Looking in the RAAus magazine I see several planes for sale around the $40,000 mark. 2 seater, all metal with 80hp rotax is an example, in the Zenith 601.
I don't think cost and grass roots are related anymore. If plastic isn't grass roots, but I can get a used Jabiru in the magazine for under $40,000, hasn't the game changed somewhat?
If you are going to consider a dollar value to relate to grass roots, then there are actually a lot of options, and I think that when someone in a drifter sees some plastic go by, they need to consider that the plastic may have cost less than the drifter, especially if second hand!
Think about it. The world has changed. Cheap no longer means slow and cold flying. But expensive also seems close to GA these days.
Ryan