Cars unusually equipped with manual transmission

[michel88]

I have always been interested in cars that are stick rather than equipped with automatic transmission. Two cars I had like that were a '54 Mercury convertible 3 spd with overdrive. Not all that rare but maybe in the convertible. The most unusual was a '55 Oldsmobile 2 dr hardtop with 3 spd stick. It was also a radio delete. I had to have a radio but fortunately the radios were easily found in junk yards (1964) for $10 - $15. Anybody have some to add?

[K8096]

Cadillac offered standard shift up through 1953, but by 1949 over 90% of them sold had Hydramatics installed. There is one 1953 Eldorado with standard shift originally.

At a local cruise in there's an all original 1972 Cutlass Supreme coupe with three on the tree that shows up occasionally.

[mrspeedyt]

had a '68 buick gran sport 400 conv. with 4 speed and a/c. (maybe that was a popular combination!!) that was in 1974 and i shudda kept it.

[Barry Wolk]

There was a rumor that there was a Continental Mark II produced with a manual trans, but the production records don't reflect that.

[Guest]

How about 1969 Pontiac trans Am convertibles? Eight built, six stick, two A/T

Don

[West Peterson]

There was a 1961 Chrysler 300G convertible on display at the AACA Annual Meeting this past February. It was equipped with a 3-speed on the floor, one of two built.

[West Peterson]

As Don has pointed out, it can be the opposite, too, where the manual is more common than the automatic. I have photographed two regular-customer 1966 Shelby Mustangs with automatics. Most of the Hertz Shelby's were automatic, but it is very rare in one of the regular-customer cars.

[R W Burgess]

Surprisingly I heard a late model Dodge (probably 3/4 ton) pu shifting gears in Blacksburg this past weekend. Did not even know you could get a manual shift in a pu anymore???

Wayne

[Guest DagoRed]

Surprisingly I heard a late model Dodge (probably 3/4 ton) pu shifting gears in Blacksburg this past weekend. Did not even know you could get a manual shift in a pu anymore???

Wayne

You can check the 6 spd. manual gearbox on your 2010 Dodge Ram 3/4 ton pickup order form and still be able to row your own gears in your new truck.

[joe_padavano]

How about 1969 Pontiac trans Am convertibles? Eight built, six stick, two A/T

Don

Actually, it's four manual, for automatic.

[earl e rizer]

There was a 1961 Chrysler 300G convertible on display at the AACA Annual Meeting this past February. It was equipped with a 3-speed on the floor, one of two built.

The Pon DeMoussey 3 speed if I guess correct. I have seen a few of these on 61-64 full size Chryslers. The boot and the floor hump look a bit odd, but cool.

[alsancle]

You could get a 53/54 Caribbean with a 3 on the tree and overdrive.

[Guest]

Actually, it's four manual, for automatic.

Not according to two books I have, Thomas Bonsall- Pontiac: The Complete History 1926-1979 and John Gunnell's 75 years of Pontiac Oakland. I do have another book called Pontiac: The performance years that backs up your statement. The problem with that book is there are many incorrect statements in that book.

Don

Edited August 19, 2010 by helfen (see edit history)

[DLynskey]

My first new car was a 1966 Pontiac Catalina 2-door post sedan with 3-on-the-tree and the base 389 engine. The only option was a radio. Blackwall tires with dog dish hubcaps. No power brakes, steering, windows, locks, A/C or any of the things we now take for granted. $2500 out the door.

A friend had a 1955 or 1956 Packard Clipper 4-door with the 3-speed overdrive and two 4 barrel carbs. A college professor had a Buick LeSabre 4-door, about 1968, with the 3-speed column shift.

On the other side, a buddy had a 1964 Chevy bel Air 2-door post with the 409 engine and 2-speed Powerglide. Why??

Don

[West Peterson]

The Pon DeMoussey 3 speed if I guess correct. I have seen a few of these on 61-64 full size Chryslers. The boot and the floor hump look a bit odd, but cool.

I think you meant Pont-a-Mousson, which was a French four-speed. From what little I know, that preceded the three-speed. I do not know if it was used post 1960.

