RTFM

Unfortunately, manual cars are going to die out.

And, according to Auto Express, it may be by the end of the decade.

Although they do have some more positive news for those of us who would like to stick with stick.  Not that I could afford a Ferrari 12 Cilindre.

And I currently own an automatic.

According to the article, "In the first half of 2026, just 7.9 per cent of factory order enquiries submitted to Auto Express’ Buy a Car service concerned a car with a manual gearbox. This marks a significant decrease from a 14 per cent share in the same period in 2025, and 21 per cent in 2024."

Part of this is due to the lack of manual cars available.

I would be driving one if there was such a thing as a manual Volvo S60.

And, obviously, the rise of the electric vehicle is a strong contributor to the manual demise.

But, even if there are no new ones, there will still be millions of them on the road.  And those of us who can still drive them will find them cheaper.

And we'll be the only ones who can drive classics.

And there will be more stories like this one.

I could teach the U.S. Secret Service a thing or two.

Specifically how to drive a manual car.

The U.S. Secret Service have been gifted 10 high performance cars by GM (story here) including two equipped with manual transmissions.

One of their driving instructors has stated that, "Not everyone is able to operate a manual shift,"

And, "Having that platform here will enable us to give instruction on how to drive manual vehicles for overseas trips."

At least until electric cars take over.

Although I'm not convinced that a V8 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing is the ideal choice for learning to drive a manual in.

E-Manual

No, it says E-Manual, not Emannuelle - but I'll leave the picture because more people are likely to click on the story than if I went with this one:

I bought my car because I liked it and I wanted it.

But I'd have liked it and wanted it even more if it had a manual transmission.

Unfortunately, they don't do Volvos in that flavour any more.  In fact, they don't do saloons or estates any more either here in the UK.

Which is very irritating.

I had sort of resigned myself to the prospect of no more manuals given the rise of the electric vehicle but wasn't expecting to have to suffer all cars being SUVs too.

Good job first MG and now VW have come to the rescue with the all-electric ID7 estate:

Even if it does look a bit Toyota-ish.

But then Toyota have come to the rescue over the manual transmission problem - Autocar have the story here of a Lexus UX300e (yes, an SUV but this will be offered on the entire electric Lexus & Toyota ranges) which has a fake manual transmission fitted. You can set it up just how you want it and even "stall" it if you've forgotten how to drive a stick - a niggling fear I have now since I've not had a go in one in over 12 months.  I was particularly heartened to read this paragraph...

All the usual manual features are there: engine braking, coasting and, most amusingly, no torque when you suddenly try and accelerate in top gear, which then brings with it the synthetic sound of parts of the cabin trim rattling. It sounds like a gimmick but it’s actually all rather believable.

We are almost in fantasy territory here.

Carry on, E-Manual.

Getting Wood

Someone at Autoguide must be on something strange.

Maybe Viagra.

First I see this picture:

it goes with this story about a vibrating gear knob - one for the ladies perhaps?

 

Although the person in the photo (I'm guessing it's a man) is about to grasp it with his left hand in a left-hand drive car - looks dodgy to me.

 

Unless it is actually a right-hand drive car and the passenger fancies a grope.

 

The story is about a Ford engineer who has developed the vibrating gear-knob that is wi-fied to the engine CPU and is supposed to tell the driver when to change gear.  I guess this would require the driver to keep a hand on the gearstick all the time when driving - not a bright idea.

 

Anyway, lots of modern cars have little irritating lights somewhere near the speedo (small "s" - nothing to do with tiny swimming trunks) which light up at gear-change time.

 

Or, you can do what I do and go by the engine noise and general feel.

 

Having recovered from that shocking story, I then saw this shocking picture: 

It is from this Autoguide story.  Fortunately, it is a computer rendering - it doesn't exist in the flesh yet - but it could.

It's what happens when a Porsche Cayenne is given wood.

Automatic for the (American) People

No, not an REM story in the week they announced their retirement.

While browsing through my favourite Aussie site today I found this story about a couple of would-be hi-jackers in Maryland who could not steal the target car because it was a manual and they could only drive automatics.

However, being somewhat dubious of the authenticity of some caradvice.com.au stories, I checked on their source and found it backed up on a CBS subsidiary site here. Although that article was dated July 19th so it happened over two months ago. CBS, in turn, mentioned Associated Press so I did a quick Google-Search and found this story. This was about a similar incident in Utah in August.

I guess the American underclass don't bother learning to drive stick-shifts. But then again, automatics appear to be the norm for most Americans - not just the crims.

Certainly every hire-car I've had state-side has been an auto. It used to be true (and probably still is) that if an American passes the driving test in an auto, he (or she) can then go out and drive a manual.

This probably works OK if the vast majority of cars are autos - unless you want to steal a stick-shift.

I enjoyed one of the comments added by an Aussie reader of my first link: "Manual cars are generally safer because the owners know how to drive properly."

I certainly prefer a manual - it feels like you have more control and also gives you a sympathy for the way the engine and transmission and wheels are interacting. I've only ever owned one auto, a Mercedes C-Class which had the typical Mercedes divvy parking-brake system whereby you engage it with a pedal and release it with a lever near the steering wheel - I'd never have been able to do a hill-start if it was a manual.

Looks like MINI are doing their bit to make America less automatic, check out the great video.