Lexus deserves more car enthusiast props than it probably gets, given how long it stuck with those un-turbocharged V8s and that time it built a V10 supercar it definitely didn't need to build. Overseas-only LBX Morizo RR crossover aside, keeping the manual transmission alive was never really its bag, though, and used models that can be had with three pedals are few and far between – its bread and butter was and still is quiet, smooth, reliable, and efficient luxury cars more than anything else.
The brand came onto the scene right as the '80s turned into the '90s, which means it spent a good 15 years or so building cars in an era when manual transmissions were still a somewhat mainstream option. Old, manual Lexuses are rare, but they're out there, and here are four good choices to keep an eye out for if you'd like to be the most interesting person on the ClubLexus forums. That is, until the dude with the LFA shows up.
1990-1991 ES 250
Most car enthusiasts know the story of how Lexus came into the U.S. market guns blazing with the LS 400 in 1989 and changed our luxury car market forever. The LS deservedly got all the headlines, but the brand also launched with the smaller, more affordable ES that was there to capture the dollars of buyers with more limited budgets and so Lexus wouldn't be a one-model make.
Like most of the ESs that followed, the original midsize Lexus borrowed a lot from the Toyota Camry of the era, including its 2.5-liter V6 making 156 horsepower. The common transmission was a four-speed automatic, but it was also available with a five-speed manual. Not because it was or was even trying to be sporty, but because that's just what cars were like back then. Fast forward to today, when the stick shift is a certified rarity even among performance cars, and a first-gen Lexus ES may just be the one car in history you'd never think came with a manual.
1992-1997 SC 300
Among the handful of two-door cars Lexus has built over the years, the SC tends to fly under the radar. The one you want, however, isn't the Florida realtor favorite second-gen, but instead the first one, which was basically a Toyota Soarer. Or a more refined Supra. In SC 300 form, it even got a naturally aspirated version of the Supra's 2JZ 3.0-liter straight-six making 225 horsepower and, yes, a five-speed manual option.
In the Lexus billed as a luxury cruiser, that manual option wasn't super popular, and apparently just 3,883 manual SC 300s ever left the factory. However, W58 manual transmission swaps are a known procedure with this car, and perhaps a manual SC is in the cards if you can find one that's had that done or if you're willing and able to do it yourself. Perhaps you can even give it a proper Supra-spec turbo 2JZ for good measure. Y'know, while you're in there anyway.
2002-2005 IS 300
When it comes to Supra-adjacent cars, no list of classic performance Lexuses is complete without the IS 300. The first-gen compact sport sedan was made to take down the BMW 3 Series and did so in the U.S. with that same naturally aspirated 3.0-liter 2JZ straight-six that powered the SC 300. 215 horsepower went to the rear axle and, naturally, a five-speed manual was one way to get there. The IS 300's stick shift gets bonus points for its chrome metal ball shifter that makes you feel like you're shifting an old Italian supercar without the metal gates.
Manual, rear-wheel drive, a naturally aspirated straight-six, Toyota build quality, and four usable doors? Sometimes we forget how good we once had it. Lexus heads will already know, but there was even a SportCross wagon model, although it only came with the automatic gearbox. Naturally, people have indeed managed to swap a manual into that one too, because why wouldn't you?
2010-2012 IS 250 C
Speaking of alternate-format ISes, did you know Lexus made a convertible out of the second-gen IS? With the much more popular automatic, the IS 250 C was already uncommon, but one equipped with the six-speed manual is a straight-up unicorn. According to a ClubLexus source, just 90 were sold in America from 2010 to 2012.
There was a more powerful IS 350 C using a 3.5-liter V6, but the manual was only an option with the 250 C, which was powered by a 2.5-liter V6 making 204 horsepower. The manual convertible Lexus (an odd thing to type in 2026) also happened to be rear-wheel drive. While we've been mulling over sick Lexus swaps all article long, how cool would one of these be if someone dropped in the 5.0-liter V8 from the IS F to make a Japanese CLK DTM AMG fighter? With its production numbers, a manual IS C is probably rarer than that Mercedes already.