You Used To Be Able To Get Anything With A Stick: 1987 Dodge Mini Ram Van vs 1990 Chevy Corsica

The automatic transmission first appeared just prior to World War II, and really hit its stride in the 1950s, when cars got big and powerful and smooth. But up until fairly recently, it was an option – if you didn’t specify you wanted an automatic, in most non-luxury cars, you got a manual. Today we’re checking out a couple of vehicles you wouldn’t think would have manual transmissions, but they do.

Yesterday we looked at a couple of Japanese coupes with sticks, and I was sort of testing the power of the Toyota brand. How much sway does the fabled nameplate really hold? Could a Toyota with more miles, in visibly rougher shape, beat out a stigmatized Nissan that was sportier, fancier, and arguably better-looking?

As it turns out, it could not. You chose the Altima by a huge margin. I think it was those red seats; I know that’s what did it for me. I’m sure that Toyota Solara is a perfectly nice car, and it will serve someone well for many years to come, but it’s about as exciting as a Hallmark Channel movie, or an Applebee’s appetizer combo. The Altima is no sports car, but it won’t make me nod off in traffic.

Walk on to any new car lot today and ask to test-drive something with a manual, and you’d probably get laughed at. With the exception of certain high-performance vehicles, I would be surprised if dealerships bothered to stock stickshifts any more, even in the few cars which theoretically offer one. But it wasn’t always like that; in 2002 I went shopping for my first and only brand-new car, and I was exclusively looking at economy cars with manuals. Every dealer I visited had something to show me, right there on the lot. Kia Rio, Hyundai Accent, Dodge Neon, Ford Focus, Toyota Echo, Chevy Cavalier, Mazda Protege, Mitsubishi Mirage – I drove them all, without calling ahead to make sure they had a manual in stock. (I ended up with the Protege, for what it’s worth.) Likewise, I’m sure these two cars were just regular dealer stock, not special orders. Let’s take a look.

1987 Dodge Mini Ram Van – $2,500

Engine/drivetrain: 2.2-liter overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD

Location: Selma, OR

Odometer reading: 187,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives well

Here it is, the vehicle that arguably saved Chrysler, and definitely changed the face of American roads: the first-generation Dodge Caravan. But while most Caravans could be found in school drop-off lines and supermarket parking lots, this is the version more often seen with a ladder rack on the roof and a company logo on the side. Later known as the Caravan C/V (Cargo Vehicle), in these early days it was known as the Mini Ram Van.

A basic, honest workhorse like this needs a basic, honest engine, like the overhead-cam 2.2 liter Chrysler K four-cylinder. Long after passenger cars equipped with this engine switched to electronic fuel injection, the Mini Ram Van stuck with a Holley two-barrel carburetor. This one has recently had its carb replaced, and the seller says it runs well. It’s not a lot of power for a van like this, but this one makes the most of it with a five-speed manual transmission.

You can just see the tip of the gearshift lever next to the seat in this photo; it’s floor-mounted next to the driver’s seat, in a bit of an awkward position. It’s low, and further back than you’d think it should be. I imagine you’d get used to it, but the couple of times I’ve driven manual Caravans, it definitely felt weird. The interior is what you would expect from an old work van: grubby and torn, and missing a few bits of trim. In the back, it has carpet on the floor and plywood on the walls, as if someone started to convert it into a camper and didn’t finish.

It mostly looks okay outside, but there’s a wrinkle in the right front fender that someone tried to pound out, and I think it happened fairly recently. The grille and headlights have been replaced. Some photos show the original silver plastic grille and sealed-beam headlights, but others show a chrome Caravan grille and flush-mounted composite headlights. My guess is that it had a minor bump in the front, and the regular Caravan front clip is all that was available in the local Pick N’ Pull.

1990 Chevrolet Corsica LTZ – $5,000 (or barter)

Engine/drivetrain: 3.1-liter overhead valve V6, five-speed manual, FWD

Location: Newark, OH

Odometer reading: 137,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives well

If you click on the header above and look at the ad, you’ll notice this is not a normal Craigslist for sale ad. The seller has it listed under “Barter.” They’re looking to trade it for something, possibly a full-size car, but they’re also willing to sell it for $5,000. But I would imagine that number is negotiable as well. It seems like a lot of money for a thirty-five-year-old GM sedan, but out of the 1.6 million Chevy Corsicas ever built, this might be one of the nicest ones left.

This is the high-level LTZ model, with a 3.1 liter V6 and the same suspension tuning as Chevy’s Beretta GT, so it goes around corners quite a bit better than most Corsicas did. Even better, in place of the three-speed TH125 automatic that most of them had, this one features a five-speed manual. Better still, it’s the Getrag 282 manual transmission, a durable unit that shifts better than you would guess. The car has 135,000 miles on it, but the engine only has 42,000 since a rebuild, and it sounds like it might not be entirely stock. I think it at least has a hotter cam than stock, if I’m reading the ad right. It runs and drives great, and comes with a whole stack of documentation and service records.

Most Corsicas were owned by fleets, or started out as rental cars, or bought as cheap family cars. None of them led easy lives. But this one, possibly because of its unusual spec, was loved. I get the impression that the current owner hasn’t had this car long, and that the previous owner probably bought it new, and babied it. I haven’t seen a Corsica or Beretta interior this nice since the one my mom owned back in the 1990s. The seller says the air conditioning is weak, but on a car this nice, it’s worth having it converted to R134a anyway.

Did anybody ever actually use these luggage racks on trunk lids? I remember having a couple of cars with them, and all they did was get in the way when trying to wash and wax it. Still, it’s a neat piece of nostalgia. The rest of the car is as clean as a whistle, and rust-free, if the one undercarriage photo in the ad is anything to go by.

The recent demise of the manual transmission version of the Nissan Versa seems to have been the final nail in the coffin for stickshifts in ordinary, everyday cars. Does it matter? Probably not, in the grand scheme of things, but it’s definitely the end of an era. But I imagine there will still be manual gearboxes, old and new, for as long as gasoline powers cars, but as playthings rather than workhorses. Those who still own and drive them will be keepers of the arcane knowledge, a cabal of Luddites clinging to an obsolete technology – or maybe an elite circle of wizards placing their faith in simple mechanical systems and their own muscle memory instead of electronically-controlled hydraulic trickery. For now, though, they’re just an old Dodge van and an old Chevy sedan, both cheap and easy enough for almost anyone to obtain. Which one interests you more?