That's cool. My first vehicle as a 1960 truck like that in green when I lived in Michigan. It has 3 on the tree and was a fun to drive but not easy to steer and brake like todays vehicles.
For some reason I find "three on the tree" and "fun to drive" in the same sentence to be an oxymoron.
I drove many cars growing up with three on the tree, and not one of them fell in the fun category.
My dad would buy used trucks equipped like that for cheap, since no one wanted them, and swap in a four speed, drive it a few years and sell it for more than he paid, since they were so cheap with the three speeds in them.
As for the steering and brakes, that huge wheel had two functions, more leverage for the armstrong steering, and more leverage for pulling down when you were cramming on the brakes.
And by the way, Ford had by far the worst brakes in an era of bad brakes.