I've got this idea in my head to try to find an older camaro with atleast a 305 and a manual. As much of a gear head as I am and as much as I do all my own work.. I don't know how to drive a manual and its a sore spot for me. I can drive on the roads, but i mean nailing that down shift with rev match, and heel and toe it, or starting off on a hill w/o any problem. I was thinking of an 80's camaro or some thing. I could always get an sonoma/s-10 but i think the truck shifting would take away from it.

Anyone got and suggestions... What should I look for in an older camaro... I just kinda want it to drive, I don't care about cosmetics.

 

It's not a semi dude, you don't need to match the revs to the gear and speed! I'm sure you could learn how to drive it in an afternoon. If the hill thing scares you, get a line lock. Try to find a 3rd gen with a clean interior and a rust-free body. It's a tough find though, those cars were abused by many 17 year olds. Drive it for awhile, then save up the funds for an engine that will take advantage of those cars' aerodynamics.

 

While you don't have to learn how to rev match for daily driving, it is a valuable skill. Done right, when entering a curve, you won't be upsetting the chassis as opposed to just down-shifted and let out the clutch. Assuming spirited driving and such...

I've driven trucks all my life, and I can drive any stick vehicle just fine. The skill in driving a car isn't only knowing its tranny and clutch inside and out, but rather getting to know how the chassis acts, the power and how it gets it down, etc.

So grab any manual tranny vehicle and get to learning. Granted, I've done high-performance motorcycle riding for some years now, so that definitely helps, but I say just jump in any "sporty" beater and go for it.

:edit
Oh, and any stock 3rd gen F-body with a 5-spd (which is a measly T-5 IIRC...) should have a 305. The General didn't trust that tranny behind the torque of a 350.

 

I can drive a manual around at a normal pace, but I have to think about it. I want to be more natural at driving and more coordinated so I can try to execute a heel and toe w/o having to think about every move and so on. Does that clarify my point more?

I pride myself that I did everything on my truck myself ,but tune it(thats getting fixed this summer). I think that being a performance enthusiast I should be able to drive a manual car at daily driving pace and above while feeling natural about it.

 

It just takes time is all. Hell man, after a while, if I really wanted to I could heel-toe my old 4.3L 5-spd S10. That thing was like a go-kart...