I started writing a post last week about why I’ve been obsessing over finding a Jeep XJ, and as I started with my technical reasons, I found myself in a bit of a rabbit hole, as I am wont to do.
So rather than burden that eventual post with that rabbit hole, I’ll dump it here, and link to it later. Hyperlinks: wonderful things when they work.
One reason I want an XJ is that they’re a member of an exclusive club: vehicles with a stick shift (everyone knows what that is) and a two-speed transfer case (not quite so well-known).
What’s a two-speed transfer case? It’s what makes a true four-wheel drive vehicle. Depending on the design, it allows you to choose between a variety of options, such as normal two-wheel drive (typically rear), four-wheel drive, and four-wheel drive low. Particularly fancy ones will give you even more than one set of low gears, or two-wheel drive low, perhaps even allowing you to choose between front- and rear-wheel drive.
The “low” is the key word there: a set of gears that makes your vehicle go slower and torquier (who knew that was a real word) to make off-roading easier.
Anyhoo, it’s hard to find vehicles that meet both requirements, and until the new Bronco starts shipping, Jeep is the only manufacturer selling both a stick and four-speed low (aside from a few pickup trucks, but those don’t count because they don’t interest me unless they’re an M715 in which case swoon but only Kia makes those and only for military buyers).
It’s tricky to figure out what the last non-Jeep true-4wd+stick SUV sold in the U.S. market was, and that’s the rabbit hole I fell down.
I started my research by using cars.com to search for manual 4wd vehicles, but quickly realized that wasn’t going to work, because cars.com commits the unforgivable sin of lumping AWD with 4WD.
I won’t dive into the difference, because HammerheadFistpunch beat me to...the punch.
But for my purposes, suffice it to say that I don’t care about vehicles like the Subaru Crosstrek, which apparently still offers manual + AWD. But, kudos Subaru.
Fortunately, autotrader.com does know there’s a difference, so by searching for used cars with manual + 4wd I was able to make some progress.
So what is the last manual + 2-speed transfer case SUV sold in the U.S., non-Jeep edition? Glad you asked!
Let’s start with the new kid on the block, Ford. So far as I can tell, the Explorer met my requirements only until 2002. Bleah. Almost 20 years without a real SUV, no wonder they’re spending so much marketing muscle on the Bronco.
Suzuki was once a contender with the first generation XL-7, which honestly I don’t think I’ve ever heard of. Part-time 4wd + a stick, last sold in 2006. Body-on-frame too, big props. I might have to keep an eye out for one of those next time I’m 4wd shopping.
But, 2006 was a long time ago, and there have definitely been other SUVs since then with the bits I want. Maybe Toyota, right?
The 4Runner lost its manual transmission all the way back in 2002. Shame on you, Toyota. Seriously. That’s almost as criminal as your aversion to interesting colors.
Hummer! I didn’t even spot Hummer in my search, but surely those qualify.
Huh. H1 didn’t have a manual. Neither did H2. Amazingly, the very last, the H3 did have a manual transmission as an option, so that beats Suzuki out, and now we’re up to 2010.
Rover? Well, the Discovery 4 offered a manual transmission, and it stopped selling in 2016, but after more reading I found that the stick was only offered until 2010. Pffft.
The big ungainly impossible-to-see-out of FJ Cruiser is more recent than that. It was discontinued in the U.S. in 2014, and definitely had 4L, although the stick was apparently only offered with full-time 4wd. Not terrible, but I like more control.
Nonetheless, Toyota at least moves the goalpost to 2014, despite the 4Runner debacle.
But, the winner of our pointless quest isn’t Toyota.
Nissan, that bastion of legacy platforms, outlasted Toyota by a year. The Xterra had manual + a two-speed transfer case until 2015.
So there we have it: for the last 5 years, Jeep offered the only SUV with legitimate off-roading chops and a stick shift. Welcome back to the game, Ford. You’ve got your work cut out for you.