“require” is a strong word
Please elaborate
I mean that I won’t buy a conventional gasoline powered car if it sports an automatic or CVT. No conventional manual available, I’m not interested.
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Why won’t you consider a car with an automatic transmission?
LOL, I feel your pain. 
If you do pre-purchase research to choose a make and model with a good track record of reliability in its recent past, take proper care of it, and don’t beat on it, most will last at least ten years without major repairs. But when a failure does happen it’s very often upwards of $500. Even a simple brake job is upwards of $500. It might be said that $500 is the new $50.
And I agree that there are too many problems out there than are difficult to diagnose, especially with evaporative emissions systems. It’s bad enough that many states with annual emissions testing have “escape clauses” that allow a car owner to get a “pass” if they spend a certain amount unsuccessfully trying to fix an emissions problem. Typically it seems to be about $750.
I recently looked at a fully and properly restored '69 SS396 Chevy Impala (may have been a Chevelle). A peek under the hood brought back memories of the days of much more open engine compartments and much simpler systems. Far, far, far easier to work on. Of course that’s a good thing because we had to do tuneups every 10,000 miles (or less), oil changes every 3,000 miles, lube the chassis, and grease the bearings periodically. And the exhausts and dampers didn’t last like they do today. And we fought with vapor lock, gasline freezeup, driving snow getting into the distributor, drum brakes disappearing after going through a puddle, no AC, and a few other eccentricities.
But, still, I love the old cars. I prefer manual trannies, rear wheel drive, comfortable seats, access to engines, easy-to-change shocks instead of struts, and vent windows… I miss vent windows. I wish I had my old '64 Fairlane still, or even my '76 Corolla (a few of my favorites).
Some of the most beautiful cars were built in my youth too. I think the original Sting Ray and the '70 Camaro Z-28 were two of the most beautiful cars ever designed. The '70 was before the slotted plastic front ends came out. And you could get a nice car at an affordable price. Or a pickup truck dirt-cheap.
I miss my youth too. That might be a factor in my bias. 
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Don’t like the feel of 'em. I don’t like the way they go uphill. And I don’t like the way they go downhill. On a level road at a constant speed they do ok as long as I don’t have to go faster or go slower. But when do you ever drive at the same speed all day? I also don’t like the difficulty of maintaining them as a diy’er job. And I don’t like the high cost to fix them when they break, and that a fix is usually not a diy’er job for an automatic transmission. For manual transmissions all you have to do is is poke your finger into a hole to make sure the gear oil is at the proper level, and occasionally replace the clutch, which is a job I’ve never had to do yet … knock on wood … lol …
Edit: Oh, thought of one more reason I don’t like 'em. They add to the heating load on the cooling system.
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Please don’t take my next questions the wrong way . . .
Have you driven any vehicles with automatic transmission which are a lot newer than your Ford truck and your Corolla?
Anything from the last 5 years?
Because in my opinion automatics have come a long way since the time when your vehicles were built
So why haven’t I experienced massive problems with the cooling systems on my various vehicles with automatic transmissions?
The cooling systems on my vehicles with manual transmission were no more reliable
All of them had the same types of issues . . . leaking radiators and water pumps after about 15 years or so. That’s not a big deal, as far as I’m concerned
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That statement is too ridiculous as to even warrant a reply
Cooling problems ? Get serious.
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Yes, rental cars only come with automatics. One I rented was pretty good, a Chevy HHR. But several of the econobox sedan type definitely were not ok. One was so bad I was getting carsick from all the shifting it was constantly doing, a Chevy Aveo as I recall. That one would go into shifting fits if you just looked at it cross-eyed.
Well, that wasn’t a particularly good example, was it?
A cheaply built and underpowered vehicle, if I may say so myself
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I expect the Aveo, while a little under-powered compared to most cars, would still have been perfectly acceptable were it manually equipped.
I think a stick shift Aveo would still be an underpowered garbage car
There 
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The Chevy HHR would have been better vehicle in stick shift form too imo. It would frequently downshift right at the crest of a hill. Not something a manual trans driver would ever do.
It had a reputation for being underpowered. Perhaps a more powerful motor would have been a better solution!