A nice collection of cars you had. The first I've heard
of a manual trans breaking. 'The grass is always
greener on the neighbors lawn' comes to mind.
I regret buying my 82' 300sd because the auto
trans is governed by vacuum and it is difficult
(for me) to troubleshoot. I wish I would have
held out for the many manual trans models
I have seen since on ebay and local paper.
I would stick to a manual trans, but don't
pass a great deal on the automatic if you
are fortunate to be first in line when
somebody offers one for cheap.