Oldest daily driver... with highway speeds

[TexasAndrew]

Happy Monday everyone!

As time marches on and new cars seem to get less and less reliable I keep moving older and older in my choice of trucks.

I make furniture (among other things) and my 66 f100 with a 240cid was great.
I was made an offer I could not refuse on my truck so I am now shopping for my next one. Requirements:
1. 8' bed. I get sheet goods and long lumber (last two pieces of seplee were 14'!)
2. manual transmission. I cannot understand why anyone would drive an automatic, ever.
3. ability to cruise at highway speeds. Here in TX that means at least 70MPH.
4. I would rather keep the vehicle as stock as possible. Not against poly bushings, radial tires, etc but not swapping in a modern v8. I thing that ruins the soul of the truck, plus I don't have time for that.

The F100 seemed to do well at all these things but I have been looking at a 48 F2 and a 32 AA.
Both could get an overdrive unit to make them highway derivable, but am I expecting too much from the suspension, etc?

Looking forward to any words of wisdom!

Thanks!

Andrew