December 11, 2025
#529
Dear reader,
My current two cars both have six-speed manual transmissions. They are what some would call "unicorns" because they are so rare. I, like a quickly shrinking population of enthusiast drivers, prefer to have full control of driving. Why? Because I enjoy driving. Thus, the subtitle of this article is:
And Why I Love Manual Transmissions!
2005 Volvo V50 (wagon) and 2013 Cadillac ATS Performance 2.0T. Both bought used.
Currently, I am sixty-nine years of age. I earned my driver's license at age seventeen (rather than the normal sixteen) when I had saved enough money to buy my own used car. Below is a photo of me at my first job at a Mobil Gas Station in Denver, Colorado, USA.
I currently work with our church's Scouting America Troops and a Cub Scouts Pack. I find it interesting that long hair on males is back in favor as it was in the days of the "hippies" in the 1960's and 70's.
From the beginning of self-propelled land vehicles, all had manual transmissions. It was decades later, 1939, in fact when General Motors introduced their four-speed Hydramatic transmission. "Hydraulic-Automatic" was shortened to Hydramatic. It was a very high cost option and few buyers opted for it. Then World War II came along and massive improvements in all kinds of things happened to help the War Effort. After the war, more car makers came out with their own types of automatic transmissions. All most all but the expensive cars came with a manual unless the buyer ordered an automatic transmission.
While growing up, our parents had a series of Volkswagens. Starting in the late 1950's a VW Beetle (official name: Type 1) but when my middle sister was born, they traded up to a VW Bus (official name: Type 2) sometimes advertised as a Station Wagon or Microbus. Every two years a new one of us was born. Mom and Dad stopped after five.
That same sister around age three or four years old.
The whole family a few years later as we prepared to set out on our annual trip to Phoenix, Arizona. Why? To visit the grandparents there. Both families had moved to Phoenix when each of our parents were kids. Mom from Nebraska and Dad from Illinois. They met as adults in the church choir.
Always on these trips, no matter where we lived, we had to cross very high mountains and always we went there in August. What could be more fun that vacationing in a desert in August? Dad was a Presbyterian Minister and with five kids money was tight.
The VW engines back in the 1960's put out around forty horsepower and about seventy pound-feet of torque. Torque is what gets the car moving, horsepower is what keeps it going at speed. Just imagine that poor little air-cooled-flat-four-cylinder gasoline engine struggling to climb mountain passes carrying all of us plus all the stuff we packed into the faithful bus every time we traveled!
It was not always faithful! One of those trips, something failed and the whole family had to push it to get it running and jump in! Just like in Little Miss Sunshine.
In case you did not know this, back then, Volkswagens (and Porsches) as well as some other smaller European and Japanese cars, had their engines in the rear of the car. That little door above the bumper hid the engine.
This is a photograph of a 1960 Volkswagen Type 2 engine. That engine compartment NEVER looked that pristine from the factory.
The only other photo I have found of a car which my parents owned was this 1958 Chevrolet Delray. It was the absolute bottom of the Chevrolet lineup. The lineup was: Delray, Biscayne, Bel-Air and Impala, bottom to top. Each successive model was more expensive and nicer.
Back then, ALL that Chevrolet made were LARGE cars, all on built on the same chassis: Two-doors, four-doors, convertibles, sedans, hardtops, wagons and sedan-deliveries (two-door wagons without rear side windows, made for small business' or delivery vehicles). They also made pickup trucks and vans, of course. But, if you wanted a car, it was big and heavy. 1958 was the first year for dual headlights. All GM cars had an "X" frame as well, rather than the perimeter frames most cars had.
The 1966 Chevrolet line-up of two-door hardtop cars.
The Corvair, which, like the VW models, had a rear-mounted air-cooled flat engine in what was the trunk on traditional cars. It has six cylinders, beating the Porsche 911 to market with that type of engine by four years. It was created to "best" VW by having conventional (convertible coupe, sedan and wagon variations) car bodies with a larger and more powerful, yet still air-cooled engines. The Chevy II (Nova) came out in 1962 and the mid-size Chevelle came out in 1964. The Chevy II also was a compact car, but with a traditional front engine/rear drive configuration. It was direct competition to Ford's Falcon cars which were also developed to beat the Beetle.
That 1958 Delray my parents bought, likely had a three-speed manual transmission which had the shifter mounted on the steering column as seen in this image of one in a Chevrolet C10 pickup truck.
Almost identical to my first car, an image of a 1964 Chevrolet Impala two-door hardtop. So-called a hardtop because when all four windows were "rolled down" (see third image below) there was no metal structure (B pillar) between the front doors and the rest of the car.
