What's your opinion of stick-shifts?
the only reason why my 2000 Excursion isn't manual is because they didn't make a manual Excursion.
My 97 Corolla is a stick, as was every other new car I have ever bought (89 Probe, 91 Mustang, 93 Civic Del Sol, 94 Isuzu Pickup)...except for the Excursion.
Manuals are cheaper to buy, get better gas mileage, and are cheaper to repair.
Well, I generally agree with you, jmfcst, about transmissions, but I really don't see the point of a stick in a large vehicle with a torquey V-8. I think something like a Civic is pretty much ruined by an automatic, while something like a Lincoln would be rather silly with a stick.
Basically if the car's engine displacement is under 3.0 liters, stick, over, auto. Of course if it is a pushrod engine (how I miss those!), it is even better with an automatic. I really hate the newer excessively complex motors.
This brings back memories - back in the 90's I was tooling around in a big old 80's Chevy Caprice with a five litre V-8 and I stopped to test drive a VW Golf. My god what a peice of sh**t! I climbed back aboard the comfy old cruiser thinking to myself - 'who can stand to drive those things?' Meaning high-revving stick shift cars.