Cars and trucks have become enormously expensive in the last decade or so. So much so, you can scroll social media for maybe half a second and find about a trillion videos of folks talking about how their car payments are over $1,000 a month. And scroll a bit further, and you'll find that a large percentage of car owners in America are now underwater on their insanely priced vehicles, so much so that many have compared it to the financial crisis of 2008.
For the truck world especially, this has led to the rise of side-by-sides replacing work vehicles, something I've written at nauseum about in the last two years. They're cheaper than new trucks, can do more, and won't break the bank when you inevitably break or scratch them doing what you need to do. Yet, while the utility side-by-side has pretty much replaced the work truck, the same can't be said about the go-fast side-by-sides replacing sports and fun cars for the general populace.
Side-by-sides aren't seen in the same way as the Mazda Miata, Toyota GR86, or Chevrolet Corvette by the vast majority of automotive enthusiasts, even though they're now the reasonably priced enthusiast machines. No, seriously, they are. Modifications aren't super expensive, changes are pretty easy, and the amount of fun and joy you get out of them, for me, surpasses anything I ever had when driving my own Scion FR-S or Volkswagen Golf R back in the day.
I can do more and have more fun in a side-by-side compared to any sort of sports car for the road. And Dodge's own CEO, when pressed on something fun returning to the brand's offerings, could conceive of a day when the brand offers its own side-by-side enthusiast machine.
"I think there’s a market for two things. There’s a market for an entry-level halo and a top-of-the-line halo," said Dodge CEO Matt McAlear to The Drive last year, adding, "I don’t know what I’d compare [the entry-level car] to. I think there’s inspiration in seeing what some of the powersports companies have done. Not only the crazy side-by-sides, but the three-wheelers, the Slingshots, I think there’s something there."
That's an interesting take, for sure, one that roiled some feathers, including those at The Drive. But it's an answer that makes complete sense when you look at the state of the automotive enthusiast market, as well as the economic landscape these days. Because I'm sorry, but long gone are the days of cheap anything, let alone a sports car for the masses.
We've got an economy that's no longer working for the middle and working classes, only those at the very top. Yet, it was the former who funded the enthusiast car markets of the day. The Nissans, the Toyotas, Fords, and Chevrolets, and everything in between. We had muscle cars, imports, and more. And they were affordable! Even some of the high-horsepower things were affordable to the middle class. But look at the enthusiast cars right now, and you won't find anything under $60,000. I mean, even something like the Nissan Z platform costs what two or three Zs used to cost. So without allowing those groups to save up enough to buy a "dream car," they're left only being able to afford the "necessary car."
That is except for the powersports community and more specifically, the side-by-side market, where performance and fun are still affordable.
McAlear goes on to point out, "Everyone has so many hobbies these days, they want to spend their money on so many different things. It’s tough to be all-in on one thing, put all my chips in one basket and say, ‘I gotta have that car,’" to which he's speaking about the "necessary car." But he adds, "It’s great for those who can afford it, but not all of us can or want to do that."
A base model Can-Am Maverick X3 is $19,999. A base model Polaris RZR is $19,999. A base model Kawasaki Teryx KRX is $22,199. And a base model Honda Talon is $21,399. Show me an enthusiast car that is similarly priced. You just can't. And while, yes, you can't legally drive these on the street in most states, off-roading has never been more accessible, and some states will actually plate them. Likewise, grassroots racing, as well as professional racing, for these machines is becoming easier to access, too. They are, for all intents and purposes, the new enthusiast machine.
So will Dodge or Ford or Toyota or Chevrolet build a side-by-side? Maybe, as it could be the next big thing for enthusiasts on a budget. Which is everyone apart from Elon and Zuck these days.
