since buying a new car is the investment equivalent of lighting half your house on fire i would still have to say that the best new car is a used on that is new to me!
since buying a new car is the investment equivalent of lighting half your house on fire i would still have to say that the best new car is a used on that is new to me!
Exotic - any foreign car that a person making an average salary cannot afford.
Supercar - any street legal car who's all-around performance eclipses most other similar-vintage performance cars.
A Veyron is both, a ZR1 is a supercar, an Elise is an exotic.
At least, by my definitions. And I'm the master of American English, so y'all have to listen to ME. 
I rarely get turned on by new cars---- too much electronic B.S. getting in the way of driving fun. If you held a gun to my head and forced me to buy new here's my list. (not including cars I have no chance at ever actually owning)
MX-5
Elise
MINI (either N/A or Turbo)
C6-- preferably ZO6
Mustang GT, or 305 hp V6
STI / WRX
G8 GXP 6spd (if I could still find one)
Merc / Dodge Sprinter van (diesel) with RV conversion
I'm not greedy and know that high-performance cars can rarely be driven to their capabilities. So, I can make a few choices that fulfill my fantasies in a practical way:
M3 Sedan; V8 goodness (and 4drs for the peeps)
NC Miata w/PRHT (and Mazdaspeed bits)
Lotus Elise (rather exotic and plenty fast)
The AWD/4WD truck can't be new; let someone else take the depreciation hit.
ReverendDexter wrote: Exotic - any foreign car that a person making an average salary cannot afford.
Exotic Ex*ot"ic, a. [L. exoticus, Gr. ? fr. 'e`xw outside:
F. exotique. See Exoteric.]
Introduced from a foreign country; not native; extraneous; foreign; as, an exotic plant; an exotic term or word.
By definition most cars are exotic.
ZR1 JK Unlimited Rubicon Mustang GT Sprinter
In reply to Giant Purple Snorklewacker: Yes, if you're looking at the literal meaning of "exotic". In the context of cars, though, the semantics change slightly. People would look at you funny if you called a Civic or Beetle an exotic.
My list includes:
A Dodge Challenger with a Viper v10 backed by a 1-4 Straight cut, face plated or pro shifted T56.
The aformentioned Porsche 911 GT3.
A Cadillac CTS-V in any version, altho I prefer the wagon, wife prefers the coupe.
The low dollar model, run of the mill Mustang GT and Miata.
To me everything else is eh, ok, to each their own.
petegossett wrote: I've come to the harsh conclusion that I just prefer to drive FWD E36 M3can-econoboxes more than anything RWD. I just find them more fun. Of course, I always enjoy a performance version of the venerable FWD E36 M3box. Oh, and AWD rally cars, yeah them too. Although I'm not exactly ready to sell my Miata yet either....
More fun to beat on a FWD E36 M3box and not get noticed than it is to beat on most RWD cars and get noticed REAL quick by the local constables. They see you motoring about, and they possess great feelings of hatred towards your person. They make the rounds about their designated area, hoping to find you driving your car in a filthy manner.
In reply to 92CelicaHalfTrac: Good thing for me... my wheels don't spin, to the contrary, you'll find that they're quite stationary...
Ford day today:
Raptor
SHO
Fiesta
and a V12 Vantage for kicks.
I'm gonna throw out one I didn't see above. 370Z. Not as common as a Mustang, seems to have shed the "boy racer" image of the 350Z (which I also liked), decent power, awesome interior, respectable handling, etc., etc. All this at a price that doesn't make you act like a prick and take up two spots in the grocery store parking lot. Unfortunately, kids + 2 seat car = domestic disputes.
Want, can afford, or can pay the insurance on?
Regardless: BMW M3, Audi R8, maybe the new Ford F150.
How long will it be before Evoras are around $30,000?
When it comes to new cars my practical side lumps them into 2 categories. Cars I want and can afford.... and cars I want that I can never afford.
Cars I want that I can afford: '11 Elantra as a DD '11 Gen Coupe 6-spd 2.0T DD '11 Corvette Coupe, base model, cheapest you can get '11 Forte5 2.4L 6-spd '11 Kizashi FWD '11 SX4 Sport FWD
Cars I want and will never afford: '11 ZR1 loaded. '11 Aston Martin Vanquish '11 Aston Martin DB9 '11 Corvette Grand Am Racecar and supporting parts/staff/equipment
Only 1: Porsche 918.
At the prices they go for these days I can't think of anything I would buy. Not one. Even if money was no object I'd probably still buy an old car and dump a ton of money into making it like new.
I think my list is pretty dang attainable, at least, each individual entry is.
In no particular order:
Quattroporte C5 with the hatchback (no coupes!!!!) Boxster Sprinter with RV conversion Rx8 with LS swap YJ Wrangler done up my way
There's plenty of cheaper ones.. and i already own a lot of them so im not going into that, they're closer to attained than aspirational. Funny thing, too: Its conceivable that the swapped Rx8 and the modded Wrangler are in the same $$ ballpark, with the boxster and c5 being only slightly higher. And the sprinter would be a lot more than the Masi too!
Vigo wrote: YJ Wrangler done up my way
any particular reason why a YJ over a CJ or TJ your way? i like them all but its rare that the YJ is picked first. i do like the dash more than the TJ.
having just won the lottery my first purchase would be a Ford GT..... after that ..???
In no specific order. 1: Lotus Elise/Exige not too picky as to which 2: Subaru WRX/STi 3: E250/E350 van to tow and camp in with U-joint 4wd conversion (http://ujointoffroad.com/) 4:Porsche Carrera 4S Cabrio 5: Ariel Atom
not that I could afford any of them at this point.
Cars I could theoretically afford if I skimped for a few years:
Mustang GT, Challenger SRT (6 spd), Elise, Cayman, MINI
On the 'exotic' front: Elise, Exige, Evora. An Ariel Atom. A Corvette would be nice, they just sound great. A Ford GT (even though it's no longer being produced). I'll pass on Porsches and the Italian exotics. I wouldn't mind the GT-R or that Lexus if they weren't so weird looking.
DD: probably a 2500 Duramax or a F250/350 Super Duty.
Motorcycles: I'd have one of everything KTM makes that's bigger than 300cc. 
That wish list would fill a nice sized shop all by itself.
Holy geez, the list of older tin I'd want would bust the site's bandwidth.
My gearhead friends and I have a joke. If I can't afford to buy an (insert car we can't afford here, say a Porche 911), we might as well aspire to not afford a (insert even more expensive car we can't afford, say a Ferrari). At that point we all agree since we are dealing in money we'll never see, we might as well just agree to not afford to be able to start our own car company that we'd all use to design and build cars exactly the way we want our cars to be.
The list I have changes from day to day. For example, I'm looking for a NYG 1st Gen Neon ACR at the moment, and if I find one that is an easy 2 hour drive from the house in my price range, I might just buy it.
Other cars that have tickled my fancy lately: 1. Rally Fighter 2. Corvette Z06 3. Aston Martin Vantage 4. Mazdaspeed 3 5: Subaru STI
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