KLS, I had a 69 Charge with R/T package and 68 Corvette Convertible....both with stick (manual transmission). You can learn to drive your muscle car. Get a friend that can drive it to take you to the empty end of a large parking lot and go to it! My daughter has an '88 Mustang 5.0 with an automatic transmission...... and I just picked up an '89 Convertible with a stick that I'm going to insist she learns to drive stick as soon as it comes back from the Paint Shop.
Keep us posted on your progress!