From Yahoo Today

[TheViper]

"But you can still go and buy yourself a Lotus Elise and get a car with no amenities if you want to be a true-blue sports car guy."
http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/auto...BvcnRzLTIwMDg-

[fpitas]

"As people get older, and the population of this country is clearly getting older, they want more amenities and comfort," Wurster says.

Hmmm...I've experienced just the opposite. I've grown less patient with sloppy handling cars as I've aged, and don't want any of the tacky "luxury" crap. But I guess that's why I'm here.

[TheViper]

Originally Posted by TheViper

"But you can still go and buy yourself a Lotus Elise and get a car with no amenities if you want to be a true-blue sports car guy."
http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/auto...BvcnRzLTIwMDg-

Actually, it's not a case of wanting to be, it's a case of "being".

[fpitas]

Originally Posted by TheViper

Actually, it's not a case of wanting to be, it's a case of "being".

Yep. Generally the "want to be"s sell them pretty quick.

[Hand_Banana]

Is it really because those with money are becoming older and demanding plush "sports cars". What about the European market which I thought still had a much larger choice of raw sports cars like the elise/exige? I like the little blurp at the end about the elise in this article. Thoughts?

http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/auto...BvcnRzLTIwMDg-

[LARRY]

"Upward age creep could be one reason sports cars have been gaining computer-controlled suspensions, advanced chassis-control features, dual-clutch semi-automatic shifters, and luxury-car convenience features. "As people get older, and the population of this country is clearly getting older, they want more amenities and comfort," Wurster says. "But you can still go and buy yourself a Lotus Elise and get a car with no amenities if you want to be a true-blue sports car guy."

IMO - The young people will buy Lotus, Mitsubishi, Subaru, and small EUropean sports cars. NOT the over inflated super priced "sports cars."

Have you seen the new prices on these cars?

[Moto44]

I have found it interesting how plush even the once spartan Ferraris have become.

Sure, age of the buyer is a factor. But there is also a significant number of buyers of exotic cars who we wouldn't otherwise consider true sports car enthusiasts, but rather status seekers. These folks want comfort and features.

[babak]

Originally Posted by Hand_Banana

Is it really because those with money are becoming older and demanding plush "sports cars". What about the European market which I thought still had a much larger choice of raw sports cars like the elise/exige? I like the little blurp at the end about the elise in this article. Thoughts?

http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/auto...BvcnRzLTIwMDg-

Threads merged.

[Uncle Sam]

Originally Posted by LARRY

"Upward age creep could be one reason sports cars have been gaining computer-controlled suspensions, advanced chassis-control features, dual-clutch semi-automatic shifters, and luxury-car convenience features. "As people get older, and the population of this country is clearly getting older, they want more amenities and comfort," Wurster says. "But you can still go and buy yourself a Lotus Elise and get a car with no amenities if you want to be a true-blue sports car guy."

IMO - The young people will buy Lotus, Mitsubishi, Subaru, and small EUropean sports cars. NOT the over inflated super priced "sports cars."

Have you seen the new prices on these cars?

Larry,
Maybe in Beverly Hills a $50K plus car isn't super priced, but a new Lotus is expensive to most. Used it is a great value.

[LARRY]

50 K ain't 125 K

The new sports cars are almost all over 100K.

50K is the last bastion of affordable.

[TimMullen]

Originally Posted by LARRY

50 K ain't 125 K

The new sports cars are almost all over 100K.

50K is the last bastion of affordable.

Not to the average person. To most of the population, a $50,000 car is just a dream.

Heck to many people, a $25,000 new car is a pipe dream.

I wouldn't have bought my Elise for $50,000. At $40,000 it was just right (I got one of the first ones) - actually it was still too high, but I've been a Lotus fanatic for 30+ years, and my wife was humoring me.

Oh, and I must be unusual, because I'm one of those "older guys" yet I bought an Elise, and the previous daily driver was an R package Miata (no power anything - not even steering - and stiffer than standard suspension). The less fancy electronics in the car, the less to have to repair in the future...

[milehitom]

I'm right there with ya, Tim. My daily driver for 16 years was a Fiat Spider. You know you're committed to the sports car experience when you never leave the house without a toolbox in the trunk. The Elise is a luxury car in comparison-everything works. As for a 50k car, you're right again-that is an unattainable dream for most folks. I've stopped saying "Oh, it didn't cost too much" before answering the inevitable how much did it cost question.

