Maybe kids of today will be complaining when they get to be geezers driving electric cars. Remember when you had to work the brakes and steering, watch out for cars around you, and get oil changes and tune ups? Sure old cars were higher maintenance, I was young and adjusting/replacing points, plugs, needle valves, choke adjustment, fuel diaphragms etc. was just part of life.
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The family cars I usually drove in “the old days” were usually Chrysler New Yorkers so I got used to driving couches on wheels and grew to like it. I wish I had one of them today.
… and for the younger crowd that might not have experienced the “wonders” of push-button trans controls, here is a good article on that topic. While I recall all of the others, I have to admit that I never saw the push-button setup on the '58 Mercury.
When dad daily drove his bug he had to climb out the window on more than on occasion, then get the door unfrozen. Mom in particular doesn’t miss the lack of a gas gauge or the extra step to put it in reverse.
What extra step to engage reverse? Pushing down on the shifter? Pretty much all manuals of that era had some means of keeping from accidentally putting it in reverse. That’s like saying, “I don’t like the extra step to lock the door.”
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That describes my mother’s 1964 Series 62 hardtop to a “T”. I did like it though. I occasionally stalled it going around corners too fast. Another problem with carburetors coupled with a mushy suspension. Pretty quick in a straight line with 340 HP and 480 ft-lbs torque despite carrying an elephantine 4600 lbs around.
She was more familiar with the manual transmission in her 1970 Datsun 510, may have been inexperience since other than on the farm she’d only driven her Datsun and this VW. Didn’t have a car of her own until after graduating college.
Everyone’s take is different and largely depends on perception and other experiences. I certainly don’t share your admiration because my base point is Toyota rather than chevy or kia and, therefore, my expectations differ drastically. If you try, for example, a Rav4 or a 4Runner/Tacoma, you’ll immediately notice difference in handling, and that difference is not in ford’s favor.
Everyone’s definition of fun is bound to be different. I’ll take my '37 Chev Sedan “restomod” I built any day over the other 5 vehicles we own. 358 CI SBC Saginaw 4 speed , power rack and pinion, Mustang ll front suspension with discs. Yes, AC and lumbar support but I have never bothered to put a radio in it. Nothing better than cruising down Hood Canal on US 101 and visiting the resort we used to stay at starting in 1947 driven there in my dad’s '37 Chev Sedan. Really not fair to compare your memories of poorly maintained and worn out old cars with your current 4 wheel potato.
I won’t argue that the Midget is fun. Of course, I appreciate anything that can park next to my MR2 and make the Toyota look as big as an SUV! 
But modern cars can definitely be fun like that Midget is. Reference a modern Miata. And the difference is that you can flog the Miata all summer long, then park it for the winter and it’ll be ready to go when the snow melts. Those older cars, including my 1993 MR2 now, take a lot more work to keep them on the road. Personally, I think it’s worth it, but I also don’t think the MR2 is very much fun when it’s up on jack stands getting yet another repair.
I’m probably smiling bigger than the Miata guy when I drive the MR2 because the MR2 is a lot more rare and unusual. But he’s smiling more frequently because he gets to drive his around while I’m lying under mine wrenching on it again.
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And manual transmission, let’s not forget.
Yeah, we knew our steering and brakes were deadly, so our driving habits took them into account. If not, we went off a cliff, into a telephone pole, etc.
If I had a garage to store it, there’d be a mid-1960s MGB or TR4 inside. Which couldn’t hold a candle to a modern Camry in performance, but who can deny would be far more fun to drive.
I had a Sunbeam Alpine (not a Tiger) and that car was lights out on the fun factor. That little 4 banger would pull the front wheels off the ground by a couple of inches when slammed into second gear.
A now deceased friend who owned a few businesses including a salvage yard stuffed a Nissan engine into a Triumph TR 7 (a.k.a. The Wedge) and really perked that thing up.
With only 100hp. You’d have to show me for me to believe that.