Like the title says, I'm thinking of picking up a hooptie to teach the wife how to drive stick. I was thinking something under a grand, such as a '81 - '84 Corolla .8 (Punto Ocho), 210. I owned a 210 back in high school. It was a great lil car. I figure I teach my wife to drive stick so we can no longer be limited to our car chooses.

Have any of you been thinking of grabbing something small?

Mousiee

 

If you are going to get a stick to teach your wife to drive on, you might as well pick up a car you would like to drive to

 

We currently have two cars that we are happy with at the moment. Plus, I just want something to play around with.

 

from experience, civic/focus is the easiest clutch i have ever driven.

 

sounds pretty rsonable to me. I have a soft spot for 2nd and 3rd gen honda preludes. I would love to own another one in the future. I would dump lots of money into it to make it factory mint. I still think my 86 prelude si was one of the best cars I have ever owned

 

I had a 95 Civic EX sedan with a 5M transmission, probably the easiest-to-drive manual I ever owned. It was forgiving with a very progressive clutch and difficult-to-miss shift gate. With a little experience, your bride should not only learn to shift smoothly, in such a friendly package she will probably learn to enjoy it as well.

One word of caution with the Civic EX: That little powerplant will generate a pretty fair amount of torque when pushed to the limit. Clutches, transmissions, and CV joints built for the lesser models can take only so much punishment in the sportier EX. Driven normally, this would never be a consideration, but if you think you are in training for F1 (as I did), it will return a surprising level of performance - with bills to match.