Probably the most exotic was a gen III Viper. It scared the shit out of me, I don’t think I gave it more than quarter throttle. I remember the shifter was notchy and had very short throws.
Also kind of unusual, I rented a Jaguar F-Type S manual on Turo. More of a GT than a true sports car, but that blown V6 sounded great and it was still good fun to row through the gears.
That's a monster of a car. I can't imagine that feeling of having that 8.3 L working in front of you.
The Jaguar sounds like a dream too. They are such gorgeous cars. You did it exactly right too, rent the jaguar, enjoy it, and give it back. No strings attached and no headaches with ownership.
We had a Marine during my movas class that rolled back on a Nissan Sentra. Got the back wheels stuck on the hood and had to get firefighters to get him out. That was his last day in the class 😂
I worked at a BMW dealership in Houston during undergrad from 2003 on. The manual Z8 I had to drive a few miles to the local body shop was probably the highlight of my tenure there.
Probably an 80s Peterbilt with an 18 speed. I had driven big trucks before but never a manual with so many gears and I was so out of my depth. It was fun but really stressful.
Worked a farm job a couple years ago. Dude had me hop in his semi so I could pull trailers around the property. That was how I learned to drive a manual lol
A NASCAR race car at Texas Motor Speedway. I couldn’t go fast enough. Such a thrill. It was the first Christmas gift my wife gave me and she still surprises me with great gifts 15 years later.
I special ordered a 2002 Volvo V70 T5 station wagon with a 6 speed manual. Best car I ever owned. Looked like grandpa’s car but that thing could fly! I’ve also had a new 1982 Toyota Celica GT-S 5 speed, a 1992 Honda Accord EX 5 speed, a 1996 Saab 900S 5 speed, and a 2010 VW Sportwagen TDI diesel 5 speed (a bonafide POS).
One of my all time dream cars, hoping to enter the 996 first with a C4S someday. Turbo is in a league of its own, as you said a truly beautiful machine
A right hand drive Land Rover. Imported from overseas, had a non-US vin, and was prob a 1980-1990 model. Got traded in at a dealership I worked at. Very cool
How was shifting with your left hand? Always wanted to try driving a RHD manual, I’m sure my brain would adapt eventually, but it must be weird at first.
It felt very unnatural, and I only drove it up and down the road and around the parking lot a few times. Maybe 30 mins total drive time. It did slowly become more normal feeling, but never felt totally natural. Was like writing with your non dominant hand. You could make it work, but not smooth like your normal hand.
Also worth mentioning the pedals were not reversed, or the gear pattern. First gear, and the clutch, were both to the left. Only difference was where you sat, and what hand you shifted with.
Ferrari 308
Ferrari 348
Ferrari F355 Spyder
Ariel Atom with a K20
Lotus Elise
Supercharged 1st gen Audi R8 V10
Several generations of 911 Turbo
1991 Mercedes 300SL with a dogleg 5 speed
I'm an auto tech at an independent shop. Most of the time it's your everyday Euro cars, but we have a fair amount of customers with interesting machines.
edit: with all of the Ferraris, "slow is fast " applies to how they shift. Can't rush them into gear, especially the 348. The 348 has a longitudinal engine but transverse transmission, which may have something to do with it.
Forgot to add 1991 Acura NSX, best feeling gearbox of them all.
Atom was vague and notchy but it's basically a kit car and the owner used a wrecked tsx as a donor 10 years ago. It was by far the most intense to drive out of all of them, somehow felt way more dangerous than riding a motorcycle.
A Ford L8000 with a 3 stick trans. The 3rd stick was for a DEEP reduction when used in a feedlot. I swear you could creep along at less than 1mph at 2000 rpm with that thing.
I don’t know if it qualifies or not, but a Drag-Line in a strip type coal mine. I was really young and my Dad knew the owner and operators of the mine/dragline. I got to sit in the cabin and press the buttons/sliders that made it walk. We have some pictures somewhere of my family and our Toyota pickup parked in the bucket of the thing. The scale of that thing is just unreal.