Hardtop models were available as a two-door and four-door cars. They were less safe in a side impact that a sedan or wagon which had metal B pillars and full-frame windows. Also, 1964 was the last year of the "X" frame, seen below on a model car:
To be frank, NO American cars or trucks were "safe" back then. Automakers changed the looks of their entire line-up every year, hoping to entice buyers to come and buy their latest models year after year. They only added seatbelts when the government forced them to do so. Back then, an "air-bag" was someone who liked to talk a lot.
While power windows (and door locks, seats and so much more) can be found in almost every vehicle for sale nowadays, for DECADES, if one wanted fresh air, they had to "roll down" the window with one of these:
You have seen an image above of a 1964 Chevrolet Impala almost identical to the one I purchased one Monday morning in September, 1973 (when I was supposed to be in school) it was Dad's idea for me to "play hooky" and we would go out and "buy you a car."
It had this interior, but in brown. The exterior paint would be called beige today. Note the column shifter. Also note only two pedals. It had Chevrolet's "Powerglide" two-speed automatic transmission. American V8 engines had a lot of torque, so two speeds were all one "needed" General Motors decided.
Because it was a two-door, to access the rear seats, the front seatbacks were hinged to fold forward for backseat passengers to get in or out of the rear seat. The SS or Super Sport models usually had bucket seats, but still, their backs folded forward.
I know it seems that I am going WAY off track right now, but trust me, I'm getting to the point.
So, there I was all of seventeen and working my first job when a customer arrives in his VW Beetle for the boss to work on. The Beetle's owner only worked a little ways from the shop, but asked if one of us could drive him to his place of employment and drive the car back? "Scott, take him to work." "But, I don't know how to drive a stick!" Turning to the customer, he said, "You'll teach him, right?" The customer and I exchanged looks and he said, "Sure, why not?" I still feel sorry for that customer. I got him there and the Beetle back to the shop. I kind of feel sorry for that Beetle too.
An image of a fancier-than-most 1968 Volkswagen Beetle. Most were one color inside and out. And check out how simple it was! Roll-up windows with "vent wings" which are those smaller windows at the front of the doors. One could open them and point them so that air could blow right at you. And THAT is how I first began driving a manual transmission equipped cars. I found that I LOVED it! And, now back to the timeline of cars.
It turns out that the 1964 Chevrolet 283 cubic inch (4.6 liters) V8 engine (identical to the one above, but with 283 stickers) which my "new" car had, smoked like a steam locomotive. As long as I accelerated gently, there was no smoke coming out of the tailpipe. But, where's the fun in slow? I earned a little more money and bought from a buddy, a 1964 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu SS convertible. Quite the name, right? It cost me $250 ($50 less than my Impala did). It looked like this, but not nearly so nice:
It was a beater, the fenders (wings) [the metal panels above and around the front wheels and next to both sides of the hood (bonnet)] were both painted green and the hood was black. The rest of the car was faded blue in color. But, it had the larger and more powerful 327 cubic-inch (5.4 liters) engine which did not burn or leak oil. It also had a four-speed manual transmission (with a slipping clutch) and a Positraction rear end. If you remember the comedy film, My Cousin Vinny, you likely remember the scene below:
The witness, (Vinny's fiancé) once accepted by the prosecutor as "An Expert" on all things automotive, explains how the tire marks could "never, ever, have been made by the defendant's Buick Skylark because it was not available equipped with a "Positraction rear differential." Then she had to explain what "Positraction" meant, "It is a limited slip differential. If you have ever gotten stuck in the mud with one tire spinning, you know what I mean." We LOVE that movie.
The ATS was developed specifically to compete with and beat the BMW 3 Series. The 2.0T in the Cadillac's name refers to the two-liter four cylinder turbocharged engine.
And here, the shifter in our 2005 Volvo V50 T5. The T5 refers to the Volvo's two and one-half liter five cylinder turbocharged engine. Currently, the only car available in the United States with a five cylinder engine is the 2026 Audi S3 performance sedan. It is not available with a manual transmission. Neither are the 2026 Volkswagen GTI nor their Type R. Both are also performance cars.
Nor are 99% of the cars and light trucks sold in the United States. Which is understandable from a car maker's point of view: If most people want automatics, it is cheaper to only offer automatics then going to all the trouble and expense to please a handful of enthusiastic drivers who might want a manual transmission.
Manual transmissions, while "not quite dead" (Monty Python fans will get that) yet in North America, they are nearly so.
