QOTD: Remaining Enthusiastic?

Tim Healey
by Tim Healey

Over the weekend, I had a conversation with a friend about manual transmissions. My friend is one of the few non-auto-journo folks I know who drives a vehicle with three pedals, and he made a comment about the slow death of the stick shift, especially as cars increasingly become electric, or at least electrified.

I pushed back gently, suggesting that there will also be a market, perhaps quite small but a market nonetheless, for internal-combustion engine vehicles, even after the market flips in favor of EVs. Unless the ICE is outright banned, of course. I also believe there will be a market for sports cars with hybrid and EV setups, and some might be able to offer manuals. Either way, I figure that as long as some car enthusiasts demand sports cars, including those with manuals, and as long as automakers won’t take too much of a hit to the bottom line to produce such cars, there will be a market.

What I am not sure about, though, is how many enthusiasts there will be, and how vocal they will be about keeping the flame of the “enthusiast” car alive.

This may sound like the usual worries about the younger generations not being as into cars as their forebears, but it isn’t — I think there’s enough evidence that suggests the youths still like to play with cars out there, even if my own non-automotive-media social circles don’t contain many car people: Off top of head, I can only think of a handful of friends/family who are into cars, and only two or three don’t have some professional or personal connection to one part or another of the automotive industry.

But I do wonder if today’s enthusiasts might have different priorities than asking for hot performance cars — even ones with more environmentally friendly powertrains — and how that might change things.

For example, I am just barely old enough to vaguely remember the revolt that Ford set off when it planned to make the Mustang front-wheel drive. Ford heard the voices of the faithful, backed down, and kept the Mustang rear-drive while producing the Probe as a front-drive sportster. Would that happen today if Ford decided to make a huge change to the Mustang that would almost certainly hurt performance and/or make the car radically different from what it has traditionally been?

I’m not talking about the Mach-E, here — that’s a separate car that shares the name. Nor am I necessarily talking about an EV powertrain — an instant-torque EV Mustang might be pretty awesome. But what if Ford decided to drop the manual? Make the car front-drive? Or drop the V8 (that one might not be totally bad, given the EcoBoost’s power numbers, but still…)? Would the enthusiast crowd stand up, and if so, would their crowing be enough to stop Ford from such hypothetical changes?

I mean, BMW and other marques that sell performance/luxury cars have been reducing the number of sporty cars available with manual transmissions and the backlash hasn’t been all that fierce.

This isn’t a post to debate the pros/cons of manuals. That can be done elsewhere. Rather, my conversation about manuals and sports cars led to a jumping-off point, and now I am wondering — what does today’s car enthusiast want? Does he/she/they have the same power over OEMs that enthusiasts apparently once did? Or do harsh market realities mean more than what enthusiasts want — even if car people will put their money where their mouth is?

I remember buff books worrying that the market was going to kill off “driver’s cars” back in the ’90s, thanks to the proliferation of vanilla mid-size sedans and the slow decline of the stick-shift. Now the crossover craze fuels concerns. But the truth is this: For a very long time, perhaps going back to the beginning of the automobile, the “fun” cars were almost certainly always a small part of the market. We remember the cool ones from the ’50s and ’60s, but we forget the boring ones that were relegated to history — unless, of course, they provided the underpinnings of a muscle car.

So, I don’t want to go down that road. Instead of asking you if car enthusiasts still exist in large numbers and will continue to do so — they do and I think they will — I want to know if the future enthusiast can fight back against market forces (and, perhaps, regulations) that might end the fun.

Sound off below.

[Image: BoJack/Shutterstock.com]

Tim Healey
Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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Comments
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4 of 103 comments
  • DenverMike DenverMike on Jun 08, 2021

    Just admit you're not a fan. It's totally fine, we won't judge, demand your mancard, etc. You can hate them, not know how to drive them (the majority of the US), or even scared whatever and it's totally cool. No big deal, just be honest. We can see right through the BS.

    • See 1 previous
    • DenverMike DenverMike on Jun 09, 2021

      @ajla Thanks, it doesn't mean you're a girly man, not an enthusiast or other. You no longer have to kill your own food either.

  • Teddyc73 Teddyc73 on Jun 09, 2021

    "Unless the ICE is outright banned, of course." Keep voting for looney Democrats and that will sure has hell happen. They want to control every aspect of our lives which includes telling us what vehicles to drive. It also plays into their false narrative of "climate change". Control control control.

  • ToolGuy This might be a good option for my spouse when it becomes available -- thought about reserving one but the $500 deposit is a little too serious. Oh sorry, that was the Volvo EX30, not the Mustang. Is Volvo part of Ford? Is the Mustang an EV? I'm so confused.
  • Mikey My late wife loved Mustangs ..We alway rented one while travelling . GM blood vetoed me purchasing one . 3 years after retirement bought an 08 rag top, followed by a 15 EB Hard top, In 18 i bought a low low mileage 05 GT rag with a stick.. The car had not been properly stored. That led to rodent issues !! Electrical nightmare. Lots of bucks !! The stick wasn't kind to my aging knees.. The 05 went to a long term dedicated Mustang guy. He loves it .. Today my garage tenant is a sweet 19 Camaro RS rag 6yl Auto. I just might take it out of hibernation this weekend. The Mustang will always hold a place in my heart.. Kudos to Ford for keeping it alive . I refuse to refer to the fake one by that storied name .
  • Ajla On the Mach-E, I still don't like it but my understanding is that it helps allow Ford to continue offering a V8 in the Mustang and F-150. Considering Dodge and Ram jumped off a cliff into 6-cylinder land there's probably some credibility to that story.
  • Ajla If I was Ford I would just troll Stellantis at all times.
  • Ronin It's one thing to stay tried and true to loyal past customers; you'll ensure a stream of revenue from your installed base- maybe every several years or so.It's another to attract net-new customers, who are dazzled by so many other attractive offerings that have more cargo capacity than that high-floored 4-Runner bed, and are not so scrunched in scrunchy front seats.Like with the FJ Cruiser: don't bother to update it, thereby saving money while explaining customers like it that way, all the way into oblivion. Not recognizing some customers like to actually have right rear visibility in their SUVs.
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