Now that cars are so well built you can buy an oldish, small car in UK for a few hundred pounds and it will generally be reliable enought to learn to drive with. It will almost certainly have a manual transmission as the inefficiencies of autos sap the power of a small engine. If you only start with 60 bhp you can't afford to throw much away in a slush pump.

My car is manual six speed and I have driven everything from three on the tree to six on the floor. My wife has a small auto which seems OK until you want to pass a truck on a side road, but is fine in town.

How many drivers can use a manual without synchromesh these days?