we're still working through our grief following the news that honda has discontinued the manual transmission in the accord. to be sure, it was truly surprising that any automaker would offer a family sedan with a manual, much less a really great one. alas, slow sales killed the three-pedal accord, but on the bright side, that also makes this honda a rare and unexpected combination. which got us thinking: what else out there fits this mold?
to help us cope with the disappointment, we created a manual-transmission challenge for the window shop crew. what we're after this week is that feeling you get when you look into an accord and discover it has a manual transmission. it's a mix of shock and respect. armed with 10,000 imaginary dollars, the c/d team combed the internet for vehicles you never would've thought came with a stick shift. the more shocking, the better.
as always, our shoppers have varying levels of success with the task. senior editor joey capparella's lincoln ls clearly fits the bill despite finishing last in a comparison test, but we're not all sold on staff editor drew dorian's three-pedal hummer h3. is it that strange to expect that a jeep wrangler–like vehicle would offer a manual gearbox? the other choices are surprising but maybe not for the reason you'd expect. and while this challenge won't bring back the manual accord, it did make us briefly forget the loss.