Here are two links to two articles which will show you the few cars which one could buy in 2025 in the U.S. equipped with a manual transmissions. Almost all are performance models. Every US Model Year 2025 Manual-Transmission Car, Truck, and SUV and Manual Transmission Cars and Trucks You Can Buy in 2025
Are you still with me? Great! After buying that Chevelle, taking it's engine out and putting that good engine in my Impala, I sold the rest of the Chevelle (and the worn out 283) for parts. (I KNOW, I should have kept the Malibu SS and fixed it up!)
Are you still with me? Great! After buying that Chevelle, taking it's engine out and putting that good engine in my Impala, I sold the rest of the Chevelle (and the worn out 283) for parts. (I KNOW, I should have kept the Malibu SS and fixed it up!)
Some time later, I missed having a convertible and began looking for another one. I found one almost identical to this one, a 1967 Impala SS:
Those are later model Chevelle wheels on it, otherwise, it could have been my 1967 Chevrolet Impala SS convertible. Same color inside and out, same 327 V8 engine. Mine was equipped with the Powerglide automatic. Again, it too was only $300.
But wait! Before that happened, I was driving home from school in the Spring of 1974 and what did I see parked on the side of the street? Why, a 1964 Pontiac GTO convertible with a FOR SALE sign in the window! That's what!
It was similar to this one we had seen in a car show when Nancy and I were still dating in the 1990's. That's her on the left edge of the (film) photograph. 
It was equipped with this, the largest engine ever (then) put into a mid-size General Motors car the legendary 389 cubic inches (6.4 liters) V8 engine with the top-of-the-line three carburetors! The Pontiac Tempest was essentially the same car as the 1964 Chevelle. And, like the '64 Chevelle was Pontiac's midsize car. Other names it had was Le Mans with the GTO (then) being a package option. It was forbidden by Management for GM car companies to put anything larger than 327 cubic inches in a midsize car. By offering the GTO as a "package" Jim Wangers managed to slip it beneath management's radar. And it was such a huge success (it is better ask for forgiveness than for permission) that management could do nothing but accept a done deal. And THAT was the birth of American Muscle Cars.
Photo above is of the interior of a 1:18th scale diecast model of the first-year GTO.
So, I pulled over to the curb (kerb) and got out to take a look at it. Mechanically, aside from the bigger engine, it was identical to my then-gone Chevelle.
I walked up to the door of the house and knocked. A man opened the door, I told him why I was there. He said, "Hold on, let me get the keys." We walked out to the car, he showed me all around and off we went for a test drive. It was SO powerful! When I pulled over back at his house, I asked, "How much do you want for it?" "$250. Do you think that's too much?" For the first time in my life, I tried to make a "poker face" and said, "Well, I bought my car, also a '64, for $300 last year. So, $250 sound's right." I told him I would get back to him with the cash.
To shorten the story, I could not get that much (1974, remember $1.65 an hour was minimum wage then) together and was not able to buy it. However, not many people could say they drove one of the very first Muscle Cars!
Four years later, I am working at a Chevrolet dealer in Richmond, Virginia. I decided to order a new 1979 Monza. Monza and it's GM siblings, were sportier versions of the Chevy Vega (and it's GM siblings). They had come out with different body styles for it and it no longer housed the infamous Vega engine. No, it had an updated version of the Iron Duke four cylinder engine developed in the 1950's and later used in the fire-prone Pontiac Fiero.
I ordered the car as you see above: The only options I ordered were: Sunroof, Sport Mirrors, Full Gauges and Five-speed manual transmission. No: Air Conditioning or Rear Window Defrost or other power and comfort options. It was $3,400 out the door. That is the only photo I have of it. Later on, when in my first marriage, I bought from the next-door neighbors a 1975 Monza 2+2 which had brown leather interior and best of all, the optional 262 cubic inch (4.3 liters) V8 engine! I planned to replace the engine in my 1974 Vega with that V8 engine. But, by then, I was working on Subway cars and not automobiles. So, I drove the Monza and my wife drove the manual equipped Vega wagon.
Okay, I have gone on far too long. To sum up, IF you want a car with a manual transmission, there are many of them available on the used car market. IF you want to see more of some of the cars I had bought used and new (most of them with manuals) go here: The Robb Collections: A Journey through time, via Automobile Sales Brochures
Thank you So much for taking the time to read this rather long article. It is a labor of love. Feel free to comment below or on Facebook.
Scott Robb
December 11, 2025
#529
I also have written two other blogs: Pictures of Nancy. The Love of My Life. and People Say I'm Special. But I Don't Know Why. The former is what it says, plus relationship advice. The latter is sort of my memoir. My mother was after me to write one. "Who would want to learn about me?" I had asked her, "You will be surprised." she answered. I have not kept up with either of them, but people ARE reading them, so maybe Mom was right.
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