In Search of … a Unicorn?

I love driving. Especially if the vehicle has a clutch and stick shift.

Thanks to rural living, I started driving when I was twelve. My lessons began at the wheel of a Willys truck in “granny” low. All I had to do was ease out the clutch and she’d roll. I don’t recall how long it took before I could manage driving in high without stalling once or twice before getting her moving. Managing the clutch and shift pattern at speed…

One of my most vivid memories is of my baby brother, all of four years old, cowering in the floorboard with his hands over his ears. The grinding gears competing with his wails of terror and my juvenile cursing as I struggled to finesse the Willys from first into second without having to stop and start over again. Oh, the challenge to my twelve year old dexterity and coordination. 😁

I’ve driven anything and everything anyone would let me drive. At age 17, I wanted to be a long-haul trucker. Seriously! Until I went to work as a billing clerk for a trucking company and got to see the reality of it from the inside. The hassles of meeting loading and delivery schedules, delays for load availability in destination cities, road hazards, break-downs, trip logs, permits…

In the 50 years I’ve been driving, I’ve owned many vehicles and driven three times as many more—although no “big rigs.” A manual transmission, preferably with 4-wheel drive (4WD), was always at the top of my “wish” list. Unfortunately, manual transmissions have became increasingly difficult to find. To achieve the best fuel efficiency, computer controlled shifting is a must and the market no longer favors manual shifting.

The “trucker” idea probably arose from my dream to road trip across the country in a pick-up truck with a truck camper in the bed—just like my parents had. I spent many hours during highschool dreaming and planning a trip right after graduation. Sadly, I couldn’t find anyone crazy enough to set off with me and I couldn’t quite bring myself to venture off on my own.

Image: Deer camp near Junction, TX circa Nov 1970, vintage truck campers in use.
From left to right, Dad, me, cousin, and sister.

In 2019, I was beginning to recover from a 3-4 year bout of depression¹. I’d been dipping my toe back into trail running and travel during the previous year. Shaking the dust off the old road-tripping dream seemed like a timely, useful motivator to nudge me further along on my road to recovery.

Step 1: Get a truck

Honestly, I can’t say what was more influential in my truck model decision, price or fuel economy. In any case, I settled on a mid-size rather than the full-size truck I’d always imagined. My online searching eventually found a Nissan Frontier Pro-4X with a manual transmission. I was excited. I called immediately and made arrangements to drive up and test drive the truck the next day.

Fortunately, I took time to review the specs overnight, doing a model by model comparison of the Frontiers. This showed the Pro-4X barely had the hauling capacity needed to accommodate the dry weight of the lightest truck camper on the market. There was a beautiful Midnight Edition Frontier² available at the same dealership and its specifications met my needs. Well, minus the manual transmission. 😞

End result was the first truck I’d ever owned that didn’t have a stick shift in the floorboard.

Step 2: Get a truck camper

Although I’d been looking at the things for longer than I’d been looking for a truck to haul it, and despite now having the truck, I still couldn’t bring myself to pull the trigger on the purchase. These light-weight models were ridiculously expensive for what little you got by way of features. I was holding out for a used model that was reasonably priced.

You know the old caution, “Don’t hold your breath”? Yeah. Well, the joke was on me.

The COVID-19 pandemic began in spring 2020 and made the pricing and availability of any type recreational vehicle outrageous. Camping and outdoor activities were booming. The light-weight campers were already a “build to order” market and construction lead times went from 6-8 months to 12-18. Used models sold as fast a they listed. They were impossible to find.

I just couldn’t bring myself to pay over $20K for a truck camper I couldn’t walk around in and inspect prior to purchase. Nor one I’d have to wait over a year to take possession of and use.

Step 2, Option 2: Get a small camper trailer

It took me until Nov 2020 before I found a 21’ Jayco Jay Flight on sale at a price I could afford. Sight unseen, I was desperate enough I put a $1,500 non-refundable hold on it so it would be there when I drove up to inspect it the following day. The dealership that had it was just east of Abilene, TX, a 3-hour drive away.

Happily, I was very satisfied with the floor-plan and features. After paying for and waiting for the on-site installation of a $600 anti-sway hitch system, I hooked on to “part two” of my dream and pulled it home to Teague³.

The Frontier hauled it, but damn! I had to stop to fill up twice on the relatively short drive back and the poor thing just couldn’t keep up speed on the hills. (These mid-size model trucks, even with tow packages, didn’t seem to offer the “tow mode” feature of the full-size models to assist with managing power when towing.) That very first trip told me I should have stuck with the “dream” of the full-size truck during “Step 1” in mid-2019. 😕

Step 1 redux: Get a (full-size) truck

Much like campers, trucks just weren’t available—new or used. It took 7 or 8 months to find one—during which time the camper was a rarely used guest bedroom and getting no road trips under its tires.

The truck I found? A Nissan Titan Pro-4X in a color called Baja Storm, hinting at all the adventures it could carry me on. Beautiful!

I fell in love with it during the test drive even though it was an automatic transmission. But, good grief! It was stupidly overloaded with options, so much stuff I didn’t need nor cared to have. I particularly didn’t care for the $800 a month 6–year truck note. Still, who knew when/if I’d find another suitable truck any time soon and the camper was just sitting there.

At this same point in time, Mom’s health and in-home care needs changed⁴. I volunteered to retire early and remain as her in-home care-giver. Then, following her death in Dec 2021, I elected to remain with Dad as his in-home care-giver/roommate, mostly so he wasn’t alone.

