With cars becoming just a mode of transportation, enthusiast cars are slowly expiring and becoming harder and harder to obtain. Manufacturers need to make more cars that are cars built for car fans that have a manual transmission option and are not unnecessarily expensive like today’s popular sports cars.
Car enthusiasts value cars that they can enjoy driving at a low cost. Manufacturers have made it exponentially more difficult to find good options for car enthusiasts though.
One of the most important aspects of a car that car enthusiasts value is a manual transmission. A manual transmission is the one feature that makes you feel more connected and fully in control than any other feature of a car. Shifting gears is therapeutic to car enthusiasts.
Nowadays, manuals make up less than 1% of new car sales in 2025. Every single major car manufacturer has shifted their production to focus on basic automatic transmission cars. They do this because of demand, but people should realize that it is not hard to drive a manual and that it makes driving way more enjoyable. The lack of production of manuals also takes away opportunities for real enthusiasts that value this feature.
Another way the thrill and heart of driving is going away is the insane cost of sports cars nowadays. In this instance I will use the Ford Mustang GT. Ford intentionally made the Mustang to be an affordable sports car common man could afford. In 2000, a base model 2000 Ford Mustang GT Coupe had a base MSRP of $21,205. Now the same base model 2025 Mustang GT has a base MSRP of $46,560.
The same car built to be an affordable sports car produced to allow common man to experience the thrill of driving is over two times the MSRP price. Does the present day price tag reflect the purpose of why Ford built the Mustang? The same scenario is relevant in every single car manufacturer who produces performance cars.
In 2001, 28% of new car sales in the USA were manuals. Now car enthusiasts’ most beloved feature of a car is considered a luxury for cars in 2025. Additionally, when manuals are decreasing in popularity, the cost of enthusiast cars have doubled in price at the same time.
Being fully in control of their car is what enthusiasts value the most and now it is almost impossible in the present day to find a car that is affordable where you can experience being in control. Manuals and affordability have evolved to create an inverse relationship to each other. If you can find an affordable car, it will not be manual, and if you find a manual car, it will not be affordable.
This impacts car enthusiasts by making it very difficult to get into cars. In the early 2000s, the car culture was bustling with young enthusiasts and it was because it was relatively affordable and obtainable for younger people. Now, in 2025, car culture is declining rapidly and it is because there are not enough new cars being manufactured that appeal to enthusiasts that are affordable.
Car manufacturers need to reintroduce affordable manual cars to rekindle the car community and the thrill of driving.
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