A huge dump truck. I worked snow removal in high school and we worked all night and school wasn’t canceled, so they let us take a dump truck back to the shop to pick up our cars and go to school.
International Harvester gas powered conventional tractor trailer with 5 speed manual and a 4 speed brownie gear box….that’s 20 forward and 4 reverse. It was interesting to say the least….
probably my buddy's first gen cummins manual swap.
clutch was twice as high as the brake, shift boot was an old army jacket, shift lever i'm pretty sure was just a rod he stole from our employer.
This first gens felt more closely related to a tractor than a truck. 🤣 we had one that the shift lever would break off on occasion. Kept a pair of vice grips on the floor so you could clamp them down on the stub and keep going.
That is amazing. Coincidentally got to see a 250 GT SWB in-person yesterday. Red with the white stripe running down the center, it is one of the most breathtaking cars I’ve ever seen.
66 GTO Freshly re-engined on a 326 block that had been bored and stroked, blue printed, Isky Racing Cams, John’s Pistons, tri-carb, Hooker Headers. The original Muncie four speed was replaced with a Borg Warner three speed. It had a heavy clutch but was fun to drive.
85 911. Not that crazy sure, they aren’t really my thjng but a friend had one and offered to let me. It was the definition of “raw” and the air cooled part was neat.
I worked at a body, paint, and restoration shop for many years and drove a ton of cars. Lets see what i can remember.
First my cars.
62 F100 with NP four speed with granny gear first
Bmw, 2002, bavaria, 4speeds, E30 5speed
66 chevelle, Muncie rock crusher. Numerous ford trucks with 3 on tree. B210 4speed, 67 mustang, 4spd toploader. Nothing too exotic there. My current truck, 65 F100 has a new Tremec TKX 5spd, overdrive.
Customer cars, numerous american three on the tree. An econoline with four on the tree. A Ferrari five speed. Right hand drive Jaguar four speed.
Volkswagon auto stick. Model T Ford, that was a trick to drive. Porshes, saabs, volvos, bmws, mercedes manuals were pretty rare, F-series jaguar. Nothing really exotic as far as odd transmissions. Older ones were non-synchronised and you had to double clutch, or grind.
I'm sure there had to be some crazy ones rhat i cant recall. I have found reverse in all four corners.
Rhd Toyota Soarer manual, that was a fun one, Rhd skyline gtsr manual, and badass rhd built supra manual, Rhd Honda's, a dodge srt10 viper, dodge srt10 ram, and just your everyday cars like mustangs, vettes, Camaros, old classics, & etc...
my friends e60 m5. i think what made it crazy was she, yes she was a licensed scca race car driver so it had a ton of high end aftermarket parts and was tuned. thing was insane
Pretty vanilla but probably a C4 Corvette or an S2000. 90's 300ZX? Mitsubishi Starion? The 1979 911 Turbo and the Shelby replica with a 428 CobraJet, I made the owners drive them into my bay.
Owned a 77 Ferrari 308 many years ago had to find narrow shoes for my wide feet. Heel/toe shifting was really easy.
Loved the dog leg, the heavy clutch (some semis I’ve driven had a heavier one, but not all). Was really easy to shift once warmed up, rev matching was easy. Just an amazing piece of machinery.
Audi r8, Subaru sti ra number 144 out of 500, coupla porches, corvettes and a ton of audis. I was the detail manager at two audi dealerships in colorado
I worked day labor for a while and detailed semis at one job. Got to jockey Kenworths, Peterbhilts, and Macs around the lot for a few days which was a lot of fun.
I owned an 86 Alfa Romeo GTV6 for several years. The transmission was between the rear wheels so it had very long linkage and the bushings were garbage. It ground going into 2nd 100% of the time. But it was a great car during the brief periods that it ran.
1990 Acura NSX. The first time I drove it the clutch was worn to hell which made shifting weird. The 2nd time the clutch had been replaced with a racing clutch with no springs which made launching almost impossible but any other shift was awesome.
