I like the older stuff too, but not because it's better... because it's not!
Let's not compare today's crappy cheap lawn tractors with yesterday's expensive garden tractors. Apples to oranges, not a fair comparison, especially when you look at the prices charged, scaling for inflation.
Apples to apples, nearly every tractor made to day is WAY more capable and reliable than their equivalently-priced and marketed counterparts of 40 or 60 years ago. Again, scaling for inflation.
I really have to laugh when I see all of the belt-driven and chain-driven machines produced prior to Cub Cadet really making direct drive and driveshafts more common in garden tractors. You think those were reliable and capable?
I kept my beloved old 1963 Cub Cadet right up to less than 10 years ago. Solid little machine, first hydrostatic garden tractor ever made, and built like a tank. Yet stupid things still broke way more frequently than any modern machine, it took way more repairs and TLC to keep it running than my 2019 tractor, despite seeing way less and softer usage.
Sticking a rear diff sized for a pickup truck under a little 10 hp garden tractor looks impressive, and people look at it and say "so reliable..." But that comically-oversized rear diff is totally useless when the ignition system craps out.