And in the AAA space? Fucking forget it. No big company would want to just license a small handful of cars and wank off to them HARD like the old NFSs. Every AAA racing game has to have massive car lists that appeal to everyone to maximize potential profits. There's no space for intimacy.
And I miss that intimacy. I miss the love of cars the old NFS games had. Hell, even when I replayed Gran Turismo 2 last year due to being disappointed AF by GT7? There was still a love and intimacy and celebration for cars it had despite being less laser focused as NFS. I miss it. I miss it a lot.
Okay, so back when I was still in Highschool & Vocational, I was part of a small little online group that made these little "Knight Rider" add-on cars for NSF4 for PC, as well as some customized tracks.
Unironically, I feel like that'd be a great spot for DLC. Make a smaller, more intimate list for the base game, but then develop and sell all the extra cars as extra add-ons.