Everything is Amazing, But You Can't Fucking Buy It

[ScottyB]

its frustrating for sure. i've never seen such a generally inaccessible amount of motorsports hardware before either because of price, availability, or both. i have no idea who's even buying much of this stuff because i literally never see it outside of dealer showroom turntables or as part of someone's "collection", never just driving around.

i get that halo cars are a huge marketing tool and there has to be some manufacturered rarity in order to maintain that item's status...but for the stuff like Si's and RS foci i have no idea what the limited numbers are for. sure, manufacturers are beholden to a lot of increasingly bland regulations like fleet averages, economies of scale and lean production....but these performance cars are mostly made on mainstream chassis and outside of the powertrain they aren't drastically different or unique vehicles.

which means

dealer incentivization and protectionism

and i think that's accurately most of, or a large part of the core issue. i'm not 100% sold on my own thoughts on this, but i have a feeling the cars are as much trophies for the "good dealers" to get and then mark up for their own parachute as much as they're actually for the public to drool over. the dealers get their big payday with the "rare" car and manufacturers get to market up the special allure of the Thing You Want But Can't Have until they roll the tech into blander future models that Joe Everyday can get a hold of.