If you grew up in the 1990s or 2000s, you’ll surely have clear memories of that final period of glorious sedan domination, Sedans were everywhere. Of course, people with bigger families had minivans, and those who hated minivans drove Chevy Suburbans, but otherwise, most were behind the wheel of sedans. Prior to the turn of the millennium, you could get most mid-size or smaller sedans with a manual option. Imagine that, normal cars with three pedals. On some models, you could even pair that manual with a larger engine. The Toyota Camry offered a manual option with its V6 engine until 2001, but Ford ditched the manual for the Taurus after 1995, Chevy never offered one for the front-wheel drive Malibu, and Hyundai only offered a stick on the 4-cylinder Sonata.Basically, by 2005, the manual had started on the yellow brick road to death. Very few manufacturers were offering manuals on anything larger than a Civic, so the prospect of a manual sleeper with an engine with more than four cylinders was already rare. Honda has historically been kind to us manual nuts, so it's no surprise they offered this manual V6 sleeper to mark the end of an era. What's surprising is how quickly this car has been forgotten. The 2006-2007 Honda Accord V6 6-Speed Sedan Is Incredibly Rare Netcarshow Despite the 7th-generation Accord being more ubiquitous than Red Sox hats in Boston, the 6-speed V6 version’s rarity ranks somewhere between the Lamborghini Murcielago and the Aventador. No, that isn’t an exaggeration. In its 9-year run, Lamborghini produced 4,099 Murcielagos and 11,465 Aventadors. To be perfectly frank, despite reaching out to Honda, no official production numbers are available. They did make a total of 736,672 Accords over the 2006 and 2007 model years. Most estimate that 0.9%-1.5% of four-door Accords during that period were equipped with the V6/manual combo. That would mean around 7,000 total, which seems plausible, though many estimate it was closer to 3,000 total production. Either way, want to know how many are listed for sale right now? ONE. And that’s across all platforms and auction sites. For the "6-6" Accord, you'd be lucky to find more than one on the market at any given time.T. Smith Right now, there are actually more factory-gated manual Murcielago listings than V6 manual Accord sedans. You can even find 5-10 manual Genesis G70s for sale. Did you even know they made a G70 with a manual transmission? If so, congrats on also being a huge car nerd, but this is the kind of territory we are in when it comes to rarity. The particular example that’s for sale has 160k miles on the clock and is listed for $7,578, so rarity doesn’t exactly demand the highest premium in this case. What's unique is finding one with fewer than 200,000 miles coming up for sale, but they still typically list for $5,000 or more. The Red Badge T. Smith As a car nut and automotive journalist, there is something so fun about subtlety. It’s pretty easy to tell a V6 Accord from a 4-cylinder—just look at the exhaust. If it’s got dual exhaust, then congratulations, you’ve got six entire cylinders at your disposal. If it's a single exit, that’s pretty damn good too, because all other 7th-gen Accords get the legendarily durable K24. Aside from taking a respectful gaze through the window to spot the aluminum-capped 6-speed gear lever, the only way you can tell a manual V6 Accord is the red V6 badge. The red badge is a wickedly cool bit of attention to detail.If the V6 badge is black, it's automatic; if it's red, it's manual. This is the same on the coupe, which you’re far more likely to see, so if you spot one in the wild, you can impress (or annoy) your friends with a fantastically niche bit of automotive knowledge. Be warned, if you buy one of these, get a different gear knob for the summer, or the 6-speed gear pattern will be burned into your palm like the McCallister’s doorknob on Joe Peshi’s hand in Home Alone. That aluminum cap not only gets very hot, but in the winter, it'll give you frostbite as well, so I replaced mine with a carbon fiber knob that matches the faux carbon trim found in all the red badge cars. An Accord That Can Keep Up With A Mk7 GTi Honda Before we proceed, let me allay your fears: a V6 manual Accord, three-pedal or not, could not dream of keeping up with a Mk7 GTI on a twisty road. We're talking straight lines here, muscle-car style. In 2006, Car and Driver managed 5.9 seconds to 60 MPH in their 2006 Accord. In 2017, Car and Driver got the exact same 5.9 seconds to 60 MPH in their 6-speed Volkswagen GTI. They even insinuated that a different set of tires could’ve helped the Accord lay down a slightly faster time. Now, having driven both of these cars, the GTI is very much in a different league when it comes to cornering, stability, braking, and it’s got a more usable powerband. It’s more spry, it changes direction much more quickly, and is just generally more