Here’s a question: If you take a boring car — like, say, a 2005 Saturn Vue or a 2010 Ford Escape — and you add a five-speed manual transmission, is that still a boring car, or is it now legitimately cool? In my opinion: It’s now legitimately cool. Hear me out.
Back in April of last year, I wrote “I Can’t Stop Obsessing Over These Two Manual Ford SUVs: Which Is The Better Buy?” One of the vehicles I was obsessing over was, somehow, a Mazda Tribute:
But this wasn’t just any Tribute, because behold:
That’s right. It’s a Mazda G5M-R five-speed stickshift bolted to the unkillable MZR engine! The tan interior, the stout powertrain, and that stick — it turned an otherwise boring machine into something cool!
I feel similarly about my diesel, manual Chrysler Voyager. Am I remotely interested in second-gen Chrysler minivans? Not really (I’m a first-gen fan). But you throw a stickshift in there (along with a diesel), and now it’s a seriously a cool machine:
What about this second-gen Ford Explorer. Kinda boring, right?
But oh wait, we’ve got a Mazda M5OD!
What about this Ford Aerostar that was the inspiration for this article? Folks on Facebook are going crazy over it right now.
Surely they wouldn’t care if it were just an automatic Aerostar:
But behold; the M5OD makes yet another appearance!
How cool!
What do we think about this Mazda5 minivan?
I think it’s fine. Not really all that interesting to me, except!:
A five-speed minivan! That’s legit!
I think PT Cruisers look cool in their own way, but would I ever buy an automatic model? Never, ever. In fact, with an auto, I don’t find it remotely intriguing. But slap a stick in it:
I’d totally roll in a five-speed PT Cruiser!
To me, a stickshift can make the difference between cool and wack. It’s partly because on many cars, the stick removes what can be a major/expensive failure mode, and in part because it makes the vehicle more engaging to drive. What do you think?
Photos: Craigslist
You are absolutely correct. I watched a video the other day where a guy was trying to convince people that driving a Jaguar with a J Gate was just as much fun as a stick shift. I can tell you from my own experience that he is dead wrong. The Jag is fun, but I’d rather have a stick. It’s one of the things that makes my right hand drive Kei truck so much fun. Shifting with your left hand. What could be more fun than that?
Speaking as the owner of a Jaguar with a J-gate – Wut? LOL.
So true! (Even though the Fix Or Repair Daily Explorer, Aerostar and PT Bruiser still mostly suck)
I bought a 2001 suzuki swift that was about 5 years old with a seized transmission.
I paid $1000 Canadian.
Drove across the city and picked up a transmission for $100 from a wrecker.
Only catch was the transmission was from a 1990 3 cylinder Chevy Sprint.
I degreased it and after about 3 hours in my driveway, I had a working car.
Thanks to the short gearing in the 3 cylinder transmission, the car was a riot to drive and legitimately felt quick. I threw in a $20 tach and some 15 inch Saab 99 wheels I had laying around.
It was so fun to thrash, probably my favorite car I’ve ever owned.
No one ever had fun driving an automatic Swift.
” some 15 inch Saab 99 wheels”
Aztecs?
They were the sweet minilite style.
I believe some were made by Carrol Shelby but mine are Ronals (still have them on my ’94 Swift GT.)
Gotta agree. I’ve had a 98 Grand Am, 79 Chevy Monza, 78 Chevette, 99 Kia Sportage, two Chevy S-10 trucks, a 74 Super Beetle, a 78 Ford Fiesta, and 2015 Jeep Patriot (penalty box) with manual transmissions. Each made driving these vehicles much more engaging, if not at least tolerable.
The best of the lot was the Grand Am. Surprisingly fun with five gears and a Quad 4 derived engine. Bright red, two doors. Really engaging and short throws made it snappy.
Worst was the Patriot with the slow, noisy, and utterly useless 2 litre. One didn’t shift gears in that thing. One whipped that little bastard senseless with the shifter to make it move faster than the speed of smell. Loud pedal was a more appropriate name, because that shitheap and acceleration were mutually exclusive concepts. What it did do well was definitely sound thrashy and unpleasant in an agricultural-implement-meets-untalented-metal-band sort of way.
Everything venal, shitty, and cynical about US automakers was engineered into that vehicle. It truly is the living answer to “what if Dodge Caliber, but worse?”
Hyundai iMaxes/iLoads go from meh to great fun with a 5 speed
Speaking of manual minivans, did you know that the cargo version of the Caravan was the only way to get a 5-speed manual with a V6?
Also, the Aerostar had the first 5-speed auto.
While I’m here, I’d like to let you know that I’m now officially part of the Rusty Jeep Owners.
