Sorry but there is no sense in looking 30 years or more back. Everything is completely different now starting from the very simple fact that in those days there were plenty of independent relatively small manufacturers whereas today they are nearly all joined in several gigantic corporations.

In that regard 9 S2000 manufacturers and 7 R5 manufacturers is huge success and it helps nothing to claim the opposite. To make things better You have to see what is good and what works not dreaming about something which was thirty years a go.