In short we need a few more Fred Dibnahs and Guy Martins.
I agree with your sentiments but when I was a yoof with a MkII Escort it took me a morning to whip the head off, decoke it and rebuild it. Now I open the bonnet on my German behemoth and am met by black boxes and acres of plastic. You can't do anything on a car these days except change the oil and maybe the brake pads because you need a box of tricks to plug into it to analyse what is wrong.
Having said that I wouldn't want to go back to the performance and reliability of a MkII Escort.
Ah, Queen. I saw their final concert.
I am in awe.