[Germanauto]

I feel like the late 00s were the sweet spot for auto enthusiasts. Cars were relatively driver-oriented and engaging to drive (e.g. hydraulic steering and straight 6 engines were the norm) while still having basic features like bluetooth audio and backup cameras. Cars were a lot more affordable too. Boxster/911, BMW M cars etc were more reasonably priced. Salaries in a lot of professions have not kept up with the pace of the price increases in these cars.

However it's not all doom and gloom. There are still some really great driver's cars being made today. Cars that are still relatively light, have amazing transmissions, objectively better handling than anything in past, etc. Cars that come to mind: BMW M2, G80 M3/4, G20, Alfa Romeos, everything from Porsche, Merc AMGs, etc.

What does sadden me is this massive push for electrification. I am fine with it for the majority of cars, but I fear ICE will be legislated out of existence even fore enthusiast-oriented cars. I think the demand for EVs will naturally grow over time, but I also think a lot of fellow Americans enjoy their ICE cars and demand will remain for a while. EVs will be faster and not have any lag that I'll give it to them, but some of us are willing to trade that 1-2 seconds of acceleration for all the wonderful attributes of ICE. I just wish we consumers could have choice instead of being forced to adopt a technology we don't want for our enthusiast cars.