The Luddite in me is intrigued with the idea of buying a manual trans W123 240D. However, I live in hilly terrain and in an area where driving on an interstate is almost impossible to avoid. How livable is a 240D in such an environment?

Additionally, it seems that w123 240D's with automatics are much more common than the manual trans models. How big of a performance hit does the automatic make? Can I do a steady 65 mph on an interstate with rolling hills in a 240D automatic?