the thing that makes airplane esc's cheaper, brushed or not, is that they only go forward, and rarly have brakes. the esc is also designed to use ALL of the trigger movement as throttle. that means that if you put an airplane esc in a car reciever, with a car transmitter, it will go at half throttle until you go all the way back on the trigger (full brakes) THEN you will be at neutral.
trying to use an airplane esc in a car, i would find to be a nightmare. plus, those esc's are designed for smaller motors.
i saw some website though, where a guy made a reversable esc with the insides of a servo, and a few mosfets.