I see you definitely have lot of questions, so we shall see if it’s possible to give good answer.
It turns out it very much IS possible to get good answer
We shall start with Zastava Skala, which started it’s production in 1971
In case you heard of Zastava Koral or Yugo, this is it’s older, bigger (hatchback version of Fiat 128 and therefore equal to first gen VW Golf) and cheaper cousin.
Was it avaiable in 2008? Funny you ask, it was. That was it’s last year of production tbf but still.
All-cast engine? As is case with some Micra mentioned by someone else in here, this has aluminium head so no, it wasn’t entirely cast-iron affair.
Does it have redline of 5k? No, it develops it’s maximum power at 6k
Drum brakes only? No, has discs on front.
No safety? Well…yes and no. Note that cars do advance in safety beyond having airbags. Stuff that also counts in this regard would be crumple zones and seatbelts…latter of which definitely is present in this car
Otherwise seatbelt buckles between front seats wouldn’t make much sense.
Headrests are also visible on at least 2 out of three pictures I posted about this car…and they are also part of safety package
In case you decide Skala is too old, may I direct you towards Tata Nano?
I mean, it’s even cheaper AND a modern design
We shall disregard the fact this fella is absolutely tiny compared to Zastava and therefore much smaller 2 cylinder engine is sufficient to propel it.
Said engine features both block and head made out of aluminium, so it isn’t all cast
Redline at 5k? Again, no. It develops power beyond 5k.
Drum brakes? Yes, it has those all-around. I shall remind that this is very small vehicle.
No safety? As was case with Zastava, I shall try to find seatbelts.
Also note this also has headrests.
So, we had concluded that two very cheap cars avaiable in 2008 might happen to be touch bit more advanced than what your rules would picture.
Note that Zastava cost like 3.5k euros in said final year of production.
Go into domain of what would be usually very cheap cars (Zastava Florida, Dacia Logan, Lada Kalina) and note those would cost twice as much as Skala. Also note they might be even further from your ruleset