enjoyable across the board. As it should be, it's a GTI. Power-wise, I say "usable" because the Accord's 211 pound-feet of torque is available at 5,000 RPM while the GTI, thanks to modern turbocharging, produces its impressive 258 pound-feet at 1,500 RPM—not to say it isn't fun to rev out that VTEC V6, because it's fantastic. The Accord's J30 V6 does produce more power, though: 244 hp at 6,250 RPM compared to the GTI's 220 hp at 4,700 RPM. Good Speed And Ultimate Reliability T. Smith It’s fast and has a powerful engine with a lovely sound, but its other superpower isn’t cornering agility; it’s being as reliable as a desk lamp with a lifetime supply of lightbulbs. The 7th-generation Honda Accord is generally considered one of the most reliable cars of the era. As far as the V6 manual cars are concerned, you avoid a lot of problems by simply having the 6-speed. The 5-speed auto was known for premature failure, especially on early V6 cars. The 6-speed isn’t entirely without issues, though, as it can suffer from 3rd gear pop-out or grind. This can be easily remedied with synchromesh fluid, which is what I've used in my red-badge Accord since 2019. Otherwise, the engine is an absolute unit. Mine has about 240,000 miles on the clock, and in the 60,000 miles I've driven it, I've had zero engine problems. It leaks a little from the valve covers and probably needs a valve adjustment, but that’s all. It’s even sat unceremoniously for a year and, once I popped in a new battery, started up without a hitch. If you want a durable powertrain, it’s genuinely hard to find better than this combination.T. Smith They aren’t totally trouble-free and are most well-known for failing ball joints. My professional recommendation is to get these sorted straight away unless you have receipts from the previous owner. It's not a matter of if they will fail, but when. These cars are astonishingly cheap to repair, so even if you wanted to replace your entire front end, it still wouldn't break the bank (under $1,500 DIY). Aside from the ball joint issue, parts are cheap and available everywhere, and if you don’t mind getting greasy, these are very easy cars to work on—even if you’re a beginner. It Was Still Just An Accord T. Smith The Accord “6-6” sedan benefits from the same lovely aesthetic updates inside and out as the entire range received for 2006. Otherwise, despite the special powertrain combo, it barely distinguishes itself from any other facelifted 7th-gen. The facelift V6 manual gets nothing the automatic doesn’t get, except for faux carbon fiber interior trim pieces and the 6-speed, obviously. If you care about comfort, that can be a good thing, because to get the "6-6" combo, you had to get a top-trim EX-L, which gets you leather seats, an upgraded sound system, and heated seats. I drove mine back and forth between Indiana and Connecticut one summer, and the comfort of the squishy leather seats is unmatched. Ultimately, it’s just a really cool version of a normal car, and that’s just fine for me. I bought one, but it was really just because I couldn't afford the 2nd-generation Acura TL 6-speed. That car had a limited-slip differential and was more of a proper performance option. Today, I have much more appreciation for the Honda, but that doesn't change the fact that in the end, it's just a regular Accord. Gone And Forgotten, But Still Awesome Honda The assumption that rarity always translates into some inflated value does not apply to Honda’s coolest Accord sedan. They are slightly inflated over the less exciting versions of this era's Accord, but despite shockingly low production numbers, it remains a bit of a hidden gem. Normal cars have always been forgotten, because that’s just the usual course of automotive history. Cars like the TL Type-S or the rear-wheel-drive (and LSD-equipped) Infiniti G35 have more performance credentials, so they have been part of the enthusiast zeitgeist for far longer. There has always been a small group of enthusiasts who adore these cars, but given their rarity, they just aren’t a part of the conversation in the same way. And it's not as if they aren't driven; most that pop up for sale have nearly 200,000 miles. In other words, nobody saved these, so what was rare is becoming rarer.Lately, though, as all the sedans, manual transmissions, and any engine that isn’t a 2.0L turbo have nearly died off, this car has gained a bit more attention from the enthusiast community. We don’t get stuff like this anymore. In fact, only 10 or 15 manual V6 cars have been built since the turn of the century, so there might be more hunger for them now. It can be hard to truly appreciate things in their time, especially when it comes to cars like the Honda Accord. To quote Andy from The Office, “I wish there was a way to know you were in the good old days, before you’d actually left them." Me too, Andy, me too.Sources: Hondanews.com, Caranddriver.com