They don't do cars like they used to...

...which is a mix of a bless and a curse. Today almost all the cars have air conditioning, electric windows, power steering, cupholders, radios and a lot of other gizmos (and, at least here in Italy [elsewhere dunno], anti-lock brakes as a standard equipment not for law but as common agreement between car makers as standard equipment, it seems) or for very little more, not to mention more secure and robust in the unfortunate event travel doesn't go as expected (though my old Simca 1307GLS, my first car, was a tank on wheels already... and weighed about as much too. Thing that, without power steering as it was, to maneuver in a tight spot at slow speed... it was a real pig). Things these that make travel more pleasant... while only 10 years ago it was just another story. In exchange though cars do not last like they did once upon a time...

Easier to live with and inside, but not as hardy (though this is not an absolute rule by any stretch of imagination, as there were pretty lame cars once upon a time too)... life is made of compromises...