How Can Car Manufacturers Reclaim That Vintage-Car Driving Feel?

One of the realities of vintage cars owned by enthusiasts, is the realization that these are vehicles that force you to make a lot of compromises. They are not every day cars for all around consumers. They don’t “fit” everyone. Sometimes they are too small like a Fiat Topolino or too big like a Cadillac Fleetwood. They are too much trouble or require too much involvement to drive. Manual transmissions, manual chokes, hand crank windows, poor heating, no a/c, raise you own convertible top. Starting takes a little finesse with old school carbs, gotta let it build up a little heat in the motor before it will accept more throttle. These are things that modern consumers will no longer stand for. I remember when all my motorcycles had kick starters. I agree that a real floor shifted manual transmission is an important link to the past. No mass producer of automobiles is going to build anything that is a chore to drive, there isn’t a market for it. Luckily for us, there are still thousands of old cars available to own.

I think cars from the 80s-90s were the best balance of modern practicality yet not disconnected.

Nowadays, they are just trying to sell cars with spec numbers. So boring. Even the FT-86 which a few would say is the closest, lets be honest…its no where near with all the comforts and assists.
The focus was on the driver, now its on selling the car…but thats what drives their numbers. I guess we are all to blame?

A couple of cars that spring to mind that have a ‘classic feel’ are the first generation Mazda MX5 (Or Miata to some of you). The designers certainly did their research and got a lot of things right. And also the new FIAT 500, while it has many concessions to modern life, it also remains a very faithful modern interpretation of the original 500. By which I mean, it does not drive the same, but it occupies the same space in the modern car world. Small, economical and stylish.

I agree with a lot of sentiments above. It’s a hard question to answer. Manufacturers are always going to chase the profit and it leaves those like us with few meaningful choices. The SUV craze, these CUV oddities, the hybrid wave… Electronic nannies are here to stay. Airbags and super mega crumple zones and whatever other safety devices will continue to be stuffed into our cars with reckless abandon. My only suggestion is to cultivate the excitement the way my dad’s ’69 Mach I cultivated mine. Get that kid to stare slack jawed at a metal masterpiece driving by them. Then get that kid a job designing and making cars.

the toyota 86 mention previously is good for a modern car but it’s talents don’t feel natural.
the whole thing smacks of contrivance, hence if it came to a showdown it would be an original ae86 over the pretender.

in my opinion, what defines a vintage feel is lack of perfection. when you drive a vintage car, you can feel and sense the imperfections of it. the steering, it’s cornering ability (or lack there of), the imperfect gaps in body work. These are things that give a vintage car the character it has, it lets the driver “learn” the car, and in my opinion, get attached to it. today’s precision in manufacturing, replaces that personality with a different one.
I guess what I’m saying is, car manufacturers should limit some of the electronic drivers aids and let the driver drive. as odd as it sounds, introducing imperfection would do it…after all, the imperfections are what makes any relationship enjoyable…

I don’t know if I want my new cars to feel like vintage cars. Or my vintage cars to feel like new ones. What I do think would make new cars more enjoyable in a vintage car way is too make everything interface between driver and car more tactile. I wouldn’t mind paddle shifters if they felt like you were doing something. A nice crisp *snick* feel or “chish* sound or something. Steering feel needs to be engaging. Engine/Exhaust note should be unique. When I drive my wife’s ’12 VW CC I feel so disengaged from machine and surroundings that I can barley stay awake if I drive it more than an hour. It’s a great car for quiet cruising with a great motor (that you can almost hear if you turn the radio all the way down) but it’s like an isolation chamber. I think this is actually dangerous because it’s too easy to tune out the world around me and focus on the infotainment system which makes the most attention grabbing sounds and is the most engaging thing in the car. We call it “Swish” because that about sums up the driving experience. Get in …swish…you have arrived at your destination.

There are still some stripped down “club sport” or “cup” version, but they’re far too few. Also, keep the manuals! Even the Porsche 911 GT3 is an all automatic car these days and that’s just wrong. While fuel efficiency has got some manufacturers to realize that low weight is good, it’s done more harm than good. Drive-by-wire, electric power steering and all that shit is done in the name of “saving the planet”, but to enthusiasts those kinds of things are almost worse than death. Even the “back to basic driving pleasure” BRZ/FR-S has got electric power steering for crying out loud!

In essence: give me a lightweight fully mechanical car without the electric shizzle wizzle (I’d happily “pay extra” for gas) and without “creature comforts” with modern day passive crash safety and a manual gearbox and I’d be a very happy man. It would have to look somewhat good to ofcourse, but I’m afraid that crash safety and true beauty are opposites.

Manufacturers should give us a choice if we want the stripped down, lightweight version or the more comfortable, cushy and decked out one.