When my last Chevy van automatic blew the tranny I called my mechanic and said "What the heck can I do if I can't afford to keep putting $3000 transmissions in my cars?" He said "Well I'd get an old Chevy or GMC with a manual transmission."
And that's just what I did!
I found a 1965 GMC 1500 a few weeks back, with the 305 V6. We named her SquashBlossom because a tree squashed her left rear panel flat!
Full Album Link
http://6066gmcclub.com/album.php?albumid=341
Drove her home from Stevenson Wa to Gig Harbor with no spare in a pouring rainstorm with no spare tire. Couldn't see a thing but she had plenty of giddyup and did 70 mph for quite a stretch. Then we got a half hour of crawling stop and go, when that new Casino opened up, and backed up 5 north ... by the time I got home I was in Love!
She was sold as "clean title" but turned out to be anything but. I found out she was salvaged and now I've gone through 8 weeks of chasing the paperwork. But finally she's ready for State inspection next week.
Changed out the rear panel (she came with a replacement for both panels, new tailgate and bar under, bed front panel and two inside bed fenders) and replaced a leaking wheel cylinder just to get to the inspection.
Fingers crossed!