The Last Proper Driver's Cars You Can Still Buy New Worldwide

Three pedals, a proper gear lever and an engine that actually responds directly to you rather than the computer deciding what it thinks you might have wanted. Today we're talking about actual proper driver's cars that you can still buy within reason somewhere in the world. If you want a brand new performance car with a manual gearbox, your window of opportunity is closing fast. Britain and Europe have already lost the GR86 and the Honda Civic Type R. Production of the current Toyota Supra has ended. Several other great manual cars are living on borrowed time yet look around the world and a few survivors do remain from lightweight roadsters and rally bred hot hatches to a 668 horsepower V8 super saloon. Yes, rear drive and yes with a manual gearbox. Now these could be the last genuinely great manual driver's cars that you will be able to buy brand new and stay with me to the end because I will then tell you which of these I would consider getting if I could. First we need to define a proper driver's car. For this video it needs to be designed primarily for driving enjoyment. It needs to be available somewhere in the world as a brand new car and it needs to be offered with an actual clutch pedal and a manual gearbox. Pedals do not count. An automatic with a manual mode does not count. Neither does putting the transmission into sport plus and allowing the computer to change gears slightly more aggressively. The fascinating thing is that the answer to that question or conundrum, if you like, depends on where you live in the world. Europe gets the GR Yaris. America gets the GR Corolla. Britain has lost the Civic Type R while Americans can still walk into a Honda dealership and buy not only a Civic Type R but also a manual Acura Integra Type S. The Toyota GR86 has vanished from European showrooms yet a 2027 version has already been announced for the American market. Plus, you can also buy a Nissan Zed car in the United States, Japan, Australia and parks in the Middle East while Nissan apparently believes the British enthusiasts would rather just have another crossover. Strangely, bizarrely, almost ironically, for the best variety of great manual cars you have to go to the American market. But it's not exclusive to there and this is a global survival guide. In fact, think of this as a motoring endangered species register only with more tire smoke and burnt clutches. The cars we have already lost. Let us begin with the casualties. Production of the fifth generation Toyota GR Supra ended in 2026 along with the manual BMW Z4 as well. The manual super arrived late in the car's life which somehow makes its departure even more frustrating. A turbocharged straight-six, rear-wheel drive and a six-speed manual was the combination the enthusiasts wanted from the beginning. You may still find an unregistered car sitting in a dealer's stock somewhere, possibly being guarded by a salesperson with a gun who has suddenly discovered the phrase future classic but good luck with that. Britain and Europe have also said goodbye to the Honda Civic Type R, the final ultimate edition marked at the end of European sales although the car remains available in America and some other markets. And then there is the Toyota GR86. Affordable, naturally aspirated, rear-wheel drive and hugely entertaining at sensible speeds. European safety and cyber security regulations helped cut its local life painfully short although it continues elsewhere and that goes for its sister car the Subaru BRZ2. Now these cars show how the manual performance car is disappearing sometimes because production is just ending, sometimes because regulations remove them from particular countries. Either way your choice of these cars is getting smaller and it's getting smaller very quickly. The affordable survivors. Thankfully Mazda is holding the line. The Mazda MX-5 or Miata remains perhaps the purest most affordable expression of a driver's car. It is naturally aspirated, rear-wheel drive, light, compact and available with one of the sweetest six-speed gearshifts in the business. Power and engine choice vary between markets and weight depends on the version although most sit at around, well, one and a bit tons really. By modern standards this thing is as light as a feather quite frankly. You can use the performance without immediately entering license-threatening territory. The steering is accurate, the controls are beautifully weighted and the roof comes off. It remains the default answer when you think about an affordable accessible fun roadster. America, Japan, Australia and several other markets also retain the Toyota GR86 and the Subaru BRZ. Remember that? Both of them are the same car. They use a naturally aspirated 2.4 litre flat-four rear-wheel drive and a six-speed manual gearbox and more practicality than an MX-5 along with beautifully balanced handling and enough power to be entertaining without feeling intimidating. Now Britain has lost them which is particularly irritating because these are exactly the perfect sports cars for our narrow twisting roads. But then we have Toyota's two rally-flavoured lunatics, the GR Yaris which