There are several of us here who have them.

They were brought to the US as US certified cars in the 1986 and 1988 model years. about 700 in '86 and about 300 in '88.

I would expect that if there are any manual transmission Euro cars in the US, they are small engined versions, not 300E's. Most of these cars sold in Europes were sold with smaller engines.

I am a stick shift lover and won't buy a car to drive myself unless it is a stick. For a stick shift lover, the 300E makes a FABULOUS car with a stick.

A few weeks ago my good friend Paul (Suginami here on Mshop) came to Dallas on business and I picked him up in my 300E for dinner. We met a few other Mshoppers and had a great time. He has a 104 engined version which has more horsepower than the earlier 103 engined cars like mine. He remarked about the acceleration of my car saying that "the manual transmission makes these cars come alive." Remember, that was someone who drives the same car with about 15% more horsepower but coupled through an automatic transmission.

In 1986 Road and Track road tested a new 300E with a stick shift and raved and raved about it. I still have their article. That is one of the things that made me seek out one of these great cars and it wasn't easy. In two years of searching locally I found two, but couldn't get to the first one before it was sold in a single day.

Have a great day,