[Guest]

My first new car was a 1966 Pontiac Catalina 2-door post sedan with 3-on-the-tree and the base 389 engine. The only option was a radio. Blackwall tires with dog dish hubcaps. No power brakes, steering, windows, locks, A/C or any of the things we now take for granted. $2500 out the door.

Don

Don, I saw a 66 or 67 Catalina in POCI's Smoke Signals not to long ago. Wonder if it was yours? As I recall pretty rare! Bet you wish you still had it!

Don

[Rusty_OToole]

Cadillac offered a manual trans only up to 1950 in their regular lineup. That was also the last year of the Model 61, the small Cadillac built on the GM B body.

They sold exactly 4 Model 61 hardtops with manual trans. Sportsman Briggs Cunningham bought 3, car tester Tom McCahill bought the other one.

Cunningham ran 2 of them in the LeMans 24 hour race, in mildly hopped up form. One was a stock hardtop coupe, the other had a slab sided racing body and was called "Le Monstre". The stock hardtop came third, the only time a Cadillac ever finished in the money at LeMans.

The Pont a Mousson was a French 4 speed transmission originally developed for the Facel Vega. This was a French grand tourer with its own make of body and chassis and a Chrysler hemi engine. Pont a Mousson was the location of the factory that made the transmissions. Chrysler installed them in a few Chrysler 300 letter cars in the late fifties and early sixties, before they came out with their own 4 speed.

[oldcarfudd]

Rusty, my father had a '51 Cadillac 4-door, and I believe it was a model 61.

Gil Fitzhugh, Morristown, NJ

[joe_padavano]

Not according to two books I have, Thomas Bonsall- Pontiac: The Complete History 1926-1979 and John Gunnell's 75 years of Pontiac Oakland. I do have another book called Pontiac: The performance years that backs up your statement. The problem with that book is there are many incorrect statements in that book.

Don

I don't claim to be a Pontiac expert, but the 4 and 4 numbers were what I read in Hot Rod over 20 years ago, when the cars were a lot closer to being new. Of course, I imagine that PHS can solve this once and for all.

[Steve Braverman]

You can check the 6 spd. manual gearbox on your 2010 Dodge Ram 3/4 ton pickup order form and still be able to row your own gears in your new truck.

Only if it's a Diesel. No more manual trans gas jobs according to the Dodge web site.

[Guest 1hooligan]

In 1974, I purchased a 1973 chevrolet Monte Carlo, that came from the factory, special ordered with a v/8, three speed on the tree, no air, and no power brakes. The ugliest green that I have ever seen. It had only 2300 miles on it when I got it.

[Scotts_DG8]

There was a 1961 Chrysler 300G convertible on display at the AACA Annual Meeting this past February. It was equipped with a 3-speed on the floor, one of two built.

Just to comment on this, in my late teens I owned and drove a 62 Chrysler with a 3 speed manual floor shift. It was a unique car at the time. It was not common to open the drivers door on a 4 door Chrysler and see a stock manual shifter sticking out of the floor. It was purchased from a Chrysler Engineer that one of my Uncles worked with. It was a good car and fun to drive. Scott...

[John_Maine]

I had a '66 Buick LeSabre Custom sedan with a 3 speed manual. Sold it in 2005; wish I hadn't. I know where there is a '71 LeSabre with a 3 speed manual. A fellow in town owned it and sold it, but I heard that it is for sale again. I'd like to buy it but the wife would have a fit.

[K8096]

Rusty oToole,

They had to make more than 4 1950 cadillac 61 series coupes with the 3 speed manual. They built 11,000 of that model, and I saw one on e bay this past winter with the three speed in it. It was an original car too. I don't doubt Cunningham bought 4 of them, but how can you prove only 4 were built unless you go up to the GM research Center and look through all 11,000 build sheets? While 1950 may be the last year it was more common to see this, it was available up through 1953 on Cadillacs. Some of the commercial chassis had it, and then a few people (like us) ordered them who were either performance minded or who weren't sold on the Hydramatic.