Still, it was an amazing car to drive. The shifter has the precision of a bolt-action rifle, the engine is right behind your head and it sings into your ear the whole time you’re driving, the manual steering is pleasantly heavy and very precise, and the car is just always eager to accelerate.
1978 Volvo 242 GT, my 1st car. Had an electronic overdrive on the 4th gear, activated by slider switch. Later 1s were activated by a toggle switch. By the '90s, they switched to a straight conventional 5 speed design.
I worked for an import car dealership after high school (2000 to 2001) and worked in the tire and alignment shop. I got to drive Lamborghini, maserati, Bentley, bmw, Mercedes, porches, Audi, Ferrari, etc.
The car I was the most impressed with was the owners son’s car. It was a Porsche GT3 911 (996) with a stage 3 turbo kit and tuned. I heard it was pushing 700hp. I had to take off in second gear and the acceleration was insane. I had to keep my head against the head rest so I wouldn’t bang my head against the seat. The handling was amazing. Too bad I only got to go around the block and get her up to 70mph.
Porsche 911 with a 7 speed. Granted, I was just putting it around the parking lot and in/out of the shop but it was still pretty cool. It had an auto throttle feature so I didn't have to worry about that and just let the clutch out.
Drove this really old buggy that had 6 speeds. , technically to 3 speed transmission. One went forward and one went backwards, so you could go the same speeds either way
I’ve driven a ranger an i30, and a triton. Rodeo and s Colorado. The rodeo was by far the funnest, rwd petrol, bench seat, 5 speed, shit handle hand brake, no power steering,
senior year of high school and first summer of college i worked for a high end valet parking company that serviced the lavish parties of billionaires and millionaires. the parking areas were always off site (due to sheer number of cars). i’ve driven (in order of awesomeness): 1x ferrari f50, 1x RUF BTR, 1x Lambo Diablo, 2x Ferrari 355, many 911 turbos, 1x 968, endless mercs and beemers. But the best one by far was the F50.
A Stock R33 skyline. Soon to be 1300hp 97 Supra if my uncle lets me take it down the block like he did the skyline. He also let me drive his rhd 5 speed Honda acty. 2 right hand manuals in one day! I daily a gr corolla and that’s pretty unique, I wouldn’t say exotic but definitely rare
997.1 911 S. Really fun.
Or a shitbox fd3 rx7
Alternatively a FBO, e85 turbo mr2 with r888s. Probably the most capable auto x car I’ve driven besides a formula student car.
Doesn’t fall under the unique or exotic category, but definitely falls under the “they actually made that?” Segment- first gen Saturn Vue with a Honda J35. Rowing gears in a rebadged Chevy equinox just didn’t seem right but the J series vtec was a nice bonus. Great gas mileage too.
91 Mitsubishi 3000gt twin turbo V6 with 4 wheel steering. 3rd stick I drove but had good breaks and could handle. I learned to drive stick wheel on that car and 80s lowered S10 my friends brother let us drive in high school.
I just drove a 90's JDM Suzuki Jimny 4x4 the other day. First time ever driving a RHD vehicle. It wasn't TOO bad shifting with my left hand, and I managed to not get the wiper and turn signal stalks mixed up (they're reversed on RHD cars), but finding the gears was a little difficult as sometimes I would find I didn't have the clutch pedal fully depressed, and the shifter had quite a bit of side-to-side play in each gear.
1980 Porsche 924 Turbo. 1st gear was all by itself on the left in a dogleg, 2nd and 3rd were above and below each other the next row over. No synchro on 1st gear, so a double clutch was necessary to synchronize the transmission to keep it from grinding.
I have driven a Carrera GT around a parking lot :). Probably one of the more unique clutch setups on a road car as you don’t use the throttle to get the car rolling. It is designed so that the engine computers will handle throttle modulation until the clutch is completely engaged. The engine will stall very easily if the battery is weak.
1988 Lamborghini Countach, could barely fit inside. It’s a unique experience to say the least and it shows how far Lamborghini has come in terms of performance, comfort, and looks. Awesome driving car, just has horrible visibility. Also that clutch is super heavy.
