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Needs (and wants) are subjective. I have no passengers or cargo to convey, and am unimpressed by newfangled gadgets... where "newfangled" is anything that went mainstream after WW2. I'd be thrilled with a 1932 Ford as my daily driver, but sadly, this would be extremely costly.
The free-market responds to consumer tastes. Those tastes are influences by myriad factors. Persons with unusual tastes are left to fend for themselves. They might be able to coax the market into supplying their preferences, for sufficient lucre. Or they might be forced to fend for themselves. Or to humbly settle for what's available.
Let me give a specific example. In the former USSR, automotive choices were sparse. The common (relatively speaking) domestic brands were widely regarded as being shabby, unreliable, cramped and all-around pathetic. Consumers who wanted something better, were simply out of luck. But suppose that Iactually wanted a 1960s Moskvitch, and I wanted to drive it on the streets of Ohio. Would I be able to do this? Probably not. I'd have to move to Russia, scour their local classified ads, and hope to get lucky. For enough money, I could use their semi-free-market to get a fine restored example of a 1960s Moskvitch. But In the American market - no such luck... even if I had hundreds of thousands of dollars to throw at the problem.
That makes no sense. You are spending more time fixing the old one since you have to fix it 10x more often.
not really, because in the old one it was a 10 minute job, in the new one it's an all day job just because of all the stuff you have to take off just to get to it.
Examples:
1967 mustang, no extras, or stuff you don't need to make the car go(and go fast), car is roughly the same size as a new mustang but 3x more room to work in, everything is easy to get to, so all you need is a wrench/ratchet set.
2018 mustang engine, look at all the crap you have to get around or remove just to do minor repairs/maintenance, plus the time it takes to put everything back on, and because of sensors you often have to take stuff back off and on again because you forgot to reconnect a sensor or a wire got bent and is not connecting right.
So while back in the day you had to repair more often, it was much much easier, and there were always short cuts of jury rigging you could do to keep your car running until you could save up to fix it properly, these days that is rarely an option. and even minor repairs are an all day job because of all the extra crap they cram in under your hood. and most of that stuff is emissions system filler.
Another example: 2007 Camry V6. Water pumps are notoriously prone to failure... every 100K miles. The dealer service bulletin calls for disconnecting the engine mounts and jacking up the engine, to access the pump! Intrepid independent mechanics have found an easier alternative, but it still entails considerable disassembly of ancillary components. Experts have it down to maybe a 5 hour job.
But on the 1977 Corona (the ancestor of the Camry) with the 20R engine, removing the water pump simply means removing the fan-clutch and drive-belt, and then getting to about 8-10 bolts.
On traditional American pushrod V8s, the job is even easier. On the Chevy small block or big block, it's 4 bolts, and the pump sits exposed, at the front of the engine block.
The real hassle of ownership is when being faced by unfamiliar, substantial failures, that one doesn't know how to address - even if these failures are rare, and don't occur until well after 100K miles. This is much less of a hassle than dealing with recurring nuisances.
There is a huge difference between a car that was built a generation ago, and one that could be built today using current technology of robotics, tooling, outsourcing, miniaturization, materials, the list goes on.
You guys just. Don't. Get. It. You physically CAN'T MAKE a new car for that kind of price, no matter HOW simple. As was mentioned, a Yugo was $4k in 1985 dollars. You're not going to get cheaper in TODAY'S dollars. It's IMPOSSIBLE. You HAVE to meet modern emissions and safety regulations. You can't SELL a NEW car that's worse than the Yugo now.
I think there would be a market for a more basic vehicle. Not as much a throw back as the OP suggests, but something with the minimum equipment to be legal, and safe. Manual trans, roll up windows, no multi function display, etc. Target price would be around $10K - 12K.
The Nissan Versa comes to mind, $12K minimum MSRP. Air conditioning, 4 doors, and bluetooth.
The problem is that at some point your competing with a nicer car that isn't going to break down for a long time that's a few years old.
You guys just. Don't. Get. It. You physically CAN'T MAKE a new car for that kind of price, no matter HOW simple. As was mentioned, a Yugo was $4k in 1985 dollars. You're not going to get cheaper in TODAY'S dollars. It's IMPOSSIBLE. You HAVE to meet modern emissions and safety regulations. You can't SELL a NEW car that's worse than the Yugo now.
Get over it, already.
I know. People think you can slap some lipstick and panels on a go-kart. Not so.
Perhaps one day a company like Cushman will put put a simple vehicle like the OP speaks of. They already have one street legal version (tops out at 25mph). https://cushman.txtsv.com/vehicles/lsv-800
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