In the general aviation industry, at least in the past, Ercoupes have been looked down on because of the rudder link issue. While you think it would make things easier, in some cases it makes things much more difficult. For example a cross wind takeoff or landing.
I was reading that Boing actually used the Ercoupe to train some of the big jet pilots to do cross wind landings. Because the Ercoup didn't have direct rudder control, cross controlling was impossible. To make up for this it had a natural caster to its landing gear design. Even the nose wheel was hinged to allow it to rotate independent of the control. This allows the Ercoupe to make a "wings flat" crabbed in landing approach, and then when the mains touch it naturally align itself with the runway. This "wings flat crab" approach was the same approach needed to land a 707 in a strong crosswind without ripping off the outboard engine.
Nowadays in the GA world Ercoupes are classics in their own right, most of them have rudder pedals and they are fun planes to putt around and sight see in (great visibility). I also believe they qualify for the new LSA (light sport aircraft) rating meaning you can fly them with only a sports pilots license (much easier to get than a private). The LSA rating also reduces maintenance costs, so owning and flying one of these probably won't cost much more than a decent car.
The Mooney on the other hand, now that has always been one of the sexiest general aviation planes. The performance to price ratio is not bad either.