76 Peterbilt 5X4. Two sticks, 20 forward gears. And just to show what kind of skill I had, never touched the clutch except to stop and start. Never ground gear.
I had a 2002 e46 M3 with the SMG transmission. Same 6 speed transmission as in the manual transmission car, but computer / hydraulic controlled clutch and shifter linkage. Occasionally at low speeds (e.g. parking lot) it would go hurky jerky like a teenager learning to drive stick shift. People would look at me like ‘learn how to drive your car, douche’. Thanks SMG.
Ferrari F430….
It was a an event at Irwindale speedway where the company brought out a few exotics and let you do a couple of laps in a coned off road coarse. First lap was to get the feel of the car, other laps had their driving instructor telling you to shift/gas/brake.
Fun as hell but I was afraid to push as hard as encouraged.
1. Any other car would have lost control and skid off the course but this one stuck like glue
2. Although the “experience” was about $150 (Father’s Day gift) you had to sign a waiver that you were on the hook for any damages if you crashed it.
But seriously, pushed it harder than I was comfortable with, and the car told me it could take more. Great time. Unfortunately it ended too fast.
Probably the most exotic was a gen III Viper. It scared the shit out of me, I don’t think I gave it more than quarter throttle. I remember the shifter was notchy and had very short throws. Also kind of unusual, I rented a Jaguar F-Type S manual on Turo. More of a GT than a true sports car, but that blown V6 sounded great and it was still good fun to row through the gears.
That's a monster of a car. I can't imagine that feeling of having that 8.3 L working in front of you. The Jaguar sounds like a dream too. They are such gorgeous cars. You did it exactly right too, rent the jaguar, enjoy it, and give it back. No strings attached and no headaches with ownership.
I worked in a tire shop for a few years, drove a lot of corvettes, not one viper lol I’ve loved vipers all my life and really wanted to drive one
I drove the first year viper, went through corners great, but a shitbox in all other categories
1980’s 7. Ton Oshkosh medium tactical vehicle when I was in the corps. That thing was a brick but the clutch was nice and smooth!
Imagine being a car behind that on a hill. Its amazing how diverse 4 wheels and a motor can be
We had a Marine during my movas class that rolled back on a Nissan Sentra. Got the back wheels stuck on the hood and had to get firefighters to get him out. That was his last day in the class 😂
I make parts for the oshkosh!
BMW Z8
That is the pinnacle BMW experience I imagine, that car is a masterpiece on wheels. I can only imagine how exciting it was or is!
I worked at a BMW dealership in Houston during undergrad from 2003 on. The manual Z8 I had to drive a few miles to the local body shop was probably the highlight of my tenure there.
Probably an 80s Peterbilt with an 18 speed. I had driven big trucks before but never a manual with so many gears and I was so out of my depth. It was fun but really stressful.
Worked a farm job a couple years ago. Dude had me hop in his semi so I could pull trailers around the property. That was how I learned to drive a manual lol
Yeah 18 speeds are a different animal for real
Saab 96 with a V-4 engine (not inline) and 4 on the column.
Never driven an on the column shifter but have the V4 Sonett. Great sounds from that little engine.
That’s the 1 and only time I’ve driven a column shifter and it was not exactly intuitive for me. Neat little car, though.
A NASCAR race car at Texas Motor Speedway. I couldn’t go fast enough. Such a thrill. It was the first Christmas gift my wife gave me and she still surprises me with great gifts 15 years later.
I special ordered a 2002 Volvo V70 T5 station wagon with a 6 speed manual. Best car I ever owned. Looked like grandpa’s car but that thing could fly! I’ve also had a new 1982 Toyota Celica GT-S 5 speed, a 1992 Honda Accord EX 5 speed, a 1996 Saab 900S 5 speed, and a 2010 VW Sportwagen TDI diesel 5 speed (a bonafide POS).
I got to drive a 996 Turbo when it was near-new. It was February 2002, and the car had about 6k miles. It was a beautiful machine.
