"Do you recall when they came out with the 327 SS?"
Don't know which year, but I had a 65 SS with a 327 and an automatic. Guess a floor shift on a full sized car wouldn't appear odd because they were all that until the late 30s and most stick shift pick-ups are still that way.
By the way, I did once own a 64 Plymouth Sport Fury with a 404 in it. And my last V-8 Chev was a 74 that had a 454 cubic inch engine. I'm too old for V-8s now. I would get into trouble with one. Only have V-6s now, but do have stick shift as a means of maintaining manual dexterity.
With 0 to 60 times of six to seven seconds, you don't lose much speedwise with some of these modern sixes.