A little over a year ago, I picked up a 2003 Acura CL Type-S as I was looking for a new project car to work on. I honestly wasn’t even looking for a CL Type-S specifically, but I spotted this one on Craigslist with a 6-speed manual transmission. For those who are familiar with the Acura CL, and the Type-S model in particular, you will know how rare it is to find a CL-S in a manual transmission. It is estimated that there were about 2700 Acura CL Type-S cars ever produced in a 6-speed manual transmission.
I found the listing for this car with about 135k miles, which is relatively low for the age. I believe I called the seller about 15-30 minutes after the listing was posted. I spoke to the seller over the phone and we set up an appointment for me to meet the seller the next morning.
The next morning, I drove about an hour and half to meet with the seller. The seller was a woman who had been the original owner of the vehicle, showed me around the vehicle. The body of the car was in rough shape as it used to live on the streets of Berkeley, CA, but mechanically the car was in good shape. There were a few issues with the power steering pump that I was made aware of, but for the most part the car was in decent shape minus the many scratches and dings on the bumpers.
I was ready to pay for the vehicle, but the seller realized that the pink slip was in the bank and since it was the weekend, but bank was closed. Since I would have to leave empty handed, the seller assured me that she would hold it for me because of her faux pas. We agreed that I would hand over half the agreed upon amount as a deposit and we would meet during the week nearby my workplace.
We met the next Monday in Berkeley, CA where I signed the pink slip and arranged for a tow truck to tow the vehicle back to my house.
Although there was a bit of a hiccup in the beginning of the transaction, I was glad that the seller made good on her word to deliver the vehicle as promised and for the price that we agreed upon. I know that with a rarer car like this, there was likely a good amount of interest. Some sellers may be tempted by other offers and will turn a typical buyer/seller transaction into an auction. I’ve been burned by many of these types of sellers in the past, and it was refreshing to be able to deal with a more honorable seller like this one.
I really enjoyed working with the seller as I felt she was honest. She really cared for her car and I honestly think she cared that her baby went to someone who would continue to take care of her car. I believe that is why she was willing to work on the price with me and to follow through with the transaction from beginning to the end. I also felt very good working with someone who wasn’t just trying to make as much of a profit as possible, but ensuring that her baby would go to a good home. She even kept a crystal in the ash tray, which she showed me and told me it was a sort of good luck charm for the car.
Something that I didn’t notice was that the seller had accidentally posted her address on her listing. She told me that after I had left after meeting her the first time, someone had showed up on her front doorstep that night asking about the car. She said that sorta spooked her as she found it strange that someone would just show up randomly like that. I know why though, this is a pretty rare car to find and this prospective buyer really wanted the car.
An interesting topic surrounding this car specifically is the rarity of this car. For Acura CL-S 6-speed owners, it’s almost a rite-of-passage to take your car’s info: exterior color, interior color, and whether it has navigation or not, and seeing how rare your specific configuration is out of the already rare 6-speed CL Type-S. There are several users on Acurazine (notably users Slimey, GreenMonster, and Hohlake) who have provided vital data related to the 6-speed production numbers. I’ve essentially placed the table found on his thread here for your reference:
| EXTERIOR/INTERIOR COLOR | NON-NAVI | WITH NAVIGATION | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aegean Blue Pearl | |||
| Ebony | 230 | 68 | 298 |
| Anthracite Metallic | |||
| Ebony | 443 | 137 | 580 |
| Satin Silver Metallic | |||
| Ebony | 763 | 223 | 986 |
| Night Hawk Black Pearl | |||
| Ebony | 480 | 185 | 665 |
| Parchment | 258 | 52 | 310 |
| All | 738 | 237 | 975 |
| San Marino Red | |||
| Ebony | 122 | 25 | 147 |
| Parchment | 217 | 61 | 278 |
| All | 339 | 86 | 425 |
| Taffetta White | |||
| Ebony | 43 | 15 | 58 |
| Parchment | 135 | 54 | 189 |
| All | 178 | 69 | 247 |
| Grand Totals | 2691 | 820 | 3511 |
My Acura CL Type-S 6-speed has the San Marino Red exterior, Parchment interior, and a navigation unit. This makes my car 1/61 ever produced in this exact configuration, 1/425 ever produced in San Marino Red, and 1/2700 Acura CL-S 6-speeds ever made. I think this is car is pretty special and I intend to restore it back to its deserved condition.
6 Comments
Hi Scott, I came across your article. Do you still own this beautiful? I just bought a 2003 with a manual trans, white on parchment, non navi. Will be delivered from Virginia Beach by Aug 26th. I was curious how your restoration is going? I plan on doing the same and would appreciate if you would share any notes. Thanks in advance.
Hi Michael, congrats on the new CL! I’d love to see pictures and know more about what you’re working with when you do get it!
I still have my CL-S, unfortunately I just haven’t had much time to work on the car. I’ve gone through an intensive remodel, relocated for a short time, and now going to be preoccupied with studying for an exam in the coming months. Sadly, the car has been sitting in my driveway collecting dust and cobwebs. I’m hoping to start getting back to it later this year though.
I haven’t done much to it so far, just oil changes and fixed the hood struts to make it easier to work on later. If I do more work on it, it’ll be detailed on this page: https://thetrackahead.com/projects/2nd-gen-acura-cl-type-s/
The biggest issues I need to deal with on the car is the terrible peeling and splitting clear coat throughout the car and some the intermittent crank no start issues I’ve experienced over the past year. Hopefully yours doesn’t have too many issues to deal with. I’m glad to hear from someone who will be in the same situation as me! Looking forward to talking more.
I just read your article, I bought my CL-S / 6-MT back in 2010 after a hailstorm totaled out my TL. I had no clue about it, but it was a coupe & and a 6-speed, so I wanted it, plus at the time it had some hail damage, windshield was cracked and needed tires. Had 91,000 on the odometer, paid $5,500 for it. I was surprised when I found the window sticker in the glove compartment and saw that it was a $30,000 car. Got the hail damage fixed a year or so later and the insurance company almost totaled it out. Now it’s about to hit 240,000 miles. Has been a great car.
That’s awesome, it sounds like you’ve had a long life with the car so far. I really miss mine as I sold it about a year or so ago.
I always wondered about hail damage, what did you do to repair it?
This comment is 3 years after your post-but I’ll try anyway-I just obtained one in black near perfect condition (with nav option installed-but I do not use these systems and find it annoying so not using i)t -except for some rust on the trim on the top of the driver’s door. and one spot of rust on top of roof abotu size of a dollar coin-can the door trim be sanded and painted -I ask since it is different metal than the body and a different colour-or does that strip come off to be replaced.
Thanks,
Chris
Hi Chris,
Congrats on the CLS! I’d have to look at photos to give you my opinion on what you might want to do. Is there a way you can send photos? If it doesn’t work here, you can always email me at [email protected] and I can take a look.