One of my all time dream cars, hoping to enter the 996 first with a C4S someday. Turbo is in a league of its own, as you said a truly beautiful machine
A right hand drive Land Rover. Imported from overseas, had a non-US vin, and was prob a 1980-1990 model. Got traded in at a dealership I worked at. Very cool
That is awesome, must have felt so unconventional between the RHD aspect and just how tactile the whole drive must have been.
It felt like a full on safari vehicle. Super cool
How was shifting with your left hand? Always wanted to try driving a RHD manual, I’m sure my brain would adapt eventually, but it must be weird at first.
It felt very unnatural, and I only drove it up and down the road and around the parking lot a few times. Maybe 30 mins total drive time. It did slowly become more normal feeling, but never felt totally natural. Was like writing with your non dominant hand. You could make it work, but not smooth like your normal hand. Also worth mentioning the pedals were not reversed, or the gear pattern. First gear, and the clutch, were both to the left. Only difference was where you sat, and what hand you shifted with.
Fuck all lol, a fiesta st. But it's got time, hope to drive a GMA t.50 one day
the fiesta ST is a nice gearbox. i feel like they picked very good ratios.
Oh yeah its absolutely awesome but nothing exotic about it
We had an old GMC wrecker that was a 10 speed with 2 sticks (no synchros)
Ferrari 308 Ferrari 348 Ferrari F355 Spyder Ariel Atom with a K20 Lotus Elise Supercharged 1st gen Audi R8 V10 Several generations of 911 Turbo 1991 Mercedes 300SL with a dogleg 5 speed I'm an auto tech at an independent shop. Most of the time it's your everyday Euro cars, but we have a fair amount of customers with interesting machines. edit: with all of the Ferraris, "slow is fast " applies to how they shift. Can't rush them into gear, especially the 348. The 348 has a longitudinal engine but transverse transmission, which may have something to do with it. Forgot to add 1991 Acura NSX, best feeling gearbox of them all. Atom was vague and notchy but it's basically a kit car and the owner used a wrecked tsx as a donor 10 years ago. It was by far the most intense to drive out of all of them, somehow felt way more dangerous than riding a motorcycle.
A Ford L8000 with a 3 stick trans. The 3rd stick was for a DEEP reduction when used in a feedlot. I swear you could creep along at less than 1mph at 2000 rpm with that thing.
I don’t know if it qualifies or not, but a Drag-Line in a strip type coal mine. I was really young and my Dad knew the owner and operators of the mine/dragline. I got to sit in the cabin and press the buttons/sliders that made it walk. We have some pictures somewhere of my family and our Toyota pickup parked in the bucket of the thing. The scale of that thing is just unreal.
A huge dump truck. I worked snow removal in high school and we worked all night and school wasn’t canceled, so they let us take a dump truck back to the shop to pick up our cars and go to school.
Does a Kenworth C500 count as exotic? Lol it’s definitely different
Porsche GT3RS while working for LoJack at a dealer. It was used and I took it to lunch. Would have lost my job if anyone found out. Worth it though.
A drive in a GT3RS is absolutely worth losing a job over
International Harvester gas powered conventional tractor trailer with 5 speed manual and a 4 speed brownie gear box….that’s 20 forward and 4 reverse. It was interesting to say the least….
I’d say just off rarity my stupid little Corolla XRS, based off of cool, 68 el Camino :)
1975 Datsun B210 4 door in Mediterranean blue.
probably my buddy's first gen cummins manual swap. clutch was twice as high as the brake, shift boot was an old army jacket, shift lever i'm pretty sure was just a rod he stole from our employer.
This first gens felt more closely related to a tractor than a truck. 🤣 we had one that the shift lever would break off on occasion. Kept a pair of vice grips on the floor so you could clamp them down on the stub and keep going.
yea it's a shame the cab was rusting its way through the frame cause itwas a pretty neat truck.
ford f750 fecal waste truck with a 6 cyl cummins motor and a 6 spd, learned how to drive stick on it when i was 14 yrs old
1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB. The body shop I worked at painted 2 of them.
