the gotcha here is that if such a car was only designed for, say, ECE requirements, there may not be a business case to spend the money federalizing a cheap car.
also to note, there is a big difference between a car without power steering, and one with power steering which doesn’t work. The gear ratios can be very different.
There is a very basic version of the Nissan Versa sedan available. It was the cheapest car in the USA last year and came with very few accessories.
However it looks like even the basic 2014 model comes with AC and costs around $12,500.
I did not know that. I hereby retract my Post #7, above. Thanks!
The cheapest car for sale within 30 miles of my zip code is a Mazda2. Apparently even the most basic model (w/manual transmission) has: ABS, stability control, side curtain airbags, AC, power steering, power mirrors, power windows, power locks, remote keyless entry, and a stereo with CD player, USB port, and aux input. This all at the price of about $13,500. The Mazda2 is closely followed in price by the Chevy Spark and Ford Fiesta, which as mentioned above you can get without some power options. An article I read recently said 98% of new cars have AC.
Some people don’t care about resale because they intend to keep the car a long time. I may be wrong the the OP strikes me as this kind of person. The rest of the part of your post that I snipped strikes me as complete hogwash.
Over here in the UK the resale value, or any other detail, would have no bearing on any loan. It is a well known fact that new cars lose a third of their value in the first two years. All the lender would be interested in is the creditworthiness of the applicant.
The original mini launched in 1956 for under £500 (less than the build cost) would have fitted the OP’s requirements exactly. No power or wind-up window - they were sliding; no internal panels on the doors, or even a handle on the inside - you had a chain to pull. There was only one instrument, a speedometer with a mileometer and an ignition warning light. All the welded seams stuck out at right angles to simplify the build and it had a transverse 950cc engine which drove the front wheels through a three speed gearbox.
Yeah, actually in my experience sparsely-optioned cars actually hold their value better over the long term. They resell for less because they cost less in the first place, but they hold their value proportionally better. (Also, to add some anec-data I had zero problems financing my no-ABS, hand-crank window, stick shift pickup truck through my usually annoyingly tight-fisted credit union.)
That actually brings up another big factor in the disappearance of the basic car. Back in the bad old days, buying a new economy car might have been the best bang for your transportation buck because cars were so short-lived that the used market was a crapshoot. These days though, cars last so much longer so if your goal is simply to get the most reliable transportation for the buck, used is pretty much a no-brainer. So the sorts of frugal people who were buying new cars without A/C and radios back in the day are almost all buying slightly-used cars now. Poorly-optioned cars sell poorly to new car buyers, but sell fairly well to cheapskate used car buyers.
No gas (petrol) gauge? :eek:
I don’t know how it works over there, but new Beemers here are sold with a fairly basic spec. All the desirable goodies (air con, radio, leather) are optional extras and can add 30% or more to the final cost
Not in the US; they’re almost fully loaded.
You can go to edmunds.com if you’re curious about what options are available on cars in the US.
Oops - yes - on the speedo dial.
The whole car weighed in at 640kg (1500lbs)
With a bit of work, they could be made to go like shit off a shovel. Oh - and no seat belts, airbags, or door reinforcement or electronic anything
Modern cars are a lot heavier and have much wider tires than 20 or 30 years ago. This makes them harder to steer.
VW Beetles didn’t have gas gauges until the early 60’s. Before that they had a system similar to most motorcycles where once the engine started cutting out, you flipped a valve to switch to the fuel reserve and then you knew you had another 30 miles or so of range.
To follow up on this, I took a look at the most basic BMW 3 series:
It doesn’t mention air conditioning but I’m sure it’s standard as well. Except for the vinyl (I’m assuming that BMW wants everyone who sees it to think it’s leather) it’s a perfectly serviceable car, for a little over $30k (but no where near basic transportation).
I bought my Chevrolet Sonic new last year. As far as I know it’s their cheapest model. I got the cheapest sedan version, but paid extra for the color (metallic orange) and satellite radio. I ordered manual transmission but can’t recall if it cost extra. A/C and antilock brakes were standard.
NO power steering
YES anti-lock brakes
YES traction control
YES air conditioning
NO power windows
NO security system
It also does not have cruise control, which I kind of wish I’d gotten.
Base price was something like $14K. I can’t be arsed to dig out the paperwork or look it up.
I work at home, so it’s not a commuter car, but I’ve put ~30K miles on it since last April (we live out in the sticks and use this car for all non-work trips), averaging just under 40 MPG.
I’ve driven with none of those features for the entire 15 years I’ve been driving, and not once have I wished for them.
My 2002 Saturn, which was bought new in 2001, almost fits the OP, but has AC and power steering. Otherwise, no power nothing. It’s been going strong for 230k miles. My mom’s fully optioned Impala from a few years later (and driven half the miles) is falling apart. Power windows and locks are the first to go. Automatic transmissions have way more trouble, in my experience, than manual.
Sure, if you’re rich, maybe rolling up your window is a PITA compared to just throwing money at it or buying a new car. But for regular people there are still huge economic benefits to reducing the complexity of your car along with its necessary maintenance. Not to mention price. My car was $3000 cheaper than with an automatic transmission.
I drive a 1998 Ford Escort, which I bought new. It has power windows and door locks – despite me not being rich and generally fairly regular :rolleyes: – and I’ve never had a problem with either.
[QUOTE=CoastalMaineiac]
I mean a car without:
power steering,
anti-lock brakes,
traction control,
air conditioning,
an automatic transmission,
power windows,
security systems
[/QUOTE]
No traction control, but otherwise my car has all of those things. A 1998 Ford Escort, mind, not a Beemer. 
To reiterate purplehorseshoe, safety features like ABS are frivolous luxuries? :dubious: Plus, the last time I looked at my car insurance, I get a discount for having ABS and a security system on my car.
Admittedly, I almost never use the aircon. Also admittedly, my mother would kill me if she had to ride in my car in the height of the summer without it. 
OK, but your car is now 11 years old. Modern automatics are more efficient than manuals, are just as reliable, and won’t require an expensive clutch replacement at some point in their lives. Don’t get me wrong, I love driving my 6 speed stick, but I doubt my next car will have one, it just doesn’t make any sense.
Can you truthfully say that the newer automatic transmissions are going to be “just as reliable” as a standard transmission when they have over 200,000 miles on them? 300,000 miles?
As for efficiency, I have a hard job believing that a conventional automatic transmission could be more efficient than a manual transmission. They both are designed to transfer power from the engine to the drive shaft, but the very nature of an automatic transmission’s torque converter (which slips by design, I believe) seems to me to be a less efficient design than the clutch in a manual transmission (which doesn’t slip except when first engaging the gears).
In terms of fuel efficiency. My experience with automatic cars is that I tend to see about what the EPA estimates I should see for mileage. With manual cars, I tend to see about 8 to 12 percent better than what the EPA estimates. I’m talking the highway estimates, by the way. Maybe I’m just better at driving standards than I am automatics, or maybe the EPA testers just can’t drive stick!
Modern cars have lock-up torque converters.