10/25/2026
Yesterday, while we were selling our Nissan 370Z, we also said goodbye to another one of my favorite cars on the lot. A five-speed Chevy Spark.
We originally took the Spark in on trade from an older gentleman who absolutely loved that little car. And I’ve always heard that while Chevy Sparks might not have a particularly glamorous reputation, the people who own them tend to LOVE them.
After driving this one, I understand why.
One thing we try to do at Empower is have someone on our team actually drive our cars for a while before we sell them. Some problems just don’t show up during a mechanic’s quick trip around the block.
Well, I volunteered for Spark duty.
And I didn’t just take it home for a weekend. I put a couple of tanks of gas through it, partly because I hadn’t driven a manual transmission in nearly 20 years and wanted to teach myself again.
What an absolute blast of a little car. The incredibly short wheelbase makes it feel like driving a street-legal golf cart, and that five-speed manual transmission is just icing on the cake.
Anyway, yesterday a family stopped in while we were working on the 370Z. One gentleman had family here in Gallipolis, but actually lived in Montana. He’d been searching for a manual Chevy Spark, which are getting harder and harder to find.
He spotted ours and asked what we wanted for it.
We told him the price from across the room.
“I’ll take it.”
Twenty minutes later, he was driving away.
He preferred not to have his picture taken, so unfortunately we don’t have one of our usual happy customer photos.
Our mission at Empower has always been to serve our local community, but it’s pretty cool knowing that sometimes the right car finds the right person, even when that person lives halfway across the country.
Now I’ve got a question.
Who out there not only knows how to drive a stick shift, but actually CHOOSES to drive one in 2026?
Why? What is it about rowing your own gears that keeps you coming back?
