When most cars shift by wire, there is no need to be restricted by linkage. All Toyota’s that I am aware of are gate shifters which have no buttons. So, there are a plethora of options out there.
Back when you had mechanical linkage, column shifters may have had lots of advantages, but the one missing, shifting precision, the most important for a manual, was missing. With shift by wire, many cars are making a come back with the wand, at least up to the dash. Even option for paddle shifters on or about the steering wheel are available. Not to worry. Try them all out and see which is most accommodating.
Personally, the old linkage manual column shifters stunk ! Autos were fine.
Personally, I rather like a column-mounted shifter in a pickup truck or a van, be it automatic or manual. I miss those old “three-on-the-tree” manual 3-speed column shifters; and I never had any problems with any of the ones that I used. The last time I can remember using a 3-speed column shifter was back around 1988 or 1989, in a mid-1960s vintage Ford Econoline panel van; there were no problems with the smoothness of shifting. One thing I always wondered, though, was why there was never a 4-speed column-shift setup made, at least on an American-made vehicle; I’ve heard that a few European-made cars had a 4-speed column-shift, though. I think it would be nice if manual column shifters made a comeback, but this time with 4 speeds plus a button-activated overdrive; that’d be a neat trick.
@Drifter62–The Hillman-Minx cars that were imported from England had a 4 speed manual shift with the shifter on the column. The SAAB of the late 1950s and early 1960s (the 3 cylinder 2 stroke engine version) had the shifter on the column, but I can’t remember whether the transmission had 3 or 4 forward speeds.
If you want an easy shifting 3 speed on the column, the 1939-1948 Chevrolet would fill the bill. These Chevrolets had a vacuum assist to make shifting easier.
In my early days of driving which was the late 1950s, floor shift conversion kits were available to convert the balky column shifts to a more positive shifting floor shift. Years later, my brother had a 1978 GMC pickup that he bought used. The column shift mechanism broke and the truck was old enough that he couldn’t find a new steering column in the recycling yards, but he did find a floor shift conversion kit and made the truck operable again.
One advantage of the floor shift on some vehicles was that the shift lever went right into the top of the transmission. This made servicing easier as the transmsission and shifter were all on piece.
My Scion has a patterned shifter with no button. Many makes and models do.
Having said that, I too remember the old “three on the tree” shifters (column shifters) and I too think they offered advantages.
I also remember the pushbutton dash-mounted shifters that Dodge used many years ago. I always thought that was a great idea. Back then it was mechanical and had problems, but with today’s technology it seems like it’s an idea whose time has come.
@the same mountainbike–the 1958-1962 Ramblers had the push button shifters for the automatic transmissions. My parents owned a 1960 Rambler with this set-up and they never had a problem. Like the Chrysler system, these pushbuttons were mechanical. The 1958 Edsel on its top trim lines had an electrically operated push button system with the buttons in the hub of the steering wheel (the hub did not turn). This set-up was troublesome. If the battery was dead, there was no way to put the car in Drive or Low for a push start.
I remember having to apply a screwdriver to several 3-on-the-trees to free them up. Some worked fine, others would lock up as parts wore out and got misaligned.
An old Fiat sedan that my dad had for a while around 1970 (not sure of the model. We didn’t have it very long. Develped a cracked block.) also had a 4 on the tree. 1st was where a traditional 3 on the tree would have reverse, with all the rest of the gears moving up a notch. Reverse was reached by pushing the lever toward the floor in neutral, than down.