This is a genuinely good article that I can never share with anyone because of its title. The implication of my sharing an article about how to break through one’s own mediocrity is that the person I’m sharing this article with is 1) mediocre, and 2) in need of help to correct their mediocrity.

You might also consider an early ‘00s Toyota 4Runner. The N180 (made through 2002) was a relatively handsome vehicle that was available with a stick, and there’s plenty of room for things and people. My dad has owned a 2001 4Runner from new—it now has about 110,000 miles on it and has never needed more than regular…

There are probably a bunch of reasons why the car in question doesn’t come in manual. Let me list a few:

Can I retort?

Aaaaand the A/T-loving troll comes out from under the bridge to compare M/T drivers to Neanderthals.

Ok, I don't want to be a dick about this, but my English professors would repossess my degree if I didn't point out that in the cover picture for this article, you have some splash-text that makes zero sense.

Now taking bets on when modern car design will hit Peak Scowl.

Neat idea. The application that occurs to me right off the bat is actually not for old cars, but rather for the next generation of commercially available self-driving cars. You'd pretty much need the manufacturers to be in in the idea (which makes this less a hack than a business proposition, I guess?), but hear me…

At the moment, the only gearbox listed is the ZF 8-speed automatic used in other Jags and Land Rovers (and a bunch of other things), and while there's no mention of a manual, it may be okay because that autobox is pretty fantastic.

Weirdly, the result of combining a Jag and a Land Rover is a car that looks eerily like something Subaru would make...

No. Done. Saved us all some time.

My dad has a 2008 Jag XK. He bought it with a souped-up CPO warranty that covered everything except consumables—clutch, tires, brakes, seals, etc.—for like 10 yrs. / 75,000 miles. One day, my stepmother was driving the car and found that a huge amount of water was leaking into the driver's side footwell, making a huge…

My dad has a 2008 Jag XK. He bought it with a souped-up CPO warranty that covered everything except consumables—clutch, tires, brakes, seals, etc.—for like 10 yrs. / 75,000 miles. One day, my stepmother was driving the car and found that a huge amount of water was leaking into the driver's side footwell, making a huge…

Totally agree. This is the pinnacle of GM's styling.

When I was 15, my dad took me to a parking lot and let me hop in the driver's seat of his Toyota pickup. Turns out it was the parking lot of a Mormon church, and an afternoon service started rolling just as he and I were making progress. I had a hard time with the placement of the pedals initially, and I was trying to…

American Mk7 GTIs get a mechanical parking brake :)

I've gotta say, I'm a guy who loves GTIs, and this video made me not want to buy one.

There's only one way to describe the way this exhaust system is going to make the FR-S/BRZ sound: