I talked to the local AC dealer this weekend. He was reluctant to admit that the 300 even had 3 positions. He did grudgingly admit that the 300 did, but the 500 is diffent. He thought it never would because the 500 has more power so it doesn't need it. Ya right! More power does not equal more traction.
The same guy said the 500 Auto has a 2wd/4wd switchable diff but the manual doesn't. He then gave me a brochure which clearly states in several places that they BOTH have switchable 4wd. Shows how much he knows.

 

YukonRon,
Last year's 500 manual didn't have switchable 2wd/4wd, so he was probably confused with last year's model. They made quite a few updates to the 500 manual this year that were taken from last year's 500 auto. If I were to choose between the 2001 auto and manual, the choice would have been much harder than last year.

 

Thanks Tcat for the clarification.