The important difference is that those cars were designed for you to steer and brake it without assistance. Different gear ratios and such.

I had to drive a modern car home once with the power brakes malfunctioning and I couldn't exert enough force (grabbing the steering wheel to give me leverage) to have safe braking power. I ended up going very slow in the emergency lane of the highway in second speed so that motor braking could help me stop. It was not fun.

No, this was a modern car, with power assisted steering and brakes. Steering required more force, but wasn't that hard. Braking was iffy, I admit, so I also used engine braking and the hand brake.

And yes, standard transmission. I was coasting downhill in neutral, with the engine etc off. Testing the running start protocol, for dealing with battery failure.

i've driven an old car which had power assisted steering that would occasionally fail while the car was being driven. you could still turn the wheel, it just suddenly required a lot more effort.

i suggest this thing is mainly going to be a problem where the power-assist fails during a trip at some unpredictable and unfortunate moment. driving where you know you won't have power-assist for the entire trip would be far safer.