is available to order in Britain just about but also in Europe, Japan and Australia. It combines a turbocharged three-cylinder engine with a six-speed manual and GR4 all-wheel drive transmission in a compact three-door hatchback body. Now North America misses out on the Yaris but it gets the larger GR Corolla instead that has 300 horsepower, again all-wheel drive and again a six-speed manual. Now they may have different specifications and characters but both demonstrate that Toyota, the purveyor of sensible hybrids for respectable customers, occasionally allows its gazoo racing engineers access to very strong coffee and a set of racing overalls. Honda still sells the Civic Type R in America and other selected markets and more than 300 horsepower is what you get. That's going through the front wheels yet it has clever suspension, limited slip differential and that superb manual gearbox. All of this makes it one of the most capable front-wheel drive cars ever built. Now North America also gets the Acura Integra Type S using a related two-liter turbocharged engine with 320 horsepower. Yeah it's actually got more horsepower and it is of course has the same brilliant six-speed manual. Hyundai has the Elantra N also known as the i30 sedan N in some markets. It combines 276 horsepower, front-wheel drive, an electronic limited slip differential, six six-speed manual and an actual handbrake lever. Remember those? You know you pull them up and the rear wheels lock. Oh how I remember the days and believe it or not the Subaru WRX actually does still live on but in America one of the absolute icons of the 1990s the WRX is one of the few remaining turbocharged all-wheel drive manual sports saloons. It has matured since the wild gold-wheeled impressors of old although the essential recipe remains the same. Rear-wheel drive heavy hitters. Now we're talking more muscular machinery. The Ford Mustang GT and the Dark Horse retain the naturally aspirated five-liter Coyote V8 rear-wheel drive and a six-speed manual. The American Dark Horse produces about 500 horsepower while outputs stiffer in overseas markets. It also has Ford's drift brake which looks and operates like a traditional handbrake lever while using electronic control underneath. The Mustang is technologically actually quite sophisticated. It's a modern car yet the basic experience remains wonderfully old school. A big V8 up front, driven wheels at the back, manual gearbox in the middle. Simple pleasures and Ford has promised to keep building manual V8 Mustangs for as long as they are allowed to do so. Take that Chevrolet and Dodge. The Nissan Z takes a different approach. Its three-liter twin-turbocharged V6 produces 400 horsepower and can be paired with a six-speed manual. Syncro rev it also gets. Syncro rev match that is and a limited slip differential. Its steering uses electric assistance so that's a bit of a down but the classic front engine rear drive proportions and three-pedal layout still give it genuine appeal. Unfortunately Britain and Europe do not officially receive it. Nissan sells the Z in markets including America, Japan, Australia and parts of the Middle East leaving UK buyers kicking the tires of a Kicks instead. Then there is the BMW M2. The rear-wheel drive M2 remains available with BMW's three-liter twin-turbocharged straight six and a six-speed manual. It has plenty of screens, electronic systems and configurable settings so analog might be stretching it a little bit but it is still a compact rear-wheel drive BMW M car with a straight six and a clutch pedal. That formula suddenly feels quite precious actually because some markets particularly in North America do have manual versions of the BMW M3 and M4 although you can't even buy one in Germany anymore. Those of course have the three-liter twin-turbocharged S58 straight six producing 473 horsepower. They send the power to the rear wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox with an active M differential. However the more powerful 503 brake horsepower competition and even more powerful competition xDrive versions they use the eight-speed automatic. Then we come to the Lotus Amira V6 SE with the supercharged 3.5 liter Toyota derived V6 that produces 400 horsepower and drives the rear wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox. It's a mid-engined sports car beautifully proportioned and uses electro-hydraulic power steering giving it at least some steering feedback still. Essential for a Lotus right? Check out Brown Car Guys latest novel Silent Ruin. Action, adventure, spies, betrayal, romance plus of course cool cars and car chases it's got the lot. And don't forget how to be an automotive content creator. The Ulez Files and Quantum Races all Brown Car Guys books are available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited. The expensive last stand. Porsche continues to offer manual versions of the 911 Carrera T and GT3. The Carrera T combines the regular Carrera's 388 brake horsepower twin-turbocharged flat six with rear wheel drive and a six-speed manual. It is configured specifically for drivers who value involvement over outright speed. But then you know you have the 911 GT3 with its