When I look back at SM over the years I ask what was it that created the 60+ fields every race weekend at every track (in my area). To me that's the only question we really need to ask.
Was there sealed motors? No.
Were their more rules? No.
More enforcement? No.
Better specifications (motor etc.) No.
Was SM a National class? No.
Did SM have a spec tire? No.
So what was it that brought everyone out? Well I can only speak for me and those guys around me that started when I did. It was the "race in a competitive environment with large fields for cheap with other like-minded guys who wanted the same thing."
That's no longer SM and that's why it's losing popularity, why guys are quitting and why new guys no longer want to be part of it.
My opinion is that your typical "weekend warrior" guy like me wants to run with like-minded folks. He doesn't want to show up at the track and race against guys in $40,000 professionally built cars or fleets of renters who float in, cause havoc, then float out 2 races later. They want to have friendly racing against a great bunch of guys, wrench on the cars together when they break and then have a beer afterwards.
That's EXACTLY how SM used to be. Can it be that again? Do we want it to be? Has that time come and gone and will never be that way again? I don't know. But what I do know is lots of the things that we're talking about here (enforcement, parity etc.) have precisely nothing to do with what made SM incredibly popular to begin with. Those items are only important to the small percentage of guys who race National and run high-stakes. I raced against plenty guys who were obviously running all kinds of weird and wacky parts I didn't care, we were out to have fun, not spend our weekends disassembling our damn cars so they could get DQ'd for the wrong shape heater box.
If I was the guy sitting on the iron throne with a giant staff in my hand I would point it at the SM rules and say "SM is 99+ only, Regional CM (club miata) is 90-97" The two types of cars go their own way. Stupid idea? Maybe but it would keep the high rollers out of the club ranks and keep the club guys from trying to impose their ideas on the guys who are laying it all down on National SM. They are two entirely different types of people in this class now and two very different types of car.
I think you're pissing into the wind with this, Colin, but I'm right there with you. I really MISS the days you described, and I wish they could return. Not sure if separating by model year is the right way to get there, but I wish we COULD get there. THe problem, as I see it, is that many drivers haven't grown up enough to understand what they want. They think that somehow they're the next Jason Saini, and their pro contract is just one more win away. I think many of us do want the racing you describe, but many that do still harbor dreams that just can't be reached without making it to victory lane. I don't know how to solve that.
BTW, at least in my region, we've had spec tires from the very beginning, and I think we universally have found it to be a Good Thing. We can't equalize everything, but tires are easy.