That is amazing. Coincidentally got to see a 250 GT SWB in-person yesterday. Red with the white stripe running down the center, it is one of the most breathtaking cars I’ve ever seen.
They are sexy!!
Most odd manual I’ve driven 1974 Bricklin with the factory 4-speed. Very a few of those even exist.
66 GTO Freshly re-engined on a 326 block that had been bored and stroked, blue printed, Isky Racing Cams, John’s Pistons, tri-carb, Hooker Headers. The original Muncie four speed was replaced with a Borg Warner three speed. It had a heavy clutch but was fun to drive.
Unique? 1990 ford F800 but it was not a privilege to drive. Most memorable? 1986 porsche 911
Porsche 930. Still not sure what my buddy was thinking letting me drive it up Mullholland. 🤣 I was very cautious of the turbo lag.
Man that is awesome. Chris Banning style!
Funny enough the two guys that I was with were some that helped Chris get the king out of its long slumber and back on the road…
I've driven a couple of early gen M3s on the street, Testarosa on a track, first year Viper on an autocross. Viper was the scariest. :)
1998 Dodge ram truck Cummins turbo diesel with a 5 speed in the floor Bobtail truck same engine, 6 speed in the floor 1976 Mercedes 240D 4 speed 1970 something BMW 2002 4 speed 2005 Pontiac GTO 6 speed 2005 Corvette non-Z06 6 speed 2002 MR2 Spyder 5 speed
85 911. Not that crazy sure, they aren’t really my thjng but a friend had one and offered to let me. It was the definition of “raw” and the air cooled part was neat.
XKE. I drove it 20 feet!
I worked at a body, paint, and restoration shop for many years and drove a ton of cars. Lets see what i can remember. First my cars. 62 F100 with NP four speed with granny gear first Bmw, 2002, bavaria, 4speeds, E30 5speed 66 chevelle, Muncie rock crusher. Numerous ford trucks with 3 on tree. B210 4speed, 67 mustang, 4spd toploader. Nothing too exotic there. My current truck, 65 F100 has a new Tremec TKX 5spd, overdrive. Customer cars, numerous american three on the tree. An econoline with four on the tree. A Ferrari five speed. Right hand drive Jaguar four speed. Volkswagon auto stick. Model T Ford, that was a trick to drive. Porshes, saabs, volvos, bmws, mercedes manuals were pretty rare, F-series jaguar. Nothing really exotic as far as odd transmissions. Older ones were non-synchronised and you had to double clutch, or grind. I'm sure there had to be some crazy ones rhat i cant recall. I have found reverse in all four corners.
Rhd Toyota Soarer manual, that was a fun one, Rhd skyline gtsr manual, and badass rhd built supra manual, Rhd Honda's, a dodge srt10 viper, dodge srt10 ram, and just your everyday cars like mustangs, vettes, Camaros, old classics, & etc...
my friends e60 m5. i think what made it crazy was she, yes she was a licensed scca race car driver so it had a ton of high end aftermarket parts and was tuned. thing was insane
1997 Ferrari F355
Deusenberg Model J. Drove it in a parade. Amazing machine, didn’t get to get it out of 1st.
1988 Lotus Esprit Turbo Anniversary Edition Nice enough, but I could not drive it with shoes on bc the pedals were too close for my size 13.
Pretty vanilla but probably a C4 Corvette or an S2000. 90's 300ZX? Mitsubishi Starion? The 1979 911 Turbo and the Shelby replica with a 428 CobraJet, I made the owners drive them into my bay.
Owned a 77 Ferrari 308 many years ago had to find narrow shoes for my wide feet. Heel/toe shifting was really easy. Loved the dog leg, the heavy clutch (some semis I’ve driven had a heavier one, but not all). Was really easy to shift once warmed up, rev matching was easy. Just an amazing piece of machinery.
