Here's my beater. A 76 Cherokee Chief with only 239K miles on the stock motor. Four-speed with a granny gear. Stock 1/4 inch steel plate protecting the vitals underneath. I've taken it up most of Colorado's mountain passes, to many mines, and I've pulled out a bunch of stuck vehicles with my winch. I especially like going up trails that have crunched mufflers and locking hubs strewn along them. Here it is above timberline, on the paved road going up to the summit of Mount Evans (14,260 feet):
In the 70's, when manufacturers put aluminum heads on iron blocks, blown head gaskets were very common because of the different expansion factors. Plus, I'm a pessimist.