>>>And it's getting damn difficult to find manual trannys it seems. And no, I don't want an automatic with those damn paddle shifters. Rented a Malibu and it had those stupid things and they just get in the way.
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>>>Besides, if I'm gonna shift gears I want the full feeling - clutch/shift repeat as necessary
>>>
>>>
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>>It is getting more and more difficult to find manual trannys. I had to replace my 26 year old Toyota pickup last year. There was only 1 mid-sized PU with manual trans in the entire state of Montana! I bought it.
>
>I know...try finding a 2 door hatchback anymore too. I have no need of 4 doors, more often than not it's just me in the car. I had an '84 Honda Civic hatchback that I just adored. You could pack a ton of stuff in the back and it would still give me 44 to the gallon doing 90 mph. Oh, and it was a manual tranny too.

Yupp, middle eighties were great times for Honda - Civic 3rd&4th gen as well as Accord Aerodeck of 3rd gen.
The typical girl friend car after my reccommendation and with some contacts to Honda Europe around the corner.
Early CRX was great as well.