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People keep saying "manuals are all but gone"...well, again that depends on perspective. Sure, there are much less MT options nowadays compared to 20-30 years ago, but there are still options readily available. Not all cars need a manual transmission option. For example, I am fine with regular 3/4/5 series without a MT. However, BMW has been great by providing the M2/3/4 with a MT because they're more catered towards the driving experience. Also, there are still plenty of car enthusiasts working at C-suite levels at BMW, etc. I think we will be good for some time.
In the value oriented category, you still have the venerable MX5, the mustang, Hyundai N series, etc in MT. If you want to step up, there are Porsche, Lotus, Aston Martin. If you want very niche brands, there are Morgan, BAC, Aerial, etc.
Let's give another example. During the quartz crisis, people thought mechanical watches were going to disappear. Nowadays, there has been a resurgence and mechanical watches have increased in popularity. Similar parallels can be drawn with typewriters, record players, Hi-Fi systems. Each example, people thought it was going to disappear. But in each, there were a resurgence of interest. Either by people who have previously experienced the analog pleasure of these items or new generations who have come to appreciate it.
An let me add, the car enthusiast crowd is a lot larger than the watch, typewriter, record player and Hi-Fi system crowd...
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