After checking out my Haynes manual last evening, it says that the speed sensor
seems to be located on the "left hand side/driver's side" of the vehicle.
It referred to removing the battery & tray and airbox to get access to the area
where the sensor is. Does this sound correct?

Assuming this is the vehicle speed sensor (there is also an engine
speed sensor) it appears to be close to the back of the air box.
The instructions at alldatadiy.com (cost $25 a year) show removal
of the preheating hose from manifold to air cleaner, then the
hose from air cleaner to turbo, then you have access. The web
page only has pictures (drawings are typically better) for this
procedure and they are kind of hard to see. In any case, you are
in the right area.

The instructions also note to use a new O-ring, oil the O-ring and
torque bolts to 5.5 Nm. (who has a torque wrench that goes that low?).

Ray:
I am a neophyte here so, what is the difference between the "vehicle" speed sensor and the "engine" speed sensor?
The one I am interested in has to deal with the auto-trans.

Thanks much for the info.

The engine speed sensor detects engine RPMs and measures it from
the flywheel (if it fails the car won't run).

The one I mentioned is the Vehicle Speed Sensor and appears to be
nearer the transmission so I think this is the one you meant.

The car has about 25 sensors so you have to be careful when discussing them
to make sure people are talking about the same thing.

Yep, Lots of sensors. I recently replaced first the "engine speed sensor" and then the cam shaft sensor. The first being referred to in the failure codes as the RPM-Sensor (1-3-1). And YES, the car will not run when these fail.

Just sharing my adventures... This Forum-thing is very useful.