1980_Jeep_J10-3.jpg (800×706) (cwaboard.co.uk)
I’ve gradually ended up with all automatics, and the old Valiant ute I am building was originally going to be push-button auto as well. But I miss having a manual car to drive, so it’s going to have to be manual, even though it is likely to mean only a 3 speed, since a 4 or 5 speed box is a difficult conversion that would require a lot of cutting of the floor.
Whenever I see ads for interesting project cars, seeing an auto shifter always puts me off, unless the parts are readily available to convert it. It’s amazing how a relatively boring car seems more interesting when you spot the stick shift in the pictures in the ad!
My first manual was a ’77 Monza Spyder with a 305 and a Saginaw 4-speed. – Definitely fun.
My next was a ’67 C-10 2wd with a 250 and a three-on-the-tree. More engaging than an automatic, that’s for sure.
Next up was a ’91 Geo Metro 2-door. 3-cyl, 5-speed. Definitely more fun and engaging than the automatic Metro.
Then I got a ’95 S-10 regular cab with the 2.2L and a 5-speed. Still kind of gutless, but the 5-speed made it more fun.
First brand new manual was a 2003 Chevy Tracker hardtop with a 5-speed. Got a great deal on it in 2004 because it was a manual and had been sitting on the lot for over 6 months. I drove it off the lot for about 1/2 the sticker price after all the incentives.
Now I daily a ’10 GMC canyon regular cab 2wd 2.9L 5-speed. It’s a pretty quick truck for a 4-cyl. Probably be my last truck ever since regular-cab stick shift trucks are made of unobtainium these days.
Back in 1987, my friend and co-worker had a brand new cargo Aerostar in that same shade of blue. It was a manual, and it was definitely not interesting or exciting. That thing was a dog. But it hauled all of his musical instruments & PA, so it served its purpose.
I am English and over 50, ergo automatic transmissions are just odd. Sure, they work, sort of, but still they are not quite right somehow. Grandpa had one in his Rover I think, and the district nurse had a DAF with a funny gearbox too.
As I said in Slack, a manual can’t make an uncool car cool, but it makes many unacceptable cars acceptable. My 1995 Corolla was the most boring, uninspiring car on the planet, despite being a five-speed stick. It just wasn’t outright depressing, like it would have been with an automatic.
Completely agree. That Aerostar is rad…a manual Aerostar is one of my bucket list vehicles if you can believe it.
My FIL and I both have Rangers; mine is a ‘97 and his is a ‘94. Mine is an auto and his is a 5-speed, and if given the choice between the two, I’d choose the 5-speed any day of the week. Not that there’s anything wrong with my ‘97, I actually think it’s a terrific little truck. But his ‘94 is substantially more fun to drive despite being less powerful than mine (his is the 2.3, mine is the 3.0).
100%, manuals make a vehicle better and more enjoyable to drive.
If there is a manual transmission available I would always rather have that over an automatic, whether it’s a car, truck, van, or whatever.
Adds involvement and usually fun, coolness may never happen, but who cares?
Totally agree with this take. I’ve had a long run of mostly underpowered manuals. Flogging anything with a manual will always be fun:
71 Vega
73 CJ-5
84 Plymouth Champ
86 Vanagon
87 Ranger
92 F-250
93 Escort Wagon
98 Corolla
10 Mazda 5
mmmmm Escort wagon
Edited to add that I just picked up a super cheap ’06 Ranger with a stick. My littles must learn the path, now, too
I won’t argue that the stick makes it cooler, that’s a given, but a stick doesn’t inherently make it better. I feel that’s an important distinction, and I say that as someone who loves shifting gears!
“Hey, you sass that hoopy David Tracy? There’s a frood who really knows where his stickshift is.”
My experience has been mixed. Examples: I had a ’98 Ford Explorer Sport with the 4.0-liter V6 and a 5-speed manual. It was rather fun driving a large-ish two door truck with a manual, especially since it was connected to a torquey V6. Later I had a 2001 Escape with the 2.0-liter and 5-speed manual. It was not fun to drive. The shifter was mounted too low for the seat height requiring a long reach and with its gearing the engine was coarse and buzzy at highway speeds. I’ve owned a lot of other manuals, too, and for the most part I’d have to say most were more fun than if they’d had automatics but cool? It takes more than that.
Wow, I was coming here to say the same things! My uncle had a V6/5-speed Explorer, and it was actually kind of fun to drive (I’ve owned five Explorers, though all automatics, so I’m highly biased there). A coworker and had a 2003 Escape with the 5-speed and that thing SUUUCKED. The throw was awkward, the gearing was not at all suited to the engine or the weight of the vehicle, and to this day I’m not sure 5th gear was actually an overdrive gear. I had a commuter beater 2005 Escape at the time and was utterly shocked how much worse the manual was than the automatic.
