Last car available with a 4 speed box?

[Botzarb]

So as I lay awake last night, thinking deep about life, a question not even google could answer came to me - 

What was the last car on sale that came with a manual 4 speed gearbox? 
 

Surely the Corsa B, Peugeot 106 and Suzuki Alto were all contenders, but does anyone know what it actually was? I feel as though there has been discussion on this before, but I can’t seem to find anything!

[cobblers]

2001 Mini? 

[Spiny Norman]

Didn't the original VW Beetle struggle on till 2003? Not an official model in the UK by then but I don't think they ever got a 5 speed box.

 

[New POD]

Omega 3.2 Mv6 circa 2005. 

Oh no wait....you said Manuel 

[martc]

 

2 hours ago, Botzarb said:

I feel as though there has been discussion on this before, but I can’t seem to find anything!

We certainly had a discussion about cars with starting handles (or at least the holes for them) still in production - two UAZ's and a Chinese Jeep were the winners. 

As for 4 speed boxes - didn't the Reliant Rialto have one? Production stopped in 1998.

[cobblers]

 

51 minutes ago, Spiny Norman said:

Didn't the original VW Beetle struggle on till 2003? Not an official model in the UK by then but I don't think they ever got a 5 speed box.

 

If we're allowing imports, you could in 2016 buy a brand new old VW bay window with a 4 speed box and a polo engine

[Conan]

These all had 4-speed manual until 2021 when they went to 6-speed. 😛

[sierraman]

In the words of Quentin Wilson... ‘Four Speed gearboxes went out with the Bee-Gees’. Not my words but the words of Top Gear Magazine. 

[Blake's Den]

+1 for a classic mini.

Production ended 4th October 2000 , last off the line X411JOP. There are a few 51 plate ones floating around.

[Zelandeth]

4 minutes ago, Blake's Den said:

+1 for a classic mini.

Production ended 4th October 2000 , last off the line X411JOP. There are a few 51 plate ones floating around.

I thought that gained a fifth gear towards the last couple of years of production.  Or am I thinking of the Metro (which definitely did when they stuffed the K series into it)?

[cobblers]

yes that was the metro, the mini always kept the a series with gearbox in sump which could barely contain 4 gears, let alone 5. 

 

[SiC]

3 hours ago, cobblers said:

2001 Mini? 

Presumably you are meaning the BMW Mini with the Midlands box?

[HMC]

1 hour ago, sierraman said:

In the words of Quentin Wilson... ‘Four Speed gearboxes went out with the Bee-Gees’. Not my words but the words of Top Gear Magazine. 

And overtaking national express coaches could be a long drawn out affair.

[MrDuke]

Corsa C had a 4-speed box in 1.2 flavour.

[Missy Charm]

It depends whether we're talking about cars officially sold in the UK or not.  If not, the Tata Nano was available with a Spanish four speed until 2018.  

[twosmoke300]

2 minutes ago, MrDuke said:

Corsa C had a 4-speed box in 1.2 flavour.

Must be hellish rare . B yes but C ?

[MrDuke]

Not sure how common - mine was fairly pov-spec, to be fair.

[horriblemercedes]

9 minutes ago, MrDuke said:

Corsa C had a 4-speed box in 1.2 flavour.

I've heard of the 1.4s with a four speed automatic, but never a four speed manual 1.2

[GeordieInExile]

11 minutes ago, horriblemercedes said:

I've heard of the 1.4s with a four speed automatic, but never a four speed manual 1.2

Even Wikipedia doesn't mention it - must have been hella rare, maybe on the earliest ones only?

[Missy Charm]

Even my old Corsa, on an M, had a five speed 'box.  God knows why, none of the gears were any good as selecting them caused the car to move, which made everything significantly worse.

[Blake's Den]

A quick google says that the last Reliants were produced in February 2001 so that just pips the end of Mini production. Assuming that the Reliants were 4 speed (I think they were).

Other thoughts - what about those Ledbury and Apple Maestro's? Did they all have the VW 5 speed box?

[mk2_craig]

Probably not in the spirit of the question, as U.K. imports ceased mid nineties, but the original shape Panda continued up until about twenty years ago in euro markets, was that still available with the 4 speed at the end of the production run?

[sierraman]

Despite this you still occasionally see on an advert ‘5 speed gearbox’ on something like a Megane.

[dollywobbler]

5 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

I thought that gained a fifth gear towards the last couple of years of production.  Or am I thinking of the Metro (which definitely did when they stuffed the K series into it)?

There was a Jack Knight aftermarket five-speed 'box for the 'proper' Minis, but they weren't factory fit.

[HMC]

Wonder what the last vehicle uk available was where it was a cost option.

I had a mid 80s w123 and remember that a 4 speed Manual was standard, with automatic and 5 speed manual optional extras for £££. Good old merc doing what they did best.

[MrDuke]

4 hours ago, GeordieInExile said:

Even Wikipedia doesn't mention it - must have been hella rare, maybe on the earliest ones only?

Yeah, mine was a fairly early reg (can't remember it off-hand) but it was a weird drive. It desperately needed a 5th gear over 55mph, motorway journeys were less than pleasant.

[HMC]

Slight thread drift but Volvo persisted with 4 speed manual plus overdrive for quite some time.

[MJK 24]

I was going to say Mk3 Golf but the Rover Mini and Reliant Robin are better shouts!

[Blake's Den]

1 hour ago, dollywobbler said:

There was a Jack Knight aftermarket five-speed 'box for the 'proper' Minis, but they weren't factory fit.

The John Cooper Garages 'Cooper Sport 5' conversion used the Jack Knight 5 speed box. Again, not factory fit but sort of an approved conversion.

[chaseracer]

12 hours ago, HMC said:

Slight thread drift but Volvo persisted with 4 speed manual plus overdrive for quite some time.

My 240GLT was thus equipped.  Great, when it worked.