In early 2023, I officially put my dream of travel and camping on hold again when I sold the “dream” truck. My emotional well-being really took a hit because of it. Early retirement had halved my annual income and it just wasn’t practical (or affordable) to continue paying that crazy truck note every month for another 4.5 years. Didn’t matter how practical or logical the decision, it hurt. Depression came a knocking and I struggled to keep it at bay.

Jump another year forward to this spring. My growing unhappiness had made me an ill-tempered “byatch.” I’d had enough. Something had to change. Definitely not practical, although I can argue for the logical since it is restoring some happiness to my life, I decided to use the majority of my remaining cash savings to buy a used truck. Dream v2.0 began to take shape in April.

I do still have the JayFlight, but can’t afford to keep it either⁵. I’ll be putting it on the market soon. Should have already, but I just kept putting off cleaning it up and prepping it. Dream v2.0 is simply an all-terrain vehicle/truck I can haul camping gear in. Maybe with a bike rack on the back.

One week! That’s all it took for my search to turn up suitable trucks. Even including the criteria, “Transmission: Manual.” 😉 I couldn’t believe it, but it sure helped with my growing excitement.

I focused on the two “stick-shifts” that turned up within my 500+ mile search radius. Both were Nissan Frontiers similar to the 2019 model I’d owned.

The nearest, in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, was listed several thousand above “fair-market” value (according to Kelly Blue Book) and the demand was such the dealership wouldn’t budge on the price⁶. Ironically, the one farthest away—in Broken Arrow, OK just south of Tulsa—was the better vehicle: a year newer with 15-20K less miles on the odometer and $4K cheaper, respectably within fair-market value.

I’m convinced now it was simply meant to be. A week to find and then all the related “luck” that followed? Yep.

I was driving a 2015 Fiat 500 I’d bought for $6K back in 2019 as a fuel-efficient commuter car, saving mileage on the Titan truck. The Fiat was a little junker, but a blast to drive with its 5-speed transmission and quick steering. It had plenty of engine issues, though, a minor oil leak, broken windshield, and its share of dents and blemishes. Also it was going to need tires soon. Still, Chris Nikel CJDRF gave me $2K trade-in, exactly on target with its estimated value—something I’d never expected to get⁷.

I spent 12-hrs that day driving to and from Broken Arrow, OK, the first 6 in the Pop Fiat and the last in my “new” (manually shifted!) truck. I got a free tank of gas in the Frontier. Combined with the $100 dealership web coupon I’d used, all of my gas (and probably my time) was paid for. My savings account was $15K poorer and I’d signed for a $200 truck note for the next 4-years, but worth it!

My “byatch”-iness vanished overnight. (Mostly. 😉) I love driving the thing. Of course, I do. It’s a 6-speed stick!

Unicorns! They do exist!

I’ve put over 6K miles on it since driving it home. Within 9 days of getting it home, I’d found a truck bed tent on sale for better than half price—less than $80 and affordable to my limited means. The second weekend I had it, I was camping in it on-site at Reveille Peak Ranch where I volunteered for Pandora’s Box of Rox trail race. In May, the truck bed and its tent saw use again at Possum Kingdom Lake’s Bug Beach (BRA Park Area #5) when I went to volunteer and run the Possum’s Revenge trail race.

Dad gifted me with a set of step bars, a Softopper bed topper, and a camper top tent for my new rig. Combined, the topper and camper top tent are very similar to what I get from the truck bed tent, just not as roomy and with more limited airflow. However, this duo lets me slap the tent over the tailgate and topper at bedtime then, next morning, I slide the tent off the topper, close the tailgate, and the truck is ready to roll again.

I’m looking forward to many more adventures with the unicorn. Although…

I’ve really got to work on my lead foot and “racy” shifting. Makes about 1-2 mpg difference in fuel usage. <sigh> Adulting is hard.

1. A series of personal injuries halted my participation in endurance (trail running) and strength (power-lifting) sports. This physical activity was my personal identity at the time and without it, who was I? What was I, if not the athlete I’d spent the previous 5 years creating? Did a number on my brain. Combined with the social polarization steamrolling over the nation at the time, it took me down. ↩︎
2. The truck reviewed in this video is like the one I bought except mine was a charcoal gray color. ↩︎
3. At the start of the travel restrictions during the pandemic, I’d moved into my parents’ spare bedroom in order to spend time with Mom and help with her care. The lengthy quarantine times and lack of available testing made it impossible to readily travel to and from Austin in any meaningful way. My job had transitioned to full-time remote work immediately following the first shutdown in Texas (Spring Break 2020) when it was apparent things couldn’t go back to business as usual. ↩︎
4. I plan to write a post about the expected, and unexpected, changes this brought to my life. ↩︎
5. I still owe Dad a portion of the $6,300 he loaned me to pay it off—a clear title will make the transaction for selling it easier. As an added bonus, it also allowed me to drop full coverage insurance. ↩︎
6. On this buying endeavor, I learned cash transactions take longer for dealerships to get the funds deposited than bank financing does. A disappointing discovery, since I’d tried to leverage it for a little more discount. ↩︎
7. A year or so earlier I’d had a dealership offer me $800 for it as a trade-in. Of course, they weren’t a CJDRF dealership which sells and services Fiats. Since Chris Nikel was, maybe that made the difference.  ↩︎