Why would that be? In what manner are constantly-going wipers unsafe? (My guess is that even in the slow speed, they might be annoying, leading some people to not use them. Am I close?)
I’d wager it’s the temptation not to use them enough. People will turn them off when they squeak and become annoying, and not want to turn them on again. Even with variable wipers, in my city it’s very common for rain to come in squalls where I’m setting the wipers intermittent - normal - off - fast - off - normal about once every thirty seconds or even less. Many, many drivers I travel with (maybe even most) will let visibility go way below the minimum I would accept before they deign to reach across and flip the switch to a higher setting.
So there’s nothing wrong with non-variable wipers, but people are inherently lazy and stupid, and that’s what the legislation is for.
I bought a brand new Pontiac Vibe in 2005 and the base model did not include power windows / power doors or intermittent wipers. All were (and still are afaik) part of the “power package”.
The stock radio was AM/FM/CD, and the engine was, of course fuel injection.
So it’s not just the off-brand imports like Kia or Hyundai that still offer manual options on their base models.
It didn’t even have a tape?? That really surprises me. I haven’t seen a radio-only unit for a car in at least ten years, and none of the car accessory stores here sell any such unit. I’m wondering where in the world they were manufacturing such things in 2003.
Rats.
I may have been wrong on this one. I can’t find the regulation I was thinking of.
Says here only two different speeds.
Why would you want a radio you can’t listen to in the afternoon? 
Amen. Last fall, I finally unloaded my 89 Corolla (the last year in which Corollas were made with carburetors), even though it was otherwise in pretty good shape, because:
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I had the worst time even finding someone who knew (or claimed to know) how to fix a carburetor.
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The carb problems I was having meant that getting the car to start on a morning when the temp was below freezing was a real crapshoot. On some really cold days, I had to wait for the sun to shine on the hood for a couple of hours before I could get it going.
I got myself a 2001 Echo. It was pretty close to the base model, so it has manual door locks and windows and no intermittent wiper speed setting (just normal and fast). The previous owner did spring for AM/FM/CD and tape player, though.
When did the intermittent wiper speed thing become a requirement?
The first brand new car I ever bought was an 82 (IIRC) Toyota Tercel. There was a radio, but it was a cheap AM only model. No power windows or doors. It was a stick shift and it ran great.
The thing it lacked that drove me nuts was an arm rest. You know the ledge on the door that the driver rests his left arm on? None. The door was flat. It was strange.
I had an MG Midget for a couple years. If it was not warm out (October to May) I had to spray starter fluid stuff into the air cleaner, then I had to quickly start it up and play with the gas pedal to keep it running for 5 minutes. God I loved that car.
Two words: Chris Evans
The world moves on; coming to a showroom near you the Renault Logan
According to the same article the background to this is the fear of cheap imported cars from China, India, and anywhere else with rock bottom wages.
Pickup trucks seem to have a “no-frills” option. My Mom’s 1997-ish Ford Ranger is equipped thusly:
Manual Windows
No AC
No Power Steering
Bench seats
Rubber flooring (No carpet)
AM/FM radio
Manual Transmission
No rear window slider
The most basic gauge cluster you can imagine
I know it didn’t cost more than $9K new. What a treat to drive! 
Many pickup trucks are bought by businesses to use as utility vehicles. Those guys would much rather save a few bucks and leave out the CD player, power windows, etc.
When I bought my Saturn SC2 (in 2001) it came with power doors and windows, delay wipers, and an AM/FM/CD radio standard. There was a stripped-down model, the SC1, but I’m not sure which of the above features would have been left off.
Incidentally, when I looked over the list of options, I was amused to notice that a radio with a tape deck was availalble, but would have cost extra.
Actually, a while ago, I had a Korean econobox as a rental car. I was amazed that it had features that were lacking in the mid-end cars my parents owned in the 1980s. They had a fairly large Chevrolet Impala with roll-up windows, AM-only radio, manual doorlocks, a three-speed automatic transmission and plain old two-speed wipers. It didn’t even have a trip odometer. When I was a kid, I thought a radio that received FM stations and power windows were unattainable luxuries, afforded only to the very wealthy. Feature for feature, what was considered a nice mid-end car in 1980 was a stripped-down model compared to the Kia I got for $17 a day.
No, I don’t want to buy a stripped down car. I was wondering, though, if it is still possible to buy a car today that was equipped like a “normal” car from 1980.