Opinion about car purchase sought! (To teach students manual shift driving)
 

My question in theory: IF; I were to find a manual shift car that was specifically purchased mainly for the purpose of teaching people how to shift;
what should that car be?

I am referring to STUDENTS already licensed with automatics.

I was thinking on the lines of a fairly inexpensive '80's something. It would be nice if it was a car like a Geo Metro, as it would return mpg's for advanced mileage tutoring, but I've heard some talk of those transmissions
being soft. (not long lasting)

Think of a car that has raw crude newbies grunching the gears, and torturing
the clutch, hrs. a day, maybe 4-5 days a week!

Maybe 1 car would not fit both duties well. 1 car for advanced mileage tutoring; another just for the shifting torture???

If the shift class car is one purpose; longevity under torture would be much more important than getting great mpg's. I am talking about a small business budget to start such a setup.

I would not want to be replacing clutches all the time! I mentioned
'80's as bottom of the price/depreciation cycle, a throw away car ( if push came to shove) and the size of a car that most people could associate
with these days.

A full sized Ford PU from the 60's, 70's meant pretty much as a parking
lot mule 1st, then a car to gradually move people up to handle San Francisco type hills?

If you were starting this w YOUR hard earned money; WHAT would
be the best selection/s to choose?????????????????????????

What are you up to?

it would be a auto that's easy to remove and install the trans.

as well as a 1st and reverse gear, that are not super tall.
and hard compound high presser tires to limit grip.
something with a VERY low HP rating, well under 100hp.
this would help make the trans and clutch last longer.

so most any low powered RWD auto.

Toyota Corolla or Tercel, they are cheap $, and a lot of them have a 5-speed.
Easy as sin to drive/park with good mileage and reliability.
Its pretty much a disposable car as well. (recyclable)

have to agree with ecommoder.
easy to drive. roomy for their size.
generic looking. so noobie drive isnt distracted.

My only other thought would be a small pick up.
like a toyo. They last forever and are pretty indistructable.

I did this (taught defensive driving) as a part-time job when I was going to school. Occasionally taught a few manual shift students as well.

The biggest problem with our manual shift car was murdering the 2nd gear synchro - nervous drivers slammed the gearshift back in 1-2 shifts. Mucho $$ to have fixed.

For parking lot duty, what ever inexpensive junker you can find will do. For road duty I would want something with airbags and good insurance.

89 or newer honda civic. clutches are 90 bucks, and take about 2 hours to replace.

transmissions are EVERYWHERE - usually under 200 bucks.

Big diesels that are hard to stall come to mind. Much easier to teach people as they wont get as frustrated. Just a thought.

Make em bring their own.