![The Volkswagen Golf GTI is one of the fun cars losing a manual transmission.](https://develop.motorbiscuit.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Large-16094-2023VolkswagenGolfGTI40thAnniversaryEdition-1.jpg?w=902)
5 iconic fun cars you can’t get with a manual transmission anymore
Fun. It’s one of my favorite broad appeal terms to escape the clinical power and speed debate. After all, a car needn’t be fast to be fun. Take the Mazda MX-5, a perennially delightful good time machine that manages to be smile-inducing, despite an unremarkable 181 horsepower on tap. One of the keys to the fun? A manual transmission. Unfortunately, fun cars like the Chevrolet Corvette and BMW M5 aren’t available with a stick anymore.
The manual transmission is a disappearing feature in the modern car market, even in fun cars like the Volkswagen Golf and Chevrolet Corvette
Traditionally fun cars tend to lose something when they give up their manual transmission. Sure, ZF automatics and lightning-fast dual-clutch transmissions (DCTs) are faster and more reliable than the good ol’ three-pedal application. However, vehicles like these lose a bit of driver engagement when they ditch the stick.
- Volkswagen Golf GTI
- Ford Mustang EcoBoost
- Alfa Romeo Giulia
- BMW M5
- Chevrolet Corvette
The Volkswagen Golf, especially the time-honored GTI, is one of the last words in hot hatchbacks. However, and tragically so, the American-market Golf GTI will lose its manual transmission on its technological march to maturity. However, we expect the updated model to be the fastest, most refined GTI yet.
A Ford Mustang and a manual transmission. It’s a match that has stood the test of time. However, for climate-or-budget-minded buyers, the EcoBoost silently ditched the three-pedal setup after the seventh-generation (S650) update. Fortunately, the manual faithful can still get the 5.0L V8-powered GT and Dark Horse with a stick in the middle.
In the 1960s, Alfa Romeo produced the Giulia as a sensible sedan as well as a sun-soaked roadster. Decades later, the North American market got access to the Giulia sedan, complete with a range-topping 505-horsepower Quadrifoglio trim and Ferrari DNA. Sounds great, right? Well, not if you wanted one with a manual.
It’s a tragedy to see an M car without a manual transmission option. But that’s exactly the case with the volcanically powerful F90 BMW M5. It’s one of the finest examples of a supercar masquerading as a sensible sedan. However, it loses some of the hairy fun factor of manual-equipped predecessors like the E34, E39, and E60 models.
Finally, we have the Chevrolet Corvette. America’s original sports car and the most accomplished North American performance car nameplate ever. However, when the Corvette went mid-engine, it lost its manual transmission option.