WYCKOFF, N.J.

NAVIGATING his 1964 Ford Fairlane 500 Ranch Wagon through the late-afternoon traffic clogging roads in western Bergen County, Joe Mamola appeared to be getting a workout. The stop-and-go pace had the slender 48-year-old divorced father muscling the Fairlane’s large-diameter, thin-rimmed steering wheel and pressing his right leg into the brake pedal with noticeable force.

Neither the steering nor the brakes are power-assisted in the nearly 50-year-old Ford. Both features were extra-cost options, as in many cars of that period. And given that the car also lacks another option, an automatic transmission, the owner’s left leg and right arm were moving in marionettelike choreography — working the clutch pedal and steering-column shifter for the 3-speed manual transmission — unfamiliar to many drivers today.

“I like the uniqueness of the three-on-the-tree,” he said, using car-buff jargon. With each shift, the clutch issued a “thump” as it engaged.

Mr. Mamola considers the effort of driving his wagon a plus, not a minus. “Whenever I drive the Fairlane, I feel like I’m on vacation. I feel the cares and stress of the job melt away,” he said.