As a matter of fact, I know where there is a 1951 Cadillac hearse rotting away in a guys yard and it has a three speed manual in it.

Also, the series 61 Cadillac was offered through 1951, not 1950.

Here's another odd one, how about late 1953 cadillacs built with Buick Dynaflows after the hydramatic plant burned down? There's a 62 series sedan in my area equipped like that. More over, a friend of mine was rummaging through an antique mall and found a 1953 Cadillac owners manual with specific mention of the Dynaflow in it. Cadillac actually updated their owners manuals for the change. He bought it and gave to to the guy who owned the car.

Edited August 20, 2010 by K8096 (see edit history)

[Rusty_OToole]

I was going by statements made by Tom McCahill in his road test of his car, his report on Cunningham's LeMans effort and later stories. I also thought it was well known that Cadillac was the first car maker to offer automatic transmission as standard equipment with no other option. It was definitely the case by 1952 and I think, in 1951. I don't know the exact date this policy was implemented. This is not to say they NEVER built a car with manual trans to special order. The commercial chassis I can't swear to either. I have heard of a 53 Cadillac convertible built with manual trans and a supercharger, special order and custom built by Cadillac's experimental department for an important parts supplier and long time Cadillac customer. But neither the transmission or supercharger was a catalog option for that model.

[Rusty_OToole]

An unusual, Canada only model of Chev with manual trans and air was the so called Iraqi Taxis. You used to see them around once in a while. A basic 4 door Malibu sedan with a floor shift 3 speed. They had a white ball shaped shift knob for some reason.

"In 1981, General Motors of Canada in Oshawa produced a special order of 12,000 4-door Malibu sedans for Saddam Hussein's Iraqi government. The deal was worth 100-million dollars to GM. These special order Malibus carried the unusual combination of GM's lowest-power V6, the 110hp 229ci (3.8 l) engine mated to a unique 3-on-the-floor stick shifter. All of the cars were equipped with air conditioning, heavy duty cooling systems, tough upholstery and 14-inch (360 mm) stamped steel wheels with trim rings and "baby moon" center caps. They were the ultimate Iraqi Taxis. In 1982 with 7,000 Malibus sitting on a dock in Halifax ready to ship and 5,000 more waiting for the train in Oshawa, where they were built, the Iraqis cancelled the order. Excuses reportedly included "quality concerns" or the supposed inability of the local drivers to shift a manual transmission. GM President-at-the-time Donald Hackworth said GM would still try to sell the Halifax cars overseas. Of course the real reason the Iraqis backed out was their escalating hostilities with Iran which required diversion of funds to support the ramping Iraqi war effort. In the end, the orphaned Iraqi Taxi Malibus were sold to the Canadian public at the greatly reduced price of about C$6,800 and over the years have acquired a low-key 'celebrity' status. "

The story at the time was that the Canadian government paid for the cars because of an export guarantee or export insurance scheme to encourage export sales. The cars were sold off by Chev dealers at a cut price.

Edited August 20, 2010 by Rusty_OToole (see edit history)

[TexRiv_63]

Quite a few full size Ford Galaxies from the 60s had stick shifts, many were four speed toploaders attached to big block 390s and 427s.

[Guest papaw]

I can remember our neighbor bought a brand new 1966 Caprice, 4dr, ice blue, white vinyl top, 283 2bl, with a four speed. This was the family car and he would not own an automatic. He gave the son the old car it was a 1959 Chevy Brookwood Wagon, also 283 but a 3 on the tree.

[West Peterson]

Quite a few full size Ford Galaxies from the 60s had stick shifts, many were four speed toploaders attached to big block 390s and 427s.

That reminds me of the 1964 Ford Fairlane wagon I thought seriously about buying a few years ago. It was equipped from the factory with bucket seats, console, four-speed on the floor and the 390. It was a good solid Colorado car, but needed a full restoration. It would have been a fun car to restore, and to have.