naturally aspirated four liter flat six revving to 9,000 rpm and producing 510 horsepower. You can have it with Porsche's PDK transmission or you can select the six-speed manual at no extra cost. Whatever happened to the seven-speed they used to have? Choosing the manual makes it slower on paper of course but it makes you happier everywhere else. And from America we get the Cadillac Blackwings. Now these sound brilliant. The smaller CT4V Blackwing produces 472 horsepower from a twin-turbocharged V6. It's rear wheel drive. It's got a six-speed manual although they are running out of those. But then there is the CT5V Blackwing which is a monster. It's got a hand-built supercharged 6.2 liter V8 producing 668 horsepower going through the rear wheels through a Tremec six-speed manual. It seats five people. It has a usable boot and it can behave like a civilized luxury saloon. And then you press the accelerator and it attempts to rotate the earth beneath its wheels. It may be the ultimate manual super saloon send-off quite frankly and it's American. The uncompromising machines. For an even purer experience Britain still produces some wonderfully eccentric alternatives. The Caterham 7360 and 420 they both use naturally aspirated two-liter Ford engines with five-speed manual gearboxes and they weigh about 580 kilogram depending on specification. There is no power steering. There's no driver assistance. That is pretty much provided by your own sense of self-preservation. The 7 places you centimeters above the road with the exhaust right next to you and the front wheels visible from the cockpit. Few road cars can offer such an immediate mechanical connection. It is the closest thing to on four wheels that you can get to riding a very quick motorbike. Morgan's Plus 4 can still be ordered with a two-liter turbocharged engine that has the six-speed manual in selected markets. It combines modern BMW power with that familiar vintage style and appeal. It's very very cool. And then you have the Ariel Atom 4 which goes further still. It has a turbocharged Honda engine, exposed chassis and six-speed manual gearbox. Doors, a roof, weather protection. Those things are for wimps. At the stratospheric end of the market we could mention cars like the Pagani Utopia, Gordon Murray's T.33 and the Donkervoort P24 RS but we won't bother because this is not a list of ridiculous cars. So which car would I actually buy? The Mustang would tempt me immediately. I have always loved Mustangs and I came very close to buying one when I lived in Dubai. I still regret not actually doing it. But then there is that Cadillac CT5V Blackwing. I've never driven a Blackwing although I drove the old CTS-V from around 15 years ago and it was one of my favorite cars at the time. It's frankly outrageous and deeply enticing. I would happily take the Lotus Romero V6 as well. Also the Toyota GR86. That deserves serious consideration. I've driven them extensively over the years and I've always enjoyed driving them. And then there is that BMW M2 which as a BMW fan it does make me salivate a little bit. However if I could choose only one car from this entire list and I had to live with it every day then it would have to be the Honda Civic Type R. That car gives you one of the finest manual gearboxes fitted to any modern car ever. It has more than enough performance plus it can carry passengers, it can swallow luggage and it could just cope with the daily commute and generally function as quite a usable family car. Then when the right road appears it transforms into a weapon. For me it offers the best combination of driving excitement, practicality, usability and attainable performance and it remains a proper driver's car. Britain and Europe have already lost it which rather proves the point of this entire video. If you live somewhere that still sells the Civic Type R you have access to something that we can no longer buy here. Consider yourselves blessed. Whichever car that you choose to buy out of this and do mention it in the comments below the message remains the same. Future performance cars will be faster, electric motors and hybrid systems will provide astonishing acceleration, clever transmissions will continue changing gear more quickly than any human ever could and some won't even have gearboxes as we know them anymore. But driving involvement is something else. A manual gearbox asks you to participate. Every perfectly timed downshift feels satisfying because you did it. Every clumsy gear change, well that belongs to you as well. You are operating the machine, learning its rhythm and becoming part of that driving process. Man and machine, you know what I'm talking about. When it comes to the new car market, proper driver's cars are still out there but the list is becoming shorter and shorter every year. Like I said, tell me which one of these you would get in the comments below or if I missed one mention that in the comments below and I'll catch you all in the next one. Make sure you like, share, subscribe, all the rest of it. If you found this video useful or entertaining, support the Brown Car Guy channel at these links. Hit like, leave a comment and make sure you're subscribing.