Not sure when they stopped making vehicles with "three on the tree" but this has got to be one of the last:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1981-Ford-F-...5ZAO5c&vxp=mtr

 

The last 3 on the tree was in the 87 Chevy pickup.

Overseas, some vans still have a 5 on the tree and Japanese taxicabs had a 4 on the tree till 1999.

 

Ford had em up to 86 i believe with the 4.9. Buddy had a 84 that was a 3 on the tree.

 

My cousin had a '85 with the column shifter. I had to drive him home one night, took me forever to figure out.

 

I've personally never driven one, although I almost bought a 1970 Dodge Sweptline truck with one. Bet an '87 Chevy with one is a rare bird!

 

Too much Labatt's.....???

 

I've owned 2 cars with a 3 on the tree - a 69 Chevy Biscayne and a 76 Ford Maverick. I've driven a lot of them, back in the day when I was working in service stations we had customers with them. When I was in the Navy most of the government vehicles had them, it wasn't till sometime in the 80's when the government started buying automatics.

What was really fun was before they put a synchro on 1st gear - to shift into 1st you had to either come to a stop or double clutch.

 

There is no telling how many I have driven. I have owned at least 10. One of the most fun and could be frustrating that I drove was a 1966 Ford pickup, three speed 352 V8. The bushings 1n the shift linkage on the steering column was worn out. When you shifted from first gear to second, you had to let the lever drop just a tad when you were half way up and then continue up. You also had to hold your mouth just right. If your timing was not perfect, the shifter would hang and you would have to stop, raise the hood and manually unlock the linkage. Once you got used to it, it was not a problem. He was a mechanic and never did fix that. He said it kept the truck from being stolen.

 

Learned how to drive and got my license in a 55 Chevrolet 210 4 dr with 3 on a tree. My first and second cars I bought were 56 Chev Convertible and 59 Chev Impala with 3 on a tree. The 59 also had an electric overdrive which was rare and available from 55 thru 61. After gettin up over about 45mph, you let up on the gas and it would go into overdrive. The stock rear with OD was a 4.11 ratio.

 

The only one I can remember in our family history was a '66 Dodge truck my dad had back when I was really young. I suspect some of the cars my folks had back in the '60's probably had them as well, but that's before my memory.