I didn’t learn to drive on anything normal. My first attempts behind the wheel were in a Peugeot 505 turbodiesel with a clutch that felt like agricultural equipment. One early lesson involved me backing it out of the driveway while my dad stood outside the car, calmly trying to teach me how to release the brake without dropping the clutch — something I absolutely could not figure out. I stalled that poor diesel over and over while a very patient stranger waited, smiling, for us to clear the street. By the time the Alfa Romeo Sport Sedan —my first car — arrived a year or two later, I could shift and clutch without thinking — which only made the Alfa’s twin‑cam drama and crunchy synchros hit even harder. The Peugeot taught me the mechanics; the Alfa taught me the joy. Together they set the tone for every car I’d love afterward. What follows is the full lineage of every manual I’ve driven, owned, borrowed, or survived since.
The Peugeot I learned to drive on looked exactly like this one.
Which brings me to the list itself... here are some of the more interesting joy toys I've owned or driven, from the 1983 (may have been an 84 or 85) Peugeot 505 STi TurboDiesel 5-Speed that I learned to drive on to the 1967 Mustang GT that my uncle bought brand new (and gifted me on my 30th birthday) to the most recent 2018 Fiat 500c Pop Turbo Cabrio that I've owned for a week now.
Below you'll find a curated list of only manual-transmission equipped vehicles I've owned or driven, along with some interesting details on each, including a "fun" and "weirdness" factor rating (table crafted by Claude.ai).
