Pretty sure my 924S was the same way, but that car was only a year away from being 30 now.

Yep, UK manual cars only from about 2009 onwards need the clutch depressing to enable the starter. My 07 Ford and 03 Renault will fire up in gear without touching the clutch( not a recommended driving procedure, especially when tightly parked.!!)

My 85 911 will start right up in gear. The car was designed back in the days when people knew how to drive and the driver was responsible for the the vehicle.

I saw the other day that by 2020 all new cars will have to have automatic braking so all the idiot drivers using a cell phone and oblivious to the rest of the world will have fewer rear end crashes. All cars have tire pressure monitoring systems because so many moronic clueless drivers drive around with 12 PSI in the tires. I see a car with low tires almost every day (not my cars.) Much like backup sensors or cameras are going to be mandatory.

My 86 El Camino does have a Park/neutral switch so it will only start in park or neutral. But I don't have to step on the brakes to start it like most all modern automatics. I can stand outside the car at crank it up by reaching in and twisting the key.

My wife's 2008 Infinity requires the brake pedal to be depressed before it will start. I really don't have a problem with that. It is a cheap switch to add and it does make sense.

hmmm, with a responsible driver nothing wrong with being able to crank the starter in gear. Clutch cable used to break in my 70s fiat every year or so, I could start in gear and drive it home.

However, only a complete moron would put a remote starter on a manual without a neutral sensing switch/disable. I have started my car by accident, keys is pocket.