A brother-in-law has a compact Ford 2001 truck. He loves it. No electric stuff, barebones, has roll-up windows, manual mirrors, etc. I make fun of him because most cars and trucks for the last thirty years have comfort items. All he says he needs is to get from point A to point B. He's like my father (long departed) who bought a 1959 Rambler that had no heater or radio (optional items); me and my siblings hated that car.
‘59 Rambler...you were THE chick-magnet in HS.
Of course, we had a ‘62 Bug! But Dad let me borrow the newer family cars for dates —’’66 Bonneville and ‘69 Torino.
Roadkat, your BIL is on to something there. My 2000 F250SD is over 185k, and still running well. Manual windows and mirrors; no tilt, no cruise, no power door locks, no fancy interior. Just plain, heavy vinyl, with vinyl/rubber flooring. Automatic trans is about the most advanced item on the thing (apart from all the crappy gubmint mandated clean air stuff). It gets used on the farm, mostly pulling wagons and such, but it also makes the trips to load and haul lumber, quad-runners, roofing, and whatever else we need to move.
No plans to get rid of it, at this point. Can’t see the price of newer ones...
Reminded me of my dad....he bought a '66 Plymouth Fury II wagon and he made the dealer remove the radio because he wouldn't pay for it as an option. Some years later he installed a POS radio that he bought at W.C. Grant, that barely worked, and yes, we all hated that car and were all glad to see it go when it died at 110K miles in Buffalo winters.