>>And it's getting damn difficult to find manual trannys it seems. And no, I don't want an automatic with those damn paddle shifters. Rented a Malibu and it had those stupid things and they just get in the way.
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>>Besides, if I'm gonna shift gears I want the full feeling - clutch/shift repeat as necessary
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>It is getting more and more difficult to find manual trannys. I had to replace my 26 year old Toyota pickup last year. There was only 1 mid-sized PU with manual trans in the entire state of Montana! I bought it.

I learned to drive a standard transmission when I was 6, thanks to my dad! I always thought that a standard was the way to go. Then as I got older, the traffic in the San Francisco Bay Area changed a great deal. Stop and go on the freeway is a total pain! Having an automatic at least allows me to save my joints to some extent!

Sounds like your Toyota was one made where I worked, at NUMMI in Fremont, California. My brother had a 1985 model, and he sold it a year or two ago. The older Tacoma's were small and the more recent ones are almost as big as a Tundra!