I own a 78 240 D with a four speed manual. The car almost jumps to 45MPH. After that it takes a while to get to 65 or 70. But around town it is a great car. There are a lot of stop lights in my town, and it seems that none of them are timed. You end up stopping at each one, and I rarely have any one on my butt. It is usually the other way around because I always seem to be in a hurry. I have never drove the automatic but I was a passenger in one and it was a heck of a lot slower. So if you can find a manual tranny to put in your car I am sure you would like it.