Post your rarest manual find!

[2.2TDI]

With manuals dying off ever so slowly, they will all eventually become "rare". With that said, there's certain makes and models that had a manual transmission but in very limited quantities (or some that just plain and simple are rare for North America). Either way, thought i'd start the thread with this

http://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/d...900&makeModelVariant1.modelId=15&pageNumber=1

Audi Q7 3.6 Quattro in a 6 speed... I couldn't find any info online that this even existed

 

[Moots]

My father currently still owns the car his father ordered new in late 1968. A new 1969 Impala Kingswood Wagon. He was a "power guy" so it was ordered with a 427/425 Hp engine (two 4 barrel carbs.) with a Muncie M21 4speed. (Same power plant that the Corvettes used) With air conditioning and a power bench seat, no radio. I can tell you that this car dispite it hefty weight can really move. Handling...not so much. Very unusual. I've never seen another one.

 

[tdi.in.va]

Did anyone else come here expecting this thread to be about rare books? I found an original Jetta Mk3 owners manual in my basement the other day.

 

[dropnosky]

Oddball manuals ive had over the years-

2001 ford escape 4cyl, 2wd 5 speed
1994 ford taurus SHO 5 speed
1992 chevy astro RS 5 speed
1993 mercury topaz 5 speed
1992 chrysler lebaron convertible 5 speed

 

[Ol'Rattler]

I don't have a picture, but the rarest manual I ever saw was I think it was a late 1960's Buick with a 3 on the tree.

 

[nayr]

My wife has a 2010 CC Sport w/6MT, was terribly difficult to locate.. A nice modern luxury sedan with a shift knob is a rarity for sure. I flew 800mi to buy it sight unseen.. I really wished for a VR6 AWD CC with a 6MT, that would have really tickled my fancy.

There is a Cayenne VR6 6MT that I'd love to get my hands on, just to slap a big turbo on it... but im so over luxury badges after my RS6

Finding a MK6 Golf TDI w/6MT & Tech Pkg was not an easy task.

 

[Wankel7]

2004 Ford Focus ztw wagon 2.3L manual with sunroof and leather.

When I bought it and posted on the Focus forum one guy called it a unicorn

 

[cmitchell]

I drove a Plymouth Grand Voyager with a manual 5-speed transmission for many years when my children quite young.

 

[compu_85]

For many years my father drove a 1.8t 4Motion Passat w/ a 5 speed manual. Kind of odd to see a 1.8t with dual exhaust.

-J

 

[faultymechanics]

1979 BMW 320/6 Baur convertible. Besides being a baur and being rare it was also a very rare inline 6 (Smallest of the 6's) with a 4 bbl carburetor. Paired to a 4 speed tranny. boy did she wail on the highway, and loved every minute of it!

 

[TDI smile]

1936 OPEL Olympia 4 Dr... No Papers, so I drove it as a Teenager in the Yard... Never was fast enough to use the 3 rd Gear.

 

[jetlagmech]

Did anyone else come here expecting this thread to be about rare books? I found an original Jetta Mk3 owners manual in my basement the other day.

that was my first thought. just as I started rebuilding the 56 Buick in the early 90's I found a shop manual and parts catalogue for 56 Buick at a yard sale.

 

[Yblocker]

I had a white over red, 4-door '64 Dodge Dart slant six with a factory Hurst shifted 4-speed. Drove that car all over Baja CA in 1975.

 

[oilhammer]

The strangest rarest ones I have encountered with a manual transmission:

1985 2.5L Iron Duke Chevrolet Astro
1982 Ford Econoline cargo van with a 4.9L I6
1981 Chevrolet El Camino with a 3.8L (Chevrolet, not Buick) V6
2013 Hyundai Sonata 2.4L
1988 Plymouth Reliant Coupe 2.2L
1991 Dodge Spirit R/T with the 16v 2.5L turbo engine (these may have ALL been manuals, but still a very rare car)
1988ish (W-body) Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme coupe with a 2.8L V6
1987ish (N-body) Buick Somerset with the 2.5L Iron Duke
1983 Pontiac Firebird with the 2.5L Iron Duke
1981 Ford Fairmont station wagon with a 2.3L
1986 Ford Taurus 2.5L sedan (these were actually called "Taurus MT5")
1985ish Chevrolet G-van with a 4.3L V6 (3-sp manual on the floor....very strange).
Mercedes Benz C240, about a 2005

....and probably THE strangest of all: 2008 Cadillac CTS, with the 3.6L V6, whitewall tires, and a fake convertible top (those use the same Aisin 6sp manuals that Toyota Tacomas use ). Driven by an old lady....

We just put shifter cables in a Saturn Vue, kinda rare to be a manual. And I do remember a handful of Caravans and Aerostars that were manuals make in the '80s. Lots of small cars were, too.

It is rare to see any manuals in our shop any more . Still lots of Volkswagens thankfully. I just did a clutch on a 2008 Sentra (what a miserable POS that car is) and a clutch on a 2003 Corolla. Both not too common to see here.

 

[herbz]

Haven't encountered too many odd manuals from the factory but I did know a guy who put a 6 speed (not sure what exactly) in a Nissan Titan 5.6.

