Take a look at the state of manual transmissions today. They’re largely being phased out, pushed further and further into a corner by mainstream automakers. The current manual gearboxes typically boast six forward gears and a reverse gear, and a couple have even sported seven forward gears. Just a couple of decades ago, the five-speed manual was commonplace, with many base-model cars offering one. But what automaker was the first to give drivers five gears?
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