Kit, I think you are preaching to the choir here. We all think like you or we probably wouldn't be here in the first place.
I like both, old and new. I like the refinement on modern cars as well as the down to earth, crude behavior of classics.
I drive my 72 a lot, in fact I don't know anyone here in my country who drives his classic more than I do. I put 26000 km (+16000 miles) on it last year, this year I have made 12000 km (7500 miles) and if the weather permits I will add another 3000km. I it wasn't for the winter break and the rained out summers, I would probably not even own a new car, so I guess I know what you mean.
I do have a new VW though and that car is fun to drive in it's own way. I like the quality materials, the quiet ride quality, the extremely high gas mileage ( approx 44 mpg) and whatnot. With these new cars you make no compromises, everything works in your favor and you don't need to put up with bad manners like you would on old cars.
But that is the charm of old cars: the bad manners that give them personality. It doesn't have to be a rumpty-rump cam. In fact my 72 idles so smoothly that I can put a socket extension upright on the air filter and it will not topple over.
I have sophisticated the handling quality of it, so that it can take a beating on our narrow and winding European roads and it corners like it's on rails almost on a par with my VW and Alfa Romeo Giulietta.
But even these features will not ruin the sheer driving pleasure when you fire it up.
It's still a car that will have it's very own way of challenging you. It's like it said "Ok, you can drive me and I'll play along. I'll give you all I have but ask yourself this: Can you take it?"
I'll take a little detour into another field of work to show you that it's not only with cars: I once sold a guitar because it was too good. (A Music Man "Luke" for those in the know).
That guitar was perfect in every way. It was easy to play, versatile, sounded great, was light enough to wear around your neck for hours, stayed perfectly in tune etc etc... but it was too smooth.
For a professional guitar player that thing would have been great but I want to have fun playing. I don't mind the small imperfections of my other guitars, in fact I embrace them because they give them personality. And I like having to get myself into these little imperfections. I know that my vintage Fender Strat has a dead spot somewhere around the 13th fret, so I either play around that or I take it into account that I need to play that note in that spot in a different way. As a pro who needs dependable gear that performs as well as possible this might be an issue, for me it's part of the fun.
It's just the same with cars. If I had to spend all day in my car for my job, I would probably not do that in my Mustang, I'd choose a new car that gives me all the amenities to make me comfortable. In that case it would not be about driving a car, it would be a necessity. I would not be driving for the sake of driving.
Another example: I am not into guns at all but I remember that when I had the opportunity, it was much more fun to shoot a replica of an old front loader Remington with the ritual of pouring in the powder, then stuffing a bullet into the chamber and shoot it all in a huge cloud of smoke than it was shooting a modern gun. But if my life depended on it I'd not mess with it but choose something handy and practical.
So, be it guitars, cars or whatever, I think the keyword here is personality. Even a new car can have a personality. If it does, then I will like for what it is. If it doesn't, it'll leave no impression.
What's the quote from Pulp Fiction? "Personality goes a long way."
Sermon over, the choir is released.
