Manual transmission Fan Club and BS thread (All Generations Welcome)

Ok that makes sense except I actually think there were minivans in the 80’s with manual transmissions

 

Dodge made a turbo minivan with a stick. Pretty neat for the day.

https://jalopnik.com/everything-about-this-turbo-manual-dodge-caravan-is-per-1847965805

 

The Ford Aerostar can be had with a manual transmission. As well as the Mazda5.

 

My wife came into my life with manual transmission chops built in, so I never needed to teach her. Since we've been married, we've had twenty cars and sixteen have/had three pedals; the four which only had an autotragic transmission included our three necessary minivans (she said, "Can we get one with a manual transmission? No? Well then I'm not driving it, you're driving it!). The one sedan with an automatic was initially purchased because our daughter, who had a stroke when she was born, is left-side challenged and it was just too much to teach her how to drive and at the same time try to teach her how to "feel" the clutch with her left leg.

 

Just need to find a previa. You can even get it with all trac

https://www.autoblog.com/2020/12/12...ia-all-trac-with-5-speed-manual-transmission/

 

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for...tBy=relevance&numRecords=25&clickType=listing

 

Someone needs to buy this so that I'm not tempted.

 

Want to go halfsies?

 

Not sure if this has been posted yet. My son-in-law just sent this to me:

https://www.thedrive.com/news/2024-toyota-tacoma-will-keep-its-six-speed-manual-transmission

 

Also this

https://pressroom.toyota.com/2024-toyota-tacoma-is-coming-may-19/

 

I think we all know the right answer here...

https://bringatrailer.com/2017/05/20/dual-range-awd-5-speed-swapped-1995-toyota-previa-supercharged/

 

Finally they set a date to just do the reveal?! These teasers were getting annoying, just show the damn thing!

 

I saw one of these for sale near me recently, with manual transmission.
Looks like a mini van, but it's actually tiny so I don't know how well it would actually serve your family hauling duties.

 

Good find

 

There are several makes and models of these tiny vans and pickups around here. There is 2, including a firetruck 2 blocks from my daughter's school. There are even lifted versions that look like they will fall over in a corner running around.

 

Plenty of imported Hi Aces with 5 speeds and transfer cases

 

My GF (now wife) wanted a sporty car back in the day... I did the 'instuctoring' and she did well. She bought the Manual version of that car and loved it. It was a 2 seater, so we eventually sold it when the kids came.

She never became 'native' on the manual though... I guess because it was not pre-programmed... She refused to do a manual on Right-hand-drive. I think the manual skills have deteriorated post-marriage, but she can still do it... (she even drove the Taco once! )

I was all for a minivan when the time came. - There is no question that it is the right tool for the job with kids and grandparents visiting, etc. I embraced it. It was awesome on long trips! Sometimes I wish we still had it.

I knew that MB made the Vito in a manual, AWD, and a Diesel. That is what I really wanted... Alas, uncle Sam did not allow it... We went with a Sienna and it was very nice - but NOT a manual.

I wonder if you could swap the taco MT into a sienna...

 

You know how marriage has some elements of bait and switch?
When I first started dating my now wife, she drove an MT outback, a cool blue color with leather. I drove an '06 silver Corolla AT with crappy everything. She outcooled me by an order of magnitude.
Fast forward to our recent move, last year, where for some reason she needed to borrow on my '05 Tacoma 5spd as I blocked her van in or something, I forget what the deal was. At the time, I had the wrong pattern on the knob, falsely labeled as 6MT, because that was the first rick knob I could get. We live in a pretty hilly spot and I think I parked it a little tight too, not sure if she was hunting for 1 or R. She burned the clutch a bit trying to figure it out and then just quit trying and walked away, never to get behind the wheel again. I think she took the cargo bike instead that day.

I remember her as a solid MT driver. Oh well, all good things must end sometime. That's maybe the only thing I didn't see coming.

 

All you people with fancy MT-driving wives... Mine was a country girl, farm-raised and all, but doesn't like driving at all and no motivation to learn MT. She barely will drive herself in to work in her Corolla AT and won't drive downtown/in traffic no matter what. I like driving, so I drive everywhere anyway when we are together, but on long trips it would be nice to switch off with her from time to time, but that won't happen with the MT Taco. Trying to use her Corolla for long trips more now, since gas mileage is better and that way she can take a shift or two.

Oddly enough, the couple times I tried to teach her MT on my old Saturn Vue she did fine on the part that most people have a problem with - clutch pedal engagement and getting going from a stop - but just wanted nothing to do with remembering the shift pattern and getting in to the right gear etc.