To me, 'raw' does not mean fast or high-performing, nor does it include anything remotely resembling frivolity in it. 'Raw' means stripped of as much equipment that makes the driving experience easier as is possible. That includes:
- Audio
- A/C
- Power assistance of any kind
- Auto transmission
- Power accessories of any kind
- etc.
There's nothing truly 'raw' that's sold new these days short of an Atom, X-Bow, Caterham 7, or the like -- and even those have a few 'nannies' because they
have to to be street legal in the U.S., even as kit cars.
These were, or are, raw:
- AC Cobra
- Most small British sports cars before 1990 or so
- Most air-cooled Porsches until the mid-1980s
- VW Beetle
- Original MINI Cooper
- Some early first-gen Miatas
- Some early Honda Civic and Prelude derivatives, including the CRX
- first-gen Datsun 240/260/280Z
- Most Ferraris, Lambos, DeTomasos (particularly the Pantera), Alfas, and Lancias before the early 1980s
(Those are just a few off the top of my head.)
If you've never driven any of these, you know not what 'raw' motoring is.
If you have, you get bonus points if what you drove had:
- a carbuetor(s)
- a choke
- hydraulic brakes without X redundancy
- drum brakes
- no right-hand door mirror