The only really surprising manuals I've ever been in are a Hummer H3 and BMW X5.

Manual minivans sound intriguing, as if there wasn't enough going on in that vehicle to begin with.

 

[DubFamily]

2012 Golf TDI with a 6 speed manual.

Around here, they are all DSG...

 

[Antsrcool]

I had an 1979 Malibu with a 3 speed on the floor with a 6 cylinder

 

[nayr]

finding old cars with a still working automatic is what is really rare.. since they were new and advertised for women, the female driving population was much smaller at the time.

Older cars with a manual are rare only in that they are old, my bus is not rare because its a 4spd manual.. its rare because its a bus, the automatic buses are very rare!

 

[vwdsmguy]

How I drive my manual TDI

Obviously an auto takes a lot less concentration to drive, But we have TDI and a GTI manuals.
I drive to keep the car's momentum up so I rarely stop for signs [to reduce 1st gear starts], I skip gears - especially going down hill, and I follow other cars at a greater distance so that the car ahead of me can speed up and slow down without my cars speed changing as much [less shifting].
I enjoy the attention needed to drive a manual, although many would not like to be "engaged" in the driving process. They get auto trans cars.

 

[Fixmy59bug]

In my 10 years at the Vw dealership level, I think the rarest gear cruncher I personally saw was a 2003 Passat Wagon W8 4 motion 6 speed manual.

 

[ottomatic]

1989 4X4 GMC Suburban, Every option available & custom color 2 tone color scheme. It was purchased to pick up clients from the airport by a lawyer group.

One problem when it came in :
Transmission was a 4 speed manual with low granny gear
Dealer put the wrong code in when ordering it.
I was friends with dealer he called me and made me a deal which I couldn't refuse.
The lawyer group was suing as they had waited 4 months for it & he needed it gone.

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

Maybe not that odd, but in the late 80s/early 90s my mom had a 1st Gen (in NA) Land Rover Discovery with a 5-speed manual. Dealer said it was one of 75 brought into the US that year, and none after that. Not a bad truck to drive as long as you slowed down enough for corners. And didn't mind buying gasoline.

Actually, that's not true. It was awful. Frame rusted in 3 years, needed a valve job at 30K miles. And of course the roof windows leaked. Total junk.

 

[cascade7997]

I drove a Plymouth Grand Voyager with a manual 5-speed transmission for many years when my children quite young.

So??
I bought one of the first Voyagers with a 5 speed manual. Ordered before the dealer even had a demo in stock. I think mine was the second Voyager delivered by that dealer. Upper trim with tow-tone paint instead of the "fake" wood that was standard.
Was a great van and I needed that space for my job at the time.

Howard Garner

 

[cmitchell]

So??
I bought one of the first Voyagers with a 5 speed manual. Ordered before the dealer even had a demo in stock. I think mine was the second Voyager delivered by that dealer. Upper trim with tow-tone paint instead of the "fake" wood that was standard.
Was a great van and I needed that space for my job at the time.

Howard Garner

While a manual transmission was rare on the regular length Voyagers. A manual in the extended length Grand Voyager (like my '89) was exceptionally rare. My parents also ordered an '84 Voyager before any actual vehicles were available for a demo drive. Theirs was also a two-tone (gunmetal blue & silver) LE model ... with a manual tranny. I drove them to Portland to pick it up at Alexander Chrysler-Plymouth. There were no other Voyagers at the dealership the day they drove it home.

 

[dogdots]

I currently own one of 2060 1977 Corvettes with the factory installed 4 speed manual M21 close ratio

I also have a 1950 Plymouth 2 door with 3 on the tree (not rare when produced but not too many around anymore)

Do my 3 B5.5 TDI 5 speed manuals count since I converted them myself ?

 

[WolfPack]

I had a 2007 acura tl type s that was a manual and loved that car. Acura continued to offer a 6 speed manual in their tl till the redesigned tlx.

As for the strangest car with a manual offered I saw a Porsche cayenne gts with a 6 speed manual.

 

[donmobay]

wierd

my father a sports car writer back in the 50-to late 60's had a panhard which i think was 3 cil 2 stroke...5 forward on the tree...nobody could drive it....when it went to local garage for something he had to move it ...did 90mph all day and got 50mpg....
suicide doors...ugly orange paint ....but the company never wanted it back after the 45 day drive so he used it for years...

 

[rwolff]

'96 Elantra wagon. While having a manual transmission is uncommon, what makes it rare is what it doesn't have - Takata fragmentation bombs. Yep, at least one '96 was sold in North America with no airbags ('96 was the first year of the second generation, and since the Accent was introduced in '95 with standard airbags as a successor to the Excel which didn't have them available, it's odd that a later model of the next car up the line wouldn't come standard with them). The digit on the VIN which shows what positions had airbags has the value showing "none".

 

[giff]

vwdsmguy, those are my driving habits too, except the rolling stops, since my youngest got his permit. I thought my 2004 GLX Passat V6 was rare considering how long it took me to locate one for sale. I cannot even imagine the minivan with stick, that would have gotten in the way of "momma" getting up to tend to one of the youngsters in the back.

 

[bubbagumpshrimp]

I had a manual '97 Jeep Cherokee. I haven't seen many of those over the years.