Definitely requires patience. I've seen two for sale since I bought mine in 2021. When they do come up for sale there's actually not that many buyers lining up because most buyers are first-time buyers and don't understand the value or the high asking price so they pass them up for cheaper A0 and A1 trucks. There's three members on this forum - all of us have 2008 trucks so I guess they must have built a lot of '79's that year or something. Myself,
@Third From Texas, and
@AKPacker. An exclusive club for sure but it's also possible to build one with a C7 M1078 and the shelter from an older truck or a new habitat from Globe trekker, etc. It does drive up the price though it seems vs. finding an original truck. IMHO the A1R M1079 and M1087 are essentially THE best value in serious overland vehicle starting points out there. I don't know of anything this capable in their price range (~$40k - $50k).
A 3126b truck with a bad engine would be ideal also. C7 swap would be trivial (electrically). Wouldn't get the WTEC IV, or the other A1R upgrades but it would likely be a decent cost savings since a truck with an engine failure would weed out a lot of potential buyers.