I think really it boils down to a decent manual is better than a decent automatic, just like a good manual is better than a good or decent automatic. But a bad manual isn’t necessarily better than a good, or even decent, automatic, and really bad manual transmissions get really hard to forget about while you’re driving the car and fighting the stupid things.
The answer is yes, you’re correct. A manual instantly makes any car more interesting, both from a driving standpoint and from a more holistic enthusiast perspective. Case in point: my departed 2014 Fusion 6-speed. The manual made it much more fun to drive, as I could hold gears and really get everything out of that little 1.6 turbo, and in traffic I at least had something to do. But in addition to the drive itself, it was fun to own a unique, rare car that felt kind of special. Service guys at the local Ford store would tell me mine was the only 3-pedal 2nd gen Fusion they’d ever seen. My Fusion would generate discussions at the local Cars & Coffee with people I’d otherwise probably never have a conversation. So yes, absolutely a manual can turn a boring, forgettable car into something cool and desirable.
Wow! Yours is the only manual Fusion I’ve ever heard of in non-automotive-press hands. Way cool. What happened to it?
And while I was initially cool to the 2nd gen’s looks, they’ve really started to grow on me in the last few years. I guess total absence of Fusion makes the heart grow fonder, but still, I’m more and more appreciating that it was a handsome design (if not quite as striking at the 3rd gen).
I owned it for 9 years (bought new in late-2014) and ended up selling to a family friend in California earlier this year. He got a heck of a deal, I only put about 58k miles on it.
I agree on the 2nd gen (or facelifted 1st gen) Fusions, they’ve grown on me too. Especially like the monochrome look that was available.
Okay it depends. In some cases it can make a car cool but in others let’s say less warm. The difference cool is always cool less warm is I want to drive it never own it.
I don’t thunk sticks make a car cool, per se, but they sure help it in that direction. Especially if it’s in a car where you don’t expect it.
I have been eyeballing getting a ‘toy” for a while now, and it’s going to have a stick if I can help it at all.
I would agree with this- My wife bought a Vibe for a commuter with the 1zz. 132 horsepower. With an automatic? Slow, boring. With the 5-speed? Wring out all the gears, and feel superfast! Do 60. My mustang? I had a high stall automatic in it. Swapped in a stick- way more fun! My CT125? Sure, a Navi might be faster with a CVT, but the manual is more fun!
Had a 2008 Camry SE, the . . . sporty one. I’m a diehard manual guy, but it did absolutely nothing to make it remotely interesting. I lost a bit of my personality every time I drove it. Far worse than I anticipated it would be and the damn seat wasn’t even comfortable.
“Stickshifts Can Turn Boring Cars Into Cool Cars: Prove Me Wrong”
Once again, you are correct. I will not prove you wrong.
Yet your handle does not seem to recognize a man Manwich is a Sandwich so Sandwich Sandwich.
That monster on the van is hilarious! 😀
The Chevy Orlando was available in manual, but sadly, we didn’t get it in the US, only Canada 🙁
Lots of boring generic crossover SUV things would work here, like the Suzuki XL7. At the time (early 2000s), it was the only 7-passenger vehicle sold in the US available with a manual transmission. It was also RWD truck-based (basically just an extended Grand Vitara).
And of course, the “boring” car people hate on for no reason, the Camry. It was available in manual until 2012.
Well, you asked for a rant. . . I had a 2008 Camry, a loaded SE with a 5-speed. It was somehow more boring than I thought a car could be. Made a GM FWD ’80s car seem like a Rolls Royce, my ’83 Subaru GL an Iso Grifo. Handling was terrible, feedback non-existent, ride mediocre at best, and it wasn’t even comfortable as the seat was quite probably the worst I’d ever sat in and that was the power leather one! I’m pretty sure it wasn’t designed by humans seeing as the lumbar support was located about 6″ too high and I am taller than average. And though the exterior was in excellent shape, it rattled and creaked like old farm equipment with under 200k miles, barely more miles than my Focus ST, which still felt like new, and less than my ’12 Focus SE that felt like it had maybe 1/4 the miles on it. Those were Focuses—certainly not cars known for their build quality—and one with a stiffer suspension that should cause more rattles and creaks. It also ate oil like the contemporary Subarus that are a meme for their oil consumption even though that was nothing out of the ordinary for Camrys, either. I usually hate to see a car go. The loss of one of them rates higher for trauma than many people I’ve lost, but I’ve only been happy to see a car go twice: 260Z that had constant electrical issues and the notorious carb problems that I was too poor at the time to be able to fix and that damn Camry, even though it didn’t break down like the Datsun did, but reliability just isn’t enough when that’s all there is (I suppose I didn’t miss my Mazda3, but I also didn’t feel relief like Atlas handing his burden over to Hercules for a while like I did with the Z and Camry).