10 used cars for £10k we found this week: the manual gearbox edition

We couldn’t talk about manual gearboxes without mentioning a Civic Type R, so let’s get it in straight away to avoid too much Internet controversy. At this price point you can get super clean EP3s like this one with just 80k miles on the clock. 

Buy one and you’ll probably be able to watch it go up in value as you do your best Touring Car driver impression with the dash-mounted gearstick.   

There will be other cars on this list that aren’t Hondas, promise. And yet, how could we avoid the S2000? Yes, its naturally aspirated 2.0-litre four-cylinder may not have had much torque (just 153lb ft at a ridiculous 7,500rpm), but that just meant that you needed to be in the right gear at all times. And what a gearbox. It might just be one of the best manuals ever, and you can have one now (with 100k miles on the clock) for less than 10 grand.

Love them or hate them, you’ve got to admit that Porsche knows how to sort a gearbox. Its manuals are nearly always on the money. Although speaking of money – you won’t get too much modern metal from Stuttgart for your 10 big ones. An early three-pedal 987 Boxster S like this one is a decent shout, though.

We’re actually going to contradict ourselves straight away here, because you probably don’t need a Fiesta ST here. You want one, of course you do, but if £10,000 is too far to stretch then any manual sixth- or seventh-generation Fiesta will do if you just want a great shift. 

Still, if it wasn’t our money, we’d probably throw it away on something like this 2016 ST-3.

There is absolutely no need for you to spend £9,994 on an original Ford Puma – you can pick a good one up for a quarter of the cost – but this one has 7,600 miles on the clock and looks like it’s just rolled off the production line. Plus that famed five-speed manual should be feeling like-new too. What a treat.

Given that Mini was the inspiration for this article with its new manual-only JCW 1to6 Edition, it’d be remiss of us not to include one on the used car list. For £10k you can pick up a fairly new Cooper S – just make sure you get a lairy colour like this one. 

Don’t fret, the Mazda MX-5 is here. Any generation will give you a pleasant manual gearbox experience, but with a £10,000 budget you’ll get a low-mileage, 2.0-litre engined NC generation like this one. Or you could save a good chunk and get a cheaper second-gen car. Just remember to check for rust…

Maybe not the greatest manual gearbox ever, but Renaultsport’s Clio 200 got a precise six-speed ‘box that matched the success of the rest of the car. Plus, Renualt then ditched the manual for the next generation, and that was the beginning of the hot Clio’s downfall. What a shame. Still, you can now pick up very good value 200s with the more-focussed Cup chassis if you want to relive the glory days.

£9,995 might seem like big money for a 1990s hatchback, but the Peugeot 306 GTI-6 is known for having one of the best ‘boxes around. And just check out the Blaze Yellow colour of this one that has just under 60k miles on its clock. Worth the investment? 

Stay with us here people. You can pick up what is basically a brand-new Picanto for this money, and there are few things more fun than rowing through gears desperately trying to make the most of the 66bhp that’s being produced by a teeny 1.0-litre 3cyl engine. 

Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.