It will be reliable. That is the only positive about this thing.

I cannot applaud you enough for shopping for a fun convertible and having the good sense to say no to a Miata, the pumpkin spice latte of convertibles

Well, if you don’t want a Miata, I can’t really help you, but this might:

Because they’re happier.

Strangely, for the manual shifting VW GTI, real world road tests by Motor Trend saw better MPGs: “the manual-equipped car, which is EPA-rated at 25/33 mpg, blew past its official numbers, yielding a result of 29.3/40.1 mpg...” The automatic however is consistent with the EPA numbers.
This is pretty unusual and I’m…

Auto Palace here in Pittsburgh had a black and sort of camel-colored one on their showroom floor when they were new. It’s the only time I’ve ever seen one in person.

I have a 2005 C230 sedan with a stick. I find it a joy to operate. The throws are precise, the clutch engages in the same place every time, and the H pattern is very well spaced. I never shift into the wrong gear. The reverse gear is attached to the 1st gear, so I have on occasion popped it into reverse unexpectedly.…

There was a nice black one in Chicago I would occasionally see. I should have bought it when it came up for sale. But I was an idiot. 

We got them here. Although IIRC correctly the number sold hovers around 20. I’ve seen two, and orange one and a silver one identical to the one in the video.

People talk about “bespoke” when it comes to Aston Martin or Bentley. I’m here to tell you that car companies that make 5,000 or more cars per year, including some made alongside Volkswagens, are hardly using bespoke parts. But Spyker? Those cars were truly bespoke.

And that exposed shift linkage with the concentric…

Everyone who is buying and selling these at this price is smoking the crack pipe religiously. 

WHAT. THE. FUCK.

Jeez! That interior reminds me of the joke about the doctor who saved all the foreskins from the circumcisions he performed. He stitched them together to make a wallet that would expand into a suitcase when stroked correctly.

*Reads headline. Immediately starts scrolling to vote “CP”. Pauses for just a moment to notice the 3 pedals and stick. Shakes it off, scrolls and clicks CP.

I’m with you on all of that. 

The auto drives so nicely in this car. My mother has an automatic ‘11 with 60k on it but it was rear ended a few years back to the tune of $15k. I’m sure she will get hosed on trade in the next few years and I really want to buy it for cheap, but still more than trade, so we can all be happy. It is so smooth in…

my favorite was the Krave... that phone was ahead of its time

That’s so sad to hear. I always imagined they might make a wonderful modern manual, but seems like sadly, no.

Representing for the ROKR crowd

yep, merc manuals are notoriously uninspiring