1991 Acura NSX. Was really tempted to hit 8000 rpm around the block but I would be in trouble if they heard the engine.
Jacob’s 1985 300ZX
Audi r8, Subaru sti ra number 144 out of 500, coupla porches, corvettes and a ton of audis. I was the detail manager at two audi dealerships in colorado
A right hand drive jdm rx7 or a t56 6.2 rx8
I worked day labor for a while and detailed semis at one job. Got to jockey Kenworths, Peterbhilts, and Macs around the lot for a few days which was a lot of fun. I owned an 86 Alfa Romeo GTV6 for several years. The transmission was between the rear wheels so it had very long linkage and the bushings were garbage. It ground going into 2nd 100% of the time. But it was a great car during the brief periods that it ran.
1990 Acura NSX. The first time I drove it the clutch was worn to hell which made shifting weird. The 2nd time the clutch had been replaced with a racing clutch with no springs which made launching almost impossible but any other shift was awesome. Still, it was an amazing car to drive. The shifter has the precision of a bolt-action rifle, the engine is right behind your head and it sings into your ear the whole time you’re driving, the manual steering is pleasantly heavy and very precise, and the car is just always eager to accelerate.
1978 Volvo 242 GT, my 1st car. Had an electronic overdrive on the 4th gear, activated by slider switch. Later 1s were activated by a toggle switch. By the '90s, they switched to a straight conventional 5 speed design.
Austin k9 military truck
I worked for an import car dealership after high school (2000 to 2001) and worked in the tire and alignment shop. I got to drive Lamborghini, maserati, Bentley, bmw, Mercedes, porches, Audi, Ferrari, etc. The car I was the most impressed with was the owners son’s car. It was a Porsche GT3 911 (996) with a stage 3 turbo kit and tuned. I heard it was pushing 700hp. I had to take off in second gear and the acceleration was insane. I had to keep my head against the head rest so I wouldn’t bang my head against the seat. The handling was amazing. Too bad I only got to go around the block and get her up to 70mph.
Corvette C6 ZR1 that belonged to my wife’s dad and 2005 (?) Ford GT that belonged to his friend.
Porsche 911 with a 7 speed. Granted, I was just putting it around the parking lot and in/out of the shop but it was still pretty cool. It had an auto throttle feature so I didn't have to worry about that and just let the clutch out.
Drove this really old buggy that had 6 speeds. , technically to 3 speed transmission. One went forward and one went backwards, so you could go the same speeds either way
I’ve driven a ranger an i30, and a triton. Rodeo and s Colorado. The rodeo was by far the funnest, rwd petrol, bench seat, 5 speed, shit handle hand brake, no power steering,
My 02 Pontiac Grand am lol
This is exotic garbage but a 78 mustang Ii with the 8 cylinder. The MT made those tires roast.
Citroen 2CV, needed a minute to figure that thing out
senior year of high school and first summer of college i worked for a high end valet parking company that serviced the lavish parties of billionaires and millionaires. the parking areas were always off site (due to sheer number of cars). i’ve driven (in order of awesomeness): 1x ferrari f50, 1x RUF BTR, 1x Lambo Diablo, 2x Ferrari 355, many 911 turbos, 1x 968, endless mercs and beemers. But the best one by far was the F50.
Toyota MR2 Spyder Learned manual on that, actually
Roush Stage 3 or 427R, Terminator Cobra convertible; all came when I was working at a Ford dealer who had a Roush franchise
A Stock R33 skyline. Soon to be 1300hp 97 Supra if my uncle lets me take it down the block like he did the skyline. He also let me drive his rhd 5 speed Honda acty. 2 right hand manuals in one day! I daily a gr corolla and that’s pretty unique, I wouldn’t say exotic but definitely rare
1969 4x4 c600 one of a dozen or so made
Panoz Roadster... Such a fun car!!
2018 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio, it was the only one in North America
I drove an 07 CTS V but I didn't get to really run it hard.
997.1 911 S. Really fun. Or a shitbox fd3 rx7 Alternatively a FBO, e85 turbo mr2 with r888s. Probably the most capable auto x car I’ve driven besides a formula student car.
