In the US or Canada, can you still buy a NEW car with ...

… an AM only or AM-FM radio with no CD or tape player?
… manual rollup windows?
… a carbureted, and not fuel-injected engine?
… manual, and not power door locks?
… non-interval windshield wipers?

Radio? Possibility on a low end car
Manual Windows? Yes. Again on a low end car
Carburetor? NO fucking way. Cannot meet emissions standards.
Manual door locks? Probably on a low end car
Non interval wipers? Possibility on a low end car.
Yes = sure
Probably = Some car, some where probably offers this, but may not be very common
Possibility = You might find it, but I doubt it.

So I got to ask, why do you want to know this? :confused:

It is research for the Yugo 2007 marketing initiative.

Data point: My mom’s 2001 Hyundai Accent came with no radio of any kind, manual roll up windows that also served as air conditioning, manual door locks, and non-power steering.

I drove with her across the United States in it. You know, in case there was any doubt that I loved her.

The very base Chevy Aveo (SVM 1VL), for example, has manual windows, locks, mirrors, and no tape deck or CD player. It does have intermittent wipers and fuel-injected engine, though.

My son had a 2003 Ford ZX-2 (no longer made, but 2003 isn’t ancient history either).
It had only an AM/FM radio, no tape deck or CD, non-interval windshield wipers, manual rollup windows, and non-electric locks, no remote of any kind. It did have a fuel injector though.

I’m sure about all this because I’m the one who bought it for him. After haggling and rebates I only paid $8900 for it brand new. I drove it a couple times and I have to tell you, for a cheap car it had some zip to it and was fun to drive.

You can get a Kia Rio with no power locks or windows.

My 99 Corolla has an AM/FM w/ cassette, a fuel injected 3-speed engine and no power locks or doors. The wipers have two speeds, normal and really fucking fast. It doesn’t even have a clock. But I don’t know if they still offering anything that basic.

I read an article about this a few years ago in which they studied the possibility of car manufacturers making ultra-basic models. Apparently, it turns out that the manufacturers have already found the bottom end of the market, and can go no further.

For example, you can’t pull out the “luxurious” carpet and replace it with rubber mats like 1960s cars had, because the mats are more expensive. A basic CD player is only a few bucks wholesale to a big manufacturer, so you might as well throw one in too if it’s going to sell more units.

And a lot of other stuff like bench seats and carburettors either fail safety or emissions standards, or even if they pass, would require extensive retooling to manufacture parts which can’t be used in other models. So your average 4cyl bottom of the range Korean econobox is pretty much where it’s at, right now.

Interval windshield wipers are required via federal safety standards.

Note that the OP didn’t even ask about power steering, which was a luxury feature a couple decades back. When cars started becoming predominantly front wheel drive, power steering started getting installed on even the tiniest econoboxes.

I prefer manual controls for a lot of stuff, not only because it’s cheaper to buy, but because it’s cheaper to fix. The number of times I have to roll down a window that no one’s sitting at are very few, and I can lean over if I really need to.

When the window mechanism broke on my old Miata, it was less than an hour of work total (for someone who’d never opened up a car door before), and a $50 part. If I’d had electric windows, it would have been a $220 part.

I’m actually happier with the stock crappy radio/casette that’s in my Rav4 to the snazzy custom installed cd player that was in the Miata. I can play my iPod on a tape adapter now, whereas there’s no such thing as a cd adapter, and the radio adapters all suck if you drive anywhere near LA.

I do like power locks, though.

Back in the 70’s I had a '68 Plymouth Valiant that didn’t have power steering. No big deal at higher speeds but a pain when driving around town. Definately something you would miss if your car didn’t have it.

We just bought a base-model Chevrolet Cobalt, manual locks, manual windows – but the CD player is standard and you have interval wipers (though you can’t set the interval time). And it’s fuel-injected.

… an AM only or AM-FM radio with no CD or tape player?
Probably impossible to get an AM only but an AM/FM is still a base option on a lot of models.

… manual rollup windows?
Sure, its just that now pretty much all models offer them so they are much more common, i.e. non-ordered dealer ‘lot’ cars will have them.

… a carbureted, and not fuel-injected engine?
No way, no how. And as a former mechanic good freakin’ riddance! Some people have no idea what a nightmare starting you car in the cold used to be.

… manual, and not power door locks?
Same as power windows.

… non-interval windshield wipers?
Probably only on the most basic of cars would these not be standard.

BTW, what do you have against interval wipers? Or are you just trying to get a car as inexpensively as possible?

You got that right.

Can you get an AM only radio of any kind, anywhere?

Power door locks and windows aren’t available on the base-model Chevy Aveo, nor is a CD player…AM/FM 2-speaker is standard (I’d guess you could still buy a base model and get a CD/MP3 player as a dealer option). A/C is only available as a dealer option (this surprised me…I thought dealer-air went out back in the early 80s.) Tilt steering is standard on all models. Automatic transmission isn’t available and is an option in the higher-up models. Power steering and brakes doesn’t seem to be mentioned anywhere in the list but I might’ve missed it.

The Kia Rio base model is N/A on power windows and locks and radio (although the higher models are AM/FM/CD). A/C is N/A and doesn’t mention it as a dealer option either. Power Assisted steering is N/A.

Thats a better point than you probably even intended.

I’ve noticed that it’s far more common to find FM only radios than even AM/FM combo radios.
Hell, they sell FM only raidos (including ear buds) at the dollar store (I’ve bought a couple of them and they work pretty darn good) but I haven’t seen AM only radios for over 20 years. Trying to get an AM only radio as far as I know is very difficult, but getting one for a car is probably impossible nowdays.

My Mum’s old Renault Clio had an irritating interval on the wipers, either fast or nothing. For spatterings of rain it was annoying to keep flicking the wipers every few seconds. That or have the rubber dry wipe the window :smack:

Aside from that, that 2001 car had wind up windows front and rear, AM-FM-tape deck radio and no powered locks (if I understand that term, its central locking?)

Wow. No doors? On Neptune they sure do keep the trimmings minimal.