[Jim Rohn]

My dad worked at Ford and ALWAYS ordered manual trans company cars ... until my sister was old enough to drive then he got automatics ...

some of the more unusual were:

70 LTD 4 door sedan, 302 3 speed on the tree, that was the car I took my driver's license test in

68 Torino GT convertible with buckets and a 302 3 on the tree

64 Falcon Futura convertible, 260 V8, bench seat, 3 on the tree and hang on "factory air"

[Dave@Moon]

A guy I knew in high school used to occasionally drive us around in his father's car, a 1971 Plymouth Fury I sedan with a slant 6 and 3 on the tree. He usually had his mother's car, though, a slant 6 1964 Dodge similarly (not) equipped. Neither car had any options whatsoever except for a heater. I think the Dodge even had vacuum wipers. Supposedly his father bought the Fury brand new off of the lot at the local dealer.

I was not impressed.

That '71 Fury was the newest non-performance or non-economy car I ever rode in with a manual tranny.

Edited August 21, 2010 by Dave@Moon (see edit history)

[junkyardjeff]

There was a 67 country squire wagon around here that had a 428 and 4 speed,when I first seen it in 91 the owner wanted 3000.00 for it which was alot of money too me so I passed on it.

[Guest Earl]

I had my Grandmothers '69 Chevy Bel Air after she died. She ordered it with the three speed on the column and wanted them to not put in a radio either, but they didn't have a delete plate for it. No power anything, and no options as well. The salesman almost talked her into putting a V-8 in it, but when she looked down in the carberator on the V-8 and saw two holes down there, she took the 6 as it only had one! The mechanics at the Chevy garage were traumatized by her and after she lost her hearing would tear clutches out of it about every year. She would sit there with a flashlight on a folding chair she took with her to watch the guy that worked on the car. They made the mistake of offering to put in a re-built clutch as they would be cheaper. "If you were building them right the first time, you wouldn't be re-building them now would you?" So the folding chair and flashlight came along to see to it that none of that re-built junk got sneaked into the thing. She said more than once that she should have kept the '51 Chevy she traded in on it.

[kevin1221]

Junkyardjeff.....I also remember that Country Squire. I grew up in Dayton and saw the car at a large show in Xenia on 4th of July in the early 80s, before I moved to Florida. Somewhere, I have a picture of the interior, with a portion of woodgrain on rear door visible. Definately very rare.

[D Yaros]

My 1960 Olds Super 88 Holiday SceniCoupe came from the factory with 3-on-the-tree, no PB, no PS. It was ordered that way by my brother.

It would blow most anything/everything off the road once you put her in 2nd gear!

[Guest Hinckley]

Back in the early 80s I worked in the shop for a small car lot. Two odd balls that rolled through with stock sticks were a 1964 Chrysler Newport, four speed, and a mid 70s Pontiac Grand Am with a 5 speed. The Pontiac was a real rust bucket but the window sticker showing V8, 5 speed was in the glove box. I have long been curious about the origins of that car, how many were made, and if anyone salvaged the guts. It ended up in a scrap yard.

[rick60]

In the early '80s there was a 1979 Buick Park Avenue 2dr in for service at the Olds dealer where I worked. It had "three on the tree". It looked like a factory installation. The steering wheel was stock and all components were painted to match the interior.

[junkyardjeff]

In late 2000 I bought a 65 country squire that needed a motor and was seriously considering buying the 67 for the drivetrain for the 65 but ended up buying a 700 dollar 67 for the parts I needed and not destroying a rare car. It eventually got sold but it was still sitting in the same spot in 01 where I last seen it in 91 which was out side in the weather and time had taken its toll on it some.

Junkyardjeff.....I also remember that Country Squire. I grew up in Dayton and saw the car at a large show in Xenia on 4th of July in the early 80s, before I moved to Florida. Somewhere, I have a picture of the interior, with a portion of woodgrain on rear door visible. Definately very rare.

[keiser31]

I have found two 1968 Dodge Coronet station wagons here in southern Oregon....both with 383 four barrel engines and both with four speeds on the carpeted floor...both all original.

[auburnseeker]

I have a 1956 Olds 88 2 door hardtop delete everything except backup lights. I've had for 19 years with a factory Column shift 3 speed. My first old car and I still have it.