Supercars are Dumb

[G.Irish]

this applies to far more than supercars though. i think we all were having a conversation in another thread about how BMW's M division is becoming hollow for this exact same reason. These days they'll put the M-label on a towel rack if it means selling more of something.

To be fair I think what BMW is trying to do is give customers more entry points into more hardcore BMW offerings. If you're someone who can't afford a M3/M5 yet, maybe you can get a M235i or a 335i M sport. Especially considering that the M2 won't be here for another year or so, and even then not everyone can swing a 2-door that small. Still, I don't understand why there's a X6 M instead of a X3 M or why we didn't get the E92 M3 GTS (supposedly we will get the next one).

i see it the same way with supercars. they're built the way they are by real, live, enthusiastic engineers that "get" performance dynamics and they do it in order to be The Best in their market. Richie Rich doesn't care whether or not he can achieve those numbers, just as long as everyone else knows what it could do...and by extension it makes him a hero and he has "taste" because its a niche product.

I think there are tiers of supercar customers. There's guys like us who want to take the cars to track days and go racing. When I was crewing Ferrari Challenge there was a guy racing there who also raced a E30 with NASA. One of the other rich guys racing with Ferrari Challenge was "like us" too.

Then there's the guy who reads the magazines, maybe watches some racing on TV but doesn't do any performance driving of his own. He's aware of the performance but he doesn't really care to explore the limits, maybe because he doesn't want to take the risk of the ride of shame back to the paddock in a flatbed.

Lastly there's the boulevard pimpin' guy. He doesn't know much about the cars other than what badge it has and that it is fast. He wants the car as a status symbol first and foremost. He doesn't care to learn about the car or driving and kinda doesn't know what he doesn't know. He's the guy who crashes from a stoplight:

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There are some other supercar buyer archetypes like the cars-as-investments guys (sometimes known as the money-laundering guy) and the tasteless enthusiast guy who butchers supercars with riveted body kits.