I live in Iowa and own an Exige. I get those "why the fcuk would you buy that" looks all the time. I'm used to it and I don't care. People can enjoy the car if they want, they can mock it if they want... no, it doesn't have an ounce of practicality (other than happiness!), but at the end of the day, I bought this car for ME and me alone. I didn't buy it to impress friends or strangers, I bought it for me.
Don't buy one because of the image you want to project, buy one because it's what you want, and you won't give two ****s when someone tries to talk bad about it.