I have found a factory manual trans 1979 El Camino for sale near me. I've only ever bought auto trans El Caminos in the past - does the manual trans make this one worth more ? Is it rare for the manual trans option?

manuals were available from 78-81, and are pretty rare, but there is usually at least 1 on ebay. that's how I rate it, lol. does it have a factory 350 as well?

It has a 305 in it.

I have the same exact car i payed $3,000..... only 3.1% of 79 elky's were 4 speed's. As far as i know they are pretty rare.

Although a 4 speed is somewhat rare, don't rate the cars worth by that alone...what's the overall condition of it? The fact that it has a 4 speed has little to do with it, and IMO can even lower the worth of the car if a lot of the parts to the 4 speed setup are worn. The pedal linkage to the Z bar was not symetrical the way they were made and the linkage rods and Z bar could be and probably are worn, which will cost you money to repair or replace. Then there's always the clutch setup, you may need to replace those parts also. They are fun to drive though...so don't let me discourage you from buying it...just check the entire car out.

I passed on it, it's priced at $4000 :? Bottom of doors and quarter panels are rusted and it needs work before it can pass state safety inspection.