misremembering. Manual transmissions are a ton of fun. I wish my F250 was a manual. My wife has a tiny 2016 Fiesta ST with a stick, it's a blast to drive.

I understand the feeling. Every time I go to Europe I get a manual and I want to buy one when I get back. They're getting nearly impossible to find now which is sad.

Bought a 93 Toyota pickup with a stick shift to teach my kid to drive it and for a hunting lease truck. My 20s nieces and several neighborhood kids learned to drive it also. Fun for the kids.

I rented a manual FJ through Turo when we were in CO after Christmas. Holy crap was that fun to drive in the mountains.

You remember correctly, it really is fun. I bought a 2008 GMC Canyon a few years ago with a 5-speed for a few reasons. I wanted to teach my kids how to drive one to make sure they know, I wanted an old beater that I could teach them to work on, and I enjoy driving it.

They're hard to find in the US these days. I think the Tacoma is the only truck left that still offers a standard in new models, and it's only a few trims that do. The Nissan Frontier did until a couple years ago, but they don't anymore.

They are still some vehicles that still offer it, here's the 2023 list.

https://gearjunkie.com/motors/manual-transmission-cars

Your best bet is picking up something used to scratch that itch. If you find it isn't as great as you remember, you can probably sell it for about what you paid.

I've tried to keep manual transmission cars as long as I can. Currently drive a 2008 GLI. Before that I had a TDI wagon, Scion tC, Audi S4, Caddy CTS-V, and Mini cooper S all with a stick. I've almost come to terms with the fact that my next car probably won't be a manual transmission, but mayyyybe I'll find a way. Golf R and some of the V-caddies look pretty fun

Manual was a requirement for my latest project truck.

I just bought a manual FJ so my kids can learn in a few years... and mostly so i can have a tool around/ranch vehicle. It's still fun! Took a couple days for my left leg to not get tired from the push again.

The two vehicles I own that I drive most are manual. I enjoy it. Keeps me more involved in the driving experience.

I miss the manual in my 3500 dodge

Worked with a guy who had one. Was a trip riding with him tbh because I didn't expect a manual when I got in.

Told the story before that daughter went to USAFA. Fish and Sophs can't have cars. But if they act as DD for upperclassmen who do have cars, said uppers will loan their car to underclassmen.

As one of the few in her class who could drive a standard, she got access to lots of cool cars that others did not.

I've driven a manual more years than not. Only vehicle that will be automatic will be a pickup.

I love it. been driving manual 10 years in DFW traffic and its just natural. I don't mind the stop in go with stick. driving a slow car fast helps with that feeling though.

my next manual will probably be a C7 or camaro 2SS before all the V8s die away.

ac04 said:

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trying to find a manual F80 M3 right now and it is seriously testing my patience.

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I want my old 2002 E46 M3 back. That car is impossible to find in Laguna Seca Blue for under $35,000.

We still have a 2005 Dodge dually that is manual transmission and still runs great. I'm curious how long it'll last.

Anti Car theft feature

I love driving a manual truck, but not in Houston stop and go traffic. Also adds a bit of a pucker factor on the boat ramp.

HollywoodBQ said:

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ac04 said:

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trying to find a manual F80 M3 right now and it is seriously testing my patience.

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I want my old 2002 E46 M3 back. That car is impossible to find in Laguna Seca Blue for under $35,000.

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Same. I had a silver convertible. Great cars and I always lusted after those M3s in Laguna Seca. I was longing for the old American v8 rumble and replaced it with a GT500 convertible, 2x the horsepower and a very different driving experience. The M3 is quick and the GT500 is old school raw and fast. Both 6 speed manuals of course.

My daughter's first car was a 2001 X5 with a 5 speed manual. That was a blast to drive. She hit a telephone pole with it and we happened to find a Mazda CX5 with a manual as a replacement. I taught all my kids how to drive a stick.

Had a cousin who was a medic in Vietnam. He got licensed to drive a 6x6 truck. If I recall correctly, part of the test was driving that manual trans beast up a 45 degree slope. Set the brake. Kill it. Restart it. Continue driving up the slope without stalling or rolling backwards.

He was a farm boy, so he made it.

You ever drive a truck with a brownie? 5 & 4?

When I was young, I borrowed one of my uncles winch trucks and pulled an open top with it during grain season. It had a five and a four - but in separate boxes. If I recall correctly, the real brown light transmission, were in a married box.

