We're all old timers to you. But guess what? You're on the train to old timers burial ground along with the rest of us. You're just on a car a little farther back. Have you got a little bit of a pot belly? Don't shriek with horror the pot belly is a natural progression.
I once had an old Chevy truck with a 3 on the tree. Drove the piss out of that thing. Hated driving it though, it would never shift out of 1st.
When I still lived in Portland I was looking for an Alfa Romeo Giulia (the old ones, from the 60s). Unfortunately, most of them were so rusted that I never bought one. I did however drive one that had a 5 on the tree... both engine and transmission were wonderful. The rest of the car was falling around the drivetrain - but it sure was unusual to have 5 speeds on the tree...
My father had a '63 Chevy pickup with three on the tree. That was my first tree shifter, I think. I cut my teeth on my mom's '61 Renault Dauphine. I can't remember if her Dauphine was on the floor or on the tree but it was three speed with reverse.
When I was in the market for my new car, I was very strongly considering one of the new ones! Test drove it!!!! Beautiful vehicle!
Worse than what, a giant pot of gold and a very productive diamond mine? Now, if you want worse then you'd want Trump, by far the worst President this country has ever or will ever have.
When I worked full time my municipality car was a 014 Focus. The Focus is well known to have transmission problems. Sorry you got screwed by corporate management. Fix Or Repair Daily. Bro, get a used Honda Accord. The 013 seems bulletproof, as per YouTube vids. I have a 012 and it was known for solvable brake issues but after all these years it was and still is reliable.
Have not driven one. I am told that as far as sportiness, they are the class of the field, but like a proper Alfa, can be a little cranky at times. A little too big for my taste tho. I had sport sedans when they were a size smaller, I think only BMW and Lexus make a properly sized , RWD sport sedan now in the 2 series and the IS. It's a shame. Not sure you can get the BMW in a manual, and I know you can not get the Lexus in a manual.
love Ford pickups and Ford vans (not the new body though). Ford makes the best trucks, IMO don't think I'd have any Ford car though
Toyota makes some great albeit usually boring cars, and they make some of the best trucks too. I have an ‘06 4Runner with almost 180k miles on it, I bought it with 115k miles on it and have done virtually nothing to it. Been a fantastic vehicle, only thing that sucks about it is that it’s an absolute gas hog.