What Car: 3 Rows of Seats and 3 Pedals

As far as I'm aware, none of the GMT400 Tahoe (no third row) or Burb models had a manual transmission from the factory. Just the trucks. All of the manual SUVs I've seen have been swapped, which is actually very easy to do since the firewall is the same and the truck stuff goes straight into the SUV.

You could get a chevy astro van early in production with a manual transmission....but it might have only been with the 2.5.

I can't think of anything in the last 10 years in the US with 3 rows and 3 pedals that isn't a truck with bench seats. Huh.

There was a super stripped version of the Kia Sorento SUV that offered a 2.4L 4cyl with a manual trans. This stripper model did not offer a 3rd row but I think upper trim versions did offer the 3rd row (super small 3rd row.) With some creative junkyarding you might be able to retro fit in the 3rd row. 

 But..this will not be some kind of cool and awesome driving experience. Rather, tall, overloaded, underpowered, still returning poor mpg... if that's what your looking for. 

Reasonably modern...so, a restomodded Country Squire with EFI and suspension upgrades?

gearheadE30 said:

You could get a chevy astro van early in production with a manual transmission....but it might have only been with the 2.5.

They also did some with 4.3s

Manual swapped Odyssey > Manual swapped Eurovan

IMHO as a resident VW guy.

Rare but not unobtanium, you could get a manual, FWD, V70 as late as '07.  Of course there's the R that's already been mentioned.  3rd row is going to be jump seats though.

Audi Allroads had an available third row.  I think some of the other euro wagons of the era did as well but I don't know about their manual transmission options.

buzzboy said:

JDM van is the best option methinks.

Or a GMT400. Officially they were available with an NV4500. Have seen like one on the internet and zero in person. Somebody here has a factory manual, 454, 4x4, square body suburban though. She's baddddd

I have a factory manual, 454, 6x6, GMT400 K3500 crew cab dually.    The shifter may be longer than the one in my Volvo Amazon.

In reply to volvoclearinghouse :

Could it make it all the way from one gas station to the next?  Or did you have a tanker truck just drive alongside?

In reply to KyAllroad (Jeremy) (Forum Supporter) :

Aerial refueling is the way to go.  Helicopters work great.

Actually, with the NV4500, it manages 10-11 mpg.  The only time it leaves my driveway is either hauling or going to pick up a load, a trailer, or both.  I've no idea what sort of mileage it might get at a steady 65 mpg, empty, on the highway....though if I had to guess it would be about... 10-11 mpg.  And a 40 gallon single tank. 

Thinking out loud (in text), I believe it would be reasonably straight forward to take a 2.5l XC90 and convert it to manual transmission with similar vintage S/V70 parts as they are all Volvo P2 Platform cars.

That would get you a manual, AWD if you want, and a slightly more legitimate 3rd row.  I say slightly, as the 3rd row isn't jump seats, and face forward, but really they're designed for folks who don't have shins.

No one has said Toyota Previa??? 

Really your options are build your own adventure or go older then what I would call modern... 

In reply to 93EXCivic :

I was just about to say Previa! Not exactly modern, but at least your into the 90s. 

You can even get the MT with AWD! Rare tho. You can’t get the MT with the SC engine sadly.

gearheadE30 said:

As far as I'm aware, none of the GMT400 Tahoe (no third row) or Burb models had a manual transmission from the factory. Just the trucks. All of the manual SUVs I've seen have been swapped, which is actually very easy to do since the firewall is the same and the truck stuff goes straight into the SUV.

You could get a chevy astro van early in production with a manual transmission....but it might have only been with the 2.5.

I can't think of anything in the last 10 years in the US with 3 rows and 3 pedals that isn't a truck with bench seats. Huh.

I know you could get the 5 speed in the gmt400 k5 blazer,maybe they discoutinued the option when they renamed it tahoe?

A GMT400 Suburban or Tahoe ordered with the RPO code MT8 got you an NV4500. I've seen a factory manual Tahoe IRL. One.

I've never driven an NV4500 truck. I wasn't a huge fan of the NV3500 so I wonder.

Previa. Also mid engine and Supercharged. 

Roadmaster with T56 swap

They do exist...Suzuki XL7..

dxman92 said:

They do exist...Suzuki XL7..

Yes, that's true! I forgot about that. 

In reply to buzzboy :

I can't recall having driven an NV3500 so I can't really compare.  The NV4500 is about what I feel like one expects from a truck transmission- granny low that's super useful, you can pretty much start out in 2nd most of the time, or in 3rd if you're rolling.  The 3-4 gap is kinda large, but not terrible for a big block if you have the balls to rev it to 4000.   5th gear is an OD and still has enough grunt for use when towing on the flat.  Shifts are long but once you get the feel down they're easy.  It likes to pop out of first, so you have to hold it in, but that may be more of a function of the truck having 231,000 miles on it.  It also makes a fair bit of noise, even though I filled it with redline. 

I apologize for not letting you drive it a few years ago when you'd asked, but I was chasing a few gremlins with it at the time and felt it wouldn't really give you a fair representation of the real "experience".  Now that I've gotten it pretty well driveable (new fuel pump, overhauled throttle body, fixed exhaust leaks and distributor), next time we get together I'll make sure you get a chance to wheel it around.  Its particularly fun to toss it into a drift on the dirt in 3rd gear.  The 14 bolt rear has posi and it'll break all 4 tires loose. 

Today I Learned: The 2002-2005 Ford Explorer could be had with a V6 and 5 speed manual, and a third row was an option. I don't know if the third row and third pedal could be optioned together. 

Manual Trans swap a Buick Roadmaster ?

What about a Matrix?  Not sure about the third row though but I know the manual option is there. 
 

Just went and looked it up and no third row seats. But it seems to tick all the other boxes. 

dean1484 said:

What about a Matrix?  Not sure about the third row though but I know the manual option is there. 
 

Just went and looked it up and no third row seats. But it seems to tick all the other boxes. 

They're pretty tiny. I can't imagine how you could get a 3rd row seat back there usable by anything much larger than a troll doll.

Thanks guys; good discussion as always. I was hoping somebody would tell me about some German wagons or something that I didn't know about...but I guess it's not to be. 

In reply to CrashDummy :

The 5 series wagon never had a third row, the 300TE was super rare as a manual (not sure it was officially sold here but have seen 2 in the US) and isn't modern anyway, and while there were manual German SUVs (BMW X3 2.5 and 3.0, first gen X5 3.0, Porsche Cayenne GTS) they didn't have third rows. It does seem there's a gap in the market, even if you relax the "modern" qualifier to "last 25 years".

I still think buying a Tahoe or Suburban and manual swapping it is the answer. Getting ready to swap my Tahoe, actually.