If you ever got them both in neutral, at the same time, you just have to pull over and stop and start again. As long as you can keep one of them and gear all the time you'd be OK.!!

No two stick trans, but I have thousands of miles with 5 speed and a two speed rear. Not to mention a Deere quad range, with A-D ranges and 1-4 gears

We had an old bobtail truck that had a two speed rear and I remember damn near tearing it up because I thought it was a road ranger. I was trying to split the transmission until somebody said whoa buddy.!!! Isn't that funny, I was so young I have no idea what I was doing but I had already driven the truck with a 10speed before I ever got in that old bobtail. Dang farm kids.

I was thinking back now to those twin sticks. He also had a W900 with an oilfield winch bad on it and it had at 10 & 4. But that drove different because you really only used third and fourth gear in the auxiliary transmission. On the highway. Third gear was direct fourth gear was overdrive. So if you were just driving down the highway, you'd mainly shift with the 10 and then use fourth gear to split overdrive. All those other gears were for winch work.

The five and four wasn't like that. You gotta really get in the sticks on that one.

Edit one more time for link. Bonus popinjay for cab over- double bonus for the screaming Detroit.

Out of the 4 cars in my family two of them are manuals.

In fact my daily driver is manual everything. Seats, windows, transmission, even the mirrors show whats behind you in exactly the right size.


1988 Volvo 240 DL, Baby......

E92 M3 can be found in a manual!

and they are more fun to drive for sure!

I got a manual mustang. Glad I got it; way more fun to drive than an auto.

I had a couple of manual transmission vehicles, sometimes I miss them. If I ever bought a sporty car of any kind I'd want a manual, same if I bought a Wrangler. Sadly I have a wife that doesn't know how to drive one, nor does she have any desire so I'd have to get something she had no interest in driving. By the time my kid can drive I'd love to have one just to make her learn to drive on one of those. All those people I see texting and driving are unlikely to be driving a manual. I think the roads would be safer if more people out there were driving manual transmission vehicles because of that.

I would go out of my way to get a manual if it was available on a vehicle. Actually found commuting easier in some cases if traffic was just moving. Now with the full combat driving experience in Houston, it does not work.

Have one manual vehicle left and it is the toy car. Very rarely gets pressed into simple transportation service.

Past vehicles owned that could have (and should have) been manuals.

S10 Blazer (let wife before she was the wife pick the transmission. I got her back with a manual Camry and settled the manual vs. auto debate. Only spent two weeks sleeping in garage)
1990 something Volvo (testosterone drain)
Corvette (I really screwed up on that one)

Otherwise, if it was available in a manual I sought it out.

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Just had an auto transmission (Torque Convertor) issue on one vehicle. If it had been a manual the torque convertor would not have failed.

In the list of vehicles our family owned that I wish we had kept, is a 1957 BMW Isetta. Stick shift that you shifted with your left hand

Every car my parents owned when I learned how to drive (in the early 90s) was a manual, so I had no choice. There were many times I'm sure they worried I was going to launch myself up and over the slight hill at the end of our road a little too hard and end up in the pond across the way instead of on the highway.

I still remember my dad telling me to "feel the car" when teaching me how to drive.

The first three cars I drove were manuals (2 Nissan 240SX coupes and a Honda Accord coupe), with the Honda being very difficult to obtain, even in the early 2000s. Then I became a mom, drove several iterations of a SUV, and convinced myself I didn't need a manual as long as I had a V-6.

When my son got his license, he took the mom-mobile, and I inherited my parent's Boxster. I forgot how much I missed driving a stick. It is truly a joy, and one of my favorite things to do (when I have time) is go for a backroads drive with the top down and radio blasting. Takes me right back to my late teens/early 20s.

I've been manual only since the late '90s.
'70 Ford F-100 (3 on the tree)
'87 Nissan Sentra
Back to the F-100 for college
2000 Celica GT-S
1987 Porsche 924S
2007 Acura TSX

CanyonAg77 said:

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Had a cousin who was a medic in Vietnam. He got licensed to drive a 6x6 truck. If I recall correctly, part of the test was driving that manual trans beast up a 45 degree slope. Set the brake. Kill it. Restart it. Continue driving up the slope without stalling or rolling backwards.

He was a farm boy, so he made it.

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I think that's a tall tale considering there are probably no 45 degree roads in the world.

45% slope, then?

It's been a few decades

45% grade is about 24 degrees. I knew what you meant, just giving a hard time.