I recently went to the ends of the earth to get a 2016 manual VW sportwagen in the US -- but it was possible after going to dealerships looking at me like I was insane.

Shifting around in my BMW e36 5 speed will always be one of my greatest pleasures <3 -- nothing gets me up better for work than knowing I can speed around like an asshole on the way :)

People complain about traffic, but I feel the opposite. I mean, in an auto if you see a spot to cut into you are forced to floor it to force the car in a low enough gear -- it feels like the car is suffering vrrrAHHHHHHHHER