There is something satisfying about driving a manual car: being able to coordinate your clutch and shifter smoothly, heel-toe shifting/blipping the throttle on

There is something satisfying about driving a manual car: being able to coordinate your clutch and shifter smoothly, heel-toe shifting/blipping the throttle on downshifts. I drive an old Nissan Navara D22 utility with a 5 speed box, 2 wheel drive on good old leaf springs and it's no sports car but the gearbox is as good as anything I've ever used. I find myself not even consciously thinking about shifting. Given just how good manual transmissions got (thinking more specifically of the Japanese 5 and 6 speeds) we kinda forget that a lot of older manual transmission cars were awful, clunky things. Holden in Australia clung for far too long to a 3 speed column shifter that belonged in the steam age, crappy mechanical clutches and pedals that were placed for manufacturing convenience instead of driving. The Borg Warner 4 speed boxes were all rattly, clunky piles of garbage that were frustratingly slow and the 5 speed versions were worse. In the days when a "slushbox" automatic was detrimental to being able to balance your vehicle on the throttle, the manual transmissions made more sense for engaged drivers. Today, the automatics are so good I think the D22 will be the last manual car I own.