Tom

[megatron]

People are just spoil by all the features and comfort. Heck you can even get power windows with the new Wrangler.

[Hand_Banana]

If people want plush expensive cars, why not buy bentlys or rolls? I hate that ferrari, lambo, porsche, will cater to posers with deep pockets who want napa leather and dolby surround for their 15" pop up nav and when on that rare occasion they DO make a raw version of their plush cars they usually sell it for even MORE $$ because they know the true sports car breed will pay top dollar for performance. Cheaper to make, yet costs more. Go figure...

[RegGuy]

I saw a Ferrari 599 a while back and my first sense of it was how big it was. The way it's finished, the interior, etc. all have lost the sense of "sportscar." A friend of mine had a late 70s Ferrari, can't recall exactly which one it was, but that was a fun car to drive. Much more like the Elise than I imagine those puppies are now. They remind me a lot of the Vette. Sleek, big, shiny and hundreds and hundreds of horses. I think the term "sportscar" has come to mean fast and sporty looking, not what it used to mean.

As to the price, yeah, $50K is a big ticket item many places in the country, but the coasts cost so much to live on that salaries are up there too for most folks. Heck, a house the size of a double-wide across the street from me sold for $300K.

[ZAMMY1]

as a real sports car person, i moved upscale from a toyota echo (windup windows, 5-speed) to an elise with electric windows, 6-speed.
also, the echo didn't have a CD player.
we old guys really know how to live!!
sam

[ewalberg]

a house sold for 300k?!? what? where? You can't buy an 1/8th acre dirt patch for 300k around here... maybe i'm exaggerating, but you're basically kidding yourself if you're planning to buy a house for under 600k around here unless you want to move into the most dangerous neighborhoods we have to offer... and i think New York is even worse...

50k is a lot of money but when you consider most BMW and mercedes cost more... and there's a lot of those cars on the road... well, i guess my reference is still around here... when i visit my family in rural ohio, not so many... but you still see big full sized trucks... not that cheap either...

[TheViper]

Originally Posted by RegGuy

I saw a Ferrari 599 a while back and my first sense of it was how big it was. The way it's finished, the interior, etc. all have lost the sense of "sportscar." A friend of mine had a late 70s Ferrari, can't recall exactly which one it was, but that was a fun car to drive. Much more like the Elise than I imagine those puppies are now. They remind me a lot of the Vette. Sleek, big, shiny and hundreds and hundreds of horses. I think the term "sportscar" has come to mean fast and sporty looking, not what it used to mean.

As to the price, yeah, $50K is a big ticket item many places in the country, but the coasts cost so much to live on that salaries are up there too for most folks. Heck, a house the size of a double-wide across the street from me sold for $300K.

I agree, in the evolution of car, the next model is almost always larger. Lotus is probably the only manufacturer to endevour to maintain the purist principal.
A Ferrari today is a very different concept to the models of the past. My neighbor has both a new Corolla and an older version, the size difference is apparent. Today, a Honda Fit is considered to be a very small car, but compared to cars of just a decade ago it is not so small.

[RegGuy]

Originally Posted by ewalberg

a house sold for 300k?!? what? where? You can't buy an 1/8th acre dirt patch for 300k around here... maybe i'm exaggerating, but you're basically kidding yourself if you're planning to buy a house for under 600k around here unless you want to move into the most dangerous neighborhoods we have to offer... and i think New York is even worse...

50k is a lot of money but when you consider most BMW and mercedes cost more... and there's a lot of those cars on the road... well, i guess my reference is still around here... when i visit my family in rural ohio, not so many... but you still see big full sized trucks... not that cheap either...

Look where I live, I'm in one of the last rural areas in NJ. If this house were 9 miles away it would have sold for a million or two. It sits on a 1/8 acre lot.

[XPcarguy]

Originally Posted by Uncle Sam

Larry,
Maybe in Beverly Hills a $50K plus car isn't super priced, but a new Lotus is expensive to most. Used it is a great value.

Nope. You can find someone who finds $50k expensive in all parts of the world but statistically speaking (either by average or median), $50k is not very expensive for a brand new car. GM sells SUVs in that price range for crying out loud.