Earlier quoted context omitted.
What date are you using as the start of the emissions safety era? A base price 1995 Ford Contour was $13805–$16190 [1]. ABS was an upgrade option on that car. A 2023 Nissan Versa is $15730 [2] Even the cheapest cars from 1975 cost the equivalent of $17000 in today's dollars [3] 1. https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a15143064/1995-10best-... 2. https://magazine.northeast.aaa.com/daily/life/cars-trucks/ch... . 3. ht…
I was thinking of a 1970 Dodge Dart, which last I checked was $21,000 in 2021 dollars; compared to the price of an average new car today ~42K. That today's average car might have more features is true; but for many of these features, you're not allowed to forego them in favor of a new, decontented, cheaper car.
That's an invalid comparison, because 42k is the average new car transaction price (ATP), not the average MSRP, which is what your 1970 Dodge Dart is: an MSRP.
The ATP is heavily weighted toward the fact that most new cars purchased are larger SUVs and higher end cars, and also lately influenced by heavy dealer markups due to the pandemic supply/demand imbalance for cars in general.
That doesn't mean more economical cars the equivalent of the 1970 Dart aren't available today, and they are even cheaper than the Dart, i.e. the 2023 Nissan Versa at $17k. There are several other similarly cheap cars, just search "cheapest new cars 2023".