I'm using my high point's account for this: in 2016, 2 years after my Stage IV Colon Cancer dx and continuing treatment I (Silicon Valley fat engineer) bought a 2005 BMW 325 manual Convertible much to the dismay of my wife.
Let me tell you - there is NOTHING like driving Highway 9 up to Skyline through Saratoga after chemotherapy. The manual transmission maybe mattered less than the convertible aspect (fresh air is what kept my nausea away) but the physical connection to the mechanism made me feel alive.
The car basically fell apart within a few years - but I don't regret the $8k it cost me.
Let me tell you - there is NOTHING like driving Highway 9 up to Skyline through Saratoga after chemotherapy. The manual transmission maybe mattered less than the convertible aspect (fresh air is what kept my nausea away) but the physical connection to the mechanism made me feel alive.
The car basically fell apart within a few years - but I don't regret the $8k it cost me.