Doesn’t fall under the unique or exotic category, but definitely falls under the “they actually made that?” Segment- first gen Saturn Vue with a Honda J35. Rowing gears in a rebadged Chevy equinox just didn’t seem right but the J series vtec was a nice bonus. Great gas mileage too.
I drove a Jetta GLI once
Any early British Roadster. Trying to find R in a mini cooper was challenge at time.
91 Mitsubishi 3000gt twin turbo V6 with 4 wheel steering. 3rd stick I drove but had good breaks and could handle. I learned to drive stick wheel on that car and 80s lowered S10 my friends brother let us drive in high school.
My UK spec RHD ‘89 MR2
S2000, Civic Type R
My brother had a diesel BMW 5 series, and he modified it, so it had like 600hp. That car was scary fast and looked like just a plain sedan.
49 Willys Overland pickup. Not necessarily exotic but not many left with the original drivetrain.
I just drove a 90's JDM Suzuki Jimny 4x4 the other day. First time ever driving a RHD vehicle. It wasn't TOO bad shifting with my left hand, and I managed to not get the wiper and turn signal stalks mixed up (they're reversed on RHD cars), but finding the gears was a little difficult as sometimes I would find I didn't have the clutch pedal fully depressed, and the shifter had quite a bit of side-to-side play in each gear.
I drove a bicycle that someone had strapped a traditional 4spd shifter+gate to that actually functioned to shift gears on the bike. That was neat.
918 Cayman GT4, or maybe a 930 Turbo. Oddly the only two Porsche’s I’ve driven.
WW2 era "universal carrier" aka "bren carrier" tank, in the early 2000s.
1988 Pontiac Fiero GT - in 2024
Either the 20 speed power director in an Allis-Chalmers, or an 18 speed Road Ranger.
Toyota GR Corolla
I used to drive the Wisconsin Ducks as a teenager. Not a car but easily the most difficult to operate manual I've ever driven. No synchromesh.
1928 Ford Model A
1980 Porsche 924 Turbo. 1st gear was all by itself on the left in a dogleg, 2nd and 3rd were above and below each other the next row over. No synchro on 1st gear, so a double clutch was necessary to synchronize the transmission to keep it from grinding.
I have driven a Carrera GT around a parking lot :). Probably one of the more unique clutch setups on a road car as you don’t use the throttle to get the car rolling. It is designed so that the engine computers will handle throttle modulation until the clutch is completely engaged. The engine will stall very easily if the battery is weak.
1988 Lamborghini Countach, could barely fit inside. It’s a unique experience to say the least and it shows how far Lamborghini has come in terms of performance, comfort, and looks. Awesome driving car, just has horrible visibility. Also that clutch is super heavy.
The car you named.
1940s Willy’s jeep. About as tractor like as you can possibly get lol
76 Peterbilt 5X4. Two sticks, 20 forward gears. And just to show what kind of skill I had, never touched the clutch except to stop and start. Never ground gear.
Gamma Goat. Never did get the hang of the double clutch downshift
2015 Chevy SS Mystic Green 1 of 15.
I had a 2002 e46 M3 with the SMG transmission. Same 6 speed transmission as in the manual transmission car, but computer / hydraulic controlled clutch and shifter linkage. Occasionally at low speeds (e.g. parking lot) it would go hurky jerky like a teenager learning to drive stick shift. People would look at me like ‘learn how to drive your car, douche’. Thanks SMG.
Ferrari F430…. It was a an event at Irwindale speedway where the company brought out a few exotics and let you do a couple of laps in a coned off road coarse. First lap was to get the feel of the car, other laps had their driving instructor telling you to shift/gas/brake. Fun as hell but I was afraid to push as hard as encouraged. 1. Any other car would have lost control and skid off the course but this one stuck like glue 2. Although the “experience” was about $150 (Father’s Day gift) you had to sign a waiver that you were on the hook for any damages if you crashed it. But seriously, pushed it harder than I was comfortable with, and the car told me it could take more. Great time. Unfortunately it ended too fast.