I drive an E36 M3, a car almost 20 years old.
It's a musical instrument, and the driving manual is how you play it.
Learning to use a clutch is like riding a bike: at first it's frustrating and you stall a lot, but you learn quickly. Once you've mastered it, it's effortless and fun.
I got it for less than $10k.
It is basically open hardware: you can take most of it apart with standard tools, and there's a robust aftermarket for parts.
Old manuals break down less, and have cheaper failure modes than old automatics.
My car has no embedded sim card, no infotainment dashboard ipad, no nothing.
That gives me confidence that it will never be remotely hacked, letting some 4chan troll a thousand miles away disable my brakes[1]. Nor is the manufacturer collecting a detailed database of GPS coordinates, a log of where I go.
Buy a simple car. Learn manual. Enjoy the speed and control. Be the 3%!
[1] https://www.wired.com/2015/07/hackers-remotely-kill-jeep-hig...