Image.
That’s the simple answer. I’m not going to beat around the bush or waste several electrons on some long-winded intro. I was chatting with a car enthusiast/lux owner about the question over the weakened and he nailed it without blinking an eye.
Think about it. Does anything else make sense? Car enthusiasts can talk all day about the “need” for 400 to 500 horsepower, two-seater, RWD, coupes until they’re blue in the face. But who’s buying these vehicles? Pop stars. Movie stars. CEOs and VPs. Not exactly whom you’d call major drag racers on the street. Even Jay Leno, who’s a well-known car enthusiat, rides shot gun on the track when in one of these multi-million dollar beauties.
Worse, much of the number stuff all fall against the manufacturer’s name. The so-called average lux car buyer is going to buy a Bimmer, MB, or Audi, not a Corvette no matter if the latter has 400 (500?) ponies rumbling under the hood. They want people to know they have the wealth to pay six figures for their 7-Series. 0-60 in less than 5 seconds? Who cares? Am I impressing the right crowd (i.e., who’ll ink my next movie/song/corporation deal)?
I read years ago while working in IT that the major motivation for computer chip speed development was video game players. Their constant need for speed for increasingly complex and realistic graphics–and the willingness to pay for it–drove Intel and AMD to new processing powers never dreamed or demand by the standard office Jane/Joe. I see the same motivation in lux car buyers with a “trickle down” affect to the teaming masses. 400 horsepower Camry, anyone?
10 comments so far
One big difference between a Bimmer, MB, or Audi when compared with the Corvette comes with interior refinement. The Corvette comes nowhere close to the quality of interior you get with the others. I’d much rather take a BMW M3 over the Corvette for both the better refinement and the better handling insted of the extra 67-hp.
May 22nd, 2006 at 8:02 pm
Ehh… yes and no. I’m not sure that you address performance sports cars that have been around for a while. Now, let me first lay out that by “being around” I mean globally. You have cars like the Wrx, the Evo, and all these other pocket rockets that appeal to the lower price bracket by providing max power in a small package. I think the people who buy those expensive cars are either the image conscious as you have pointed out, but also the enthusiasts who can afford it. It might be a better observation that when the enthusiast can afford, he buys, but when not he buys used or a pocket rocket. This is the case with Jay Leno, an enthusiast who happens to make the money to buy the entire world’s worth of cars.
May 23rd, 2006 at 8:06 pm
The reason people buy Corvettes is for the performance vs value. The 2006 Coupe with its 6L 427 V8 will give most “luxury” brands that cost three times as much a run for their money and guess what? It’s AFFORDABLE for those of us who aren’t movie stars, CEO’s and VP’s. You can buy it for $50,000…half the $100,000 that the title of your post implies. And now with the introduction of the Z06, Corvette has become a legitimate threat to the Ferrari’s and Porsches while maintaining an MSRP in the mid $70’s.
May 26th, 2006 at 12:14 am
My dream is to own a Lamborghini Diablo, and not to impress friends or women. I am a true enthusiast and have loved these cars all my life for their performance and way out design. I also prefer the Diablo to the Murcielago because its a pre Audi design.
June 9th, 2006 at 12:27 am
this is all true, but car enthusiasts stretch a wide span. some like the interiors, some like their lotuses(with plastic interior)for 1/4 the price of a lambo but can drive just as well. Some guys want a track car(i.e. lotus), some want a “practical” car that could do well on the track(i.e. porsche, bmw). It depends on what theyre after. In my personal opinion, the person who buys a mercedes is the lesser car enthusiast-for they have nice interiors, but generally are less rigid and track-oriented(in the u.s.) and are almost always automatic. Call it a bias, but what kind of enthusiast’s car is an auto? if you like driving, drive!
June 14th, 2006 at 1:16 am
Does make you wonder, why someone would need 500+ horsepower on a street car. Take for instance the 2006 Corvette z06. You can see the specs and pictures at http://www.cargurus.com as seen below:
http://www.cargurus.com/Cars/Overview-c3664-2006-Corvette.html
At $65k, you could buy quite a few very nice performance cars for less money that frankly “handle” quite a bit better and are far more practical. Take for instance the bmw m3. For $49k you get a true four seater that while probably not as fast “straight line” does handle better in general.
Horsepower is only one measure of a cars elegance.
October 3rd, 2006 at 4:33 pm
Road and Track did a comparison of about 8 super cars a few years back. When they did their testing, about half the the way fast exotics out-performed the Z06 Corvette by a few tenths of a second or a few mile per hour in each category. Dollar to performace the Z06 was the best choice.
If I won the lottery, I’d go out and buy one of the exotics for spirited driving and buy a Corvette for racing on the track.
October 27th, 2006 at 3:48 am
This web site was awesome
October 31st, 2006 at 10:29 pm
I always dreamed about Porsche Carerra 911 :)… but the old model from early 90’s… that’s the real classic ;). I don’t like new models especially Boxter series.
November 8th, 2006 at 7:15 pm
I love the Lamborghini Gallardo .
February 18th, 2007 at 3:14 pm
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