What vehicles seat 6 and have a stick besides the Mazda5?

Is there literally anything else available in the US made since 1996?!?

Are we including SUVs? Explorers had manuals in the 3rd generation at least (dont buy a 2002, seriously dont)

I think the Ford Transit Connect could be had with a manual, since it’s Focus based, but it might be hard to find stateside.

In reply to Antihero :

I'd include a Cayenne or an XC90.

This is a job for the Power Search function of www.fueleconomy.gov 

If a SUV, van or wagon was offered with a manual trans then it got its own mpg rating denoting it. 

Will we be inuding full size pickup Crew Cabs where the front seat is a bench? 

The Gen2 Rav4 offered a manual trans and offered a really small 3rd row. I'm not sure if you could order those options together but should be retrofit-able. 

Similar with Volvo 850/V70 wagon

For certain, the Suzuki XL7 came with 3rd row and could be manual trans.  Extra Long and 7 seats, hence the name. 

An actual XL7    And     Another with better pics 

Toyota FJ40 offered manual and an aftermarket 3rd row

Montero up to 2000

LR Discovery 1997 and 1998

Volvo wagons with the rear jump seat, Audi A6 and SAAB 9-5 with the same. I don’t think BMW and VW has the “way back” seats anymore by 96, but may be worth a search into it. 

Pickup trucks and SUVs with a front bench, I know I’ve seen Broncos, Tahoe’s, Silverado’s, Rams, and F150s with a front bench and stick... same with the 3/4 tons. Not sure how late those were available. Probably the Tacoma and Dakota too, maybe the Nissan offerings.

Defender 90s get you there with there inward facing rear seats. 

Toyota Previa had a stick available, not sure if it was still there in 96 and 97 though. 

X5, X3, and Cayenne had a third pedal available. Not sure if they ever came with a 3rd row. 

Thats all I can think of...

What about 2500/3500 series trucks? Probably not in your search area but I would imagine you would find more with benches and a manual than you would in the 1500's.

Like others have said, rear jump seat equipped wagons might be your best bet. Maybe an older Wrangler Unlimited converted to a bench front seat if that's possible?

CobraSpdRH said:

What about 2500/3500 series trucks? Probably not in your search area but I would imagine you would find more with benches and a manual than you would in the 1500's.

Like others have said, rear jump seat equipped wagons might be your best bet. Maybe an older Wrangler Unlimited converted to a bench front seat if that's possible?

There is also an aftermarket 3rd row jump seat for the recent models

The VW Multivan PanAmericana can be had with a diesel and a 5-speed manual, 6-speed manual, or 7-speed DCT, with or without AWD. Despite the name, it is not available across America. It is the perfect replacement for the Astro AWD! 

I mean, look at all the cool vans that VW keeps from us. Grrrrrrrr.   

mtn said:

X5, X3, and Cayenne had a third pedal available. Not sure if they ever came with a 3rd row. 

The X5's came with an available manual trans up until 2006... the last year of that body style.  With the restyle for '07, they gained a 3rd row option, but dropped the manual trans option, so the two did not co-exist.  

7.3 F250 crew cab with front bench seats. 

I was ready to hype up the  supercharged mid engine Previa which ended sales in '97, but they dropped the manual trans by '95.  

Skirting the edge of practicality, but short of SUV's, I think one of the coolest 6 people carriers barely within your time frame might be a '96 GM B-Body wagon, dropped off to the crew at threepedals.com for a T56 conversion.  

Outside of that, I can't think of a single "from the factory" option post '96 that hasn't already been covered here.  

Thought I was gonna help w/ looking at Cars.com listings, but it appears that dealers have no idea what a manual transmission is.

Is there literally anything else available in the US made since 1996?!?

Caravan technically dropped their manual in the US market after 94. You dodged the elephant by a whole year! 

Now when will someone turbocharge a manual mazda5 and take it to the challenge? 

Vigo said:

Is there literally anything else available in the US made since 1996?!?

Caravan technically dropped their manual in the US market after 94. You dodged the elephant by a whole year! 

Now when will someone turbocharge a manual mazda5 and take it to the challenge? 

I bet a tiny K03 or TD04 would liven it up a good bit.

Vigo said:

Is there literally anything else available in the US made since 1996?!?

Caravan technically dropped their manual in the US market after 94. You dodged the elephant by a whole year! 

Now when will someone turbocharge a manual mazda5 and take it to the challenge? 

Looking at the 3rd Gen caravan (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_minivans_(NS)), apparently a diesel manual was available in the Philippines using a VW diesel engine that was in nearly everything apparently (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_VM_Motori_engines#425_OHV).  There was also a full electric version developed and leased to some companies starting in 1999, but most were returned and crushed.  Interesting but not really helpful to the OP.

I'm sure if you're willing to look at overseas imports, you could likely find something.  The Mazda 5 was still sold in Canada until 2017 and in Japan, etc until 2018 for example and should be legal for import since it was sold here.

Did you guys ever get the Kia Rondo with a manual?

They sold the 5 in Canada until 17?! That’s really cool.

G_Body_Man said:

Did you guys ever get the Kia Rondo with a manual?

No

In reply to pinchvalve :

Bro, those straight-up look like the old Astro/Savana vans from the front doors to the back (with a new front end)

I think you could get a Suzuki XL-7 with third row seat and stick shift. Also, the Kia Sorrento was available for a time w/a manual and maybe even a third row...

Ford stopped selling the Aerostar in 1997. You could get one with a Mazda 5 speed but they sold like 4 of them. So you are looking for a 96 or 97 Aerostar with a 5 speed. If you happen to find one, please put it in the unicorn sighting thread .

F250 Super Duty could be had with the gas or diesel engines, manual trans, manual transfer case, manual hubs, Lariat leather interior, and seating for 6. 

You could DIY a manual trans Excursion but the floor pans are different between manual and automatic so you need to section in the sheetmetal around the shifter.  The manual trans vehicles have a larger trans bump. 

That being said, unless there some sort of weird archaic reason for wanting one, it was pretty far from fun to drive.  Was enjoyable to rip through the gears once in a while or turn the chip up to eleventeen and let it eat but overall the manual trans was more of a liability than an asset.  

In theory the Dodge Ram was also offered manual trans and bench/bench but the rear seat is a joke for 3 adults.  3 adults in the back of a Super Duty is a lot nicer.  

pinchvalve said:

The VW Multivan PanAmericana can be had with a diesel and a 5-speed manual, 6-speed manual, or 7-speed DCT, with or without AWD. Despite the name, it is not available across America. It is the perfect replacement for the Astro AWD!

It IS a freaking Astro AWD! I'm not the only one seeing this right?

I 5-speed swapped a 1st gen Odyssey (1998).  It was pretty fun little van and could get out if it's way pretty well with the 2.3 VTEC.  It was a accord Chassis and similar in size to the Mazda 5.  The car itself was not in great shape so I scrapped it when the high mile junkyard accord trans died.