I know in my mind and heart that electrification is the way of the future. But a part of me is sad to lose iconic machines such as these. I'm a GenXer so I straddle that line of the past and the future. We're at the end of an era...
Vehicles are interesting in that for the people that enjoy them there's a tendency towards brand loyalty in ways that don't exist for other products. This is especially true with the older generations. There are/have been web series, magazines, books, TV shows dedicated to Mopar, Ford, and GM. I can think of 5 "Ford guys" in my life without even trying. While that brand loyalty has waned a lot over the past couple of decades it still exists, and Dodge will most likely bring back a version of these to satisfy that base.
OEMs will realize this a decade from now when the old people loyal to the big three start to die off, the people who don't care start buying the Chinese EVs, and the remainder stay loyal to Tesla.
If you take your old stick shift gas car out for a 100 mile drive once a month, who cares.
You'll have plenty of cars to pick from when EVs start ushering out the old dirtburners into obsolescence. Hopefully the EV drivetrain gets so cheap that it becomes a tsunami.
It's not like EVs won't be fun to drive with low center of gravity skateboards and hyperfast acceleration. I would guess that after a few decades of driving EVs, the ICEs and their gear shifts and smell will quickly lose their charm with practically everyone.
I hope that with a really cheap and compact EV motor+battery, classic cars get massively retrofitted to be electic. You already see it in some auction cars. An electric motor is not that big. If/when a good compact solid state battery is mass produced, then you can probably cobbly a kit for the standard engine mounts that has the electric motor + batteries in one engine block replacement kit.
They can pipe in simulated engine block sound.
I will so miss stick shift however.
As an aside, electric restomods are the height of gauchery. Like having a Patek Phillipe case with a Timex digital face.
Your requirements are fotlr rural americans
Mazda Miata is my crazy bet for both, but what do I know.
Fun fact: The head of design of Tesla left Mazda after years of trying to get a serious EV initiative going. He complained that it was always going to be a side project over there so he gave up.
I test drove both the 6 spd auto and the 6 spd manual. The manual was alright but the auto was way more livable in stop-and-go city traffic, especially for someone like myself with a messed up ankle. Better fuel economy, quieter on the highway, same acceleration, and if I want to mix things up on a curvy mountain road, I can pick gears with the flick of a paddle shifter.
Go for the stick if you want, but don't hate on people who choose different.