Are all Ferraris considered "exotics"? Also, are there divisions among the Ferrari ranks? An example would be that in Porsche circles, the 911 guys consider their cars "true" Porsches and the others to be inferior. Even amongst the 911 crowd, a schism exists---air-cooled guys feel their cars are more representative of the breed versus the water-pumper 911s. Are the 308/328 the "lesser" Ferraris?
Among Porsches CGT and 1973 RS are definitely exotic. The GT2 and GT3 are exotic in the same way as a Ferrari 430/360/355/348 is exotic - semi exotic at best - not very rare but certainly not mass production like a Toyota or Honda or Chevy Among BMW's the 507, the M1 and definitely the Z8 are in the same league as the semi exotic Ferraris and Porsches.
exotic- adj. foreign; strange; excitingly different or unusual Agree with previous posts, Carrera RS or 959.
I love the 356 Speedster. But why is it exotic? 4000 made, steel stampings, VW-derived four-banger... in fact it was the cheapest Porsche you could buy in 1955-57.
430/360/355/348 semi exotic at best? Someone is quite full of himself. They seem to beneath you. What a shame. For anyone to say a 430 is not exotic is just silly. And at the time when the 348, ans 355 were new, it would have been the same for them. There are always those that must put themselves on a pedestal. Darrell. ( owner of a semi-exotic at best)
i wouldnt quite say the brands are exotic, i own a e46 m3 and a cayenne and they are special to drive but when the weather is good i take out my f355 and it feels exotic, so to me the fezza is the the one i feel to be up there in the exotic league !!!!!!!!!!
sustained 188 MPH and balancing a coin sideways on its running engine are exotic enough? Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
DMOORE, I don't think he meant it like that. Some of us tend to think that a TRUE exotic is something that is simply OUTRAGEOUS...A car that you may rarely if ever see on the road... I can't say that seeing a 430 or 3xx Ferrari evokes the same emotion as seeing a CGT or ENZO rolling down the street...
I think the BMW Z1, M1, Z8 are exotics and maybe even the new v10 M5 and M6. The Porsche 959 and Carrera GT are exotics too IMHO...
I think it's all relative to what you are exposed to. My law partner is somebody who could care less about cars. Every three or so years, he buys the biggest Lexus sedan they offer, configured the same way, with the same colors, interior, etc. Boring. Right? But, one night a few years ago, after finishing a business dinner in the city, we went to his garage in Times Sq. to pick up his car. As the attendant brought it around, some teenager- who, in my estimation, must have also been a tourist since NY kids are usually pretty jaded- exclaimed: "OH my god, the new Lexus whatever LS. I love it!" The kid was getting all jittery. I thought to myself, you have to be kidding. Ditto- same experience driving up to the lodge at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon some years ago in a rental MB SL. These are the cars that people in Beverly Hills now give to their maids... Anyway, we pull into the entrance circle, and I kid you not, any number of tourists just stopped in total awe- Obviously, they must have been from the midwest.
It is definately all relative to your experience with cars and where you are at. For example, I get a lot more excited about seeing a 308 on the street than I do when I see ten 308's at an FCA event. In regards to the original questions, I'm going to stick to semi-modern cars since I am not as familiar with the older cars. Porsche exotics: Carrera GT 959 911 GT1 Some of the Ruf variants BMW exotics: M1 Z8 (with both of those being on par with the 3-- Ferraris of their time.) I think the 850's are on par with the top of the line 911's. I would put the M5 and M6 in this category as well. Very cool cars, I just personally don't consider them exotic.
They built a few 850's that are very exotic expecially the Alpina 850 B12. They only built 97 of the 5.0 liter B12 and 57 of the 5.7 liter B12. The 850 CSI is not as rare but only 225 Came to the states. The euro 6 speed is a 195+ mph car. I guess I am bias since I own one. Paul Image Unavailable, Please Login
As Whart said, it is all relative. No matter how many Porsches have been sold recently, they still account for a tiny fraction of the overall automotive population. Areas with concentrations of wealth are going to have a dis-proportioate number, which makes them seem common. But if you get away from the "big cities", you will see virtually none. Personally, I have gotten way over the "look at me factor" in a car. I have had a number of "look at me" cars, and the thrill got old quickly. It seems a very poor criteria for buying a car.
I have to agree with this. I live in Rural, USA. I picked up my 10yr old girl from the skating rink in the black SL and everybody swarmed it. It's get alot of attention everywhere and I'm thinking these people need to get a life! My wife drives a red 928 S4 and it gets alot of attention, but exotic? No Way! Quite often I drive my red 928 S 32V with racing exhaust. Tons of attention. Yes. Exotic? No Way! IMO: Exotic's (other than the obvious): PORSCHE 959 CGT 904 BMW M1 Z1 Z8 FORD GT40 (OLD & NEW) If I had to put a Chevy in the mix, I would vote the late80's Callaway Vette in. I have a question. Even though there seems to be alot of hostility on this board about NSX's, would that one in your opinions be considered an exotic?
+1 P-cars-Carrera-GT Bmw-Z8 Please note that I limited my list to cars sold in the USA by the manufacturer-no gray market stuff.... Porsche and BMW are not exoticar manufacturers per se-they make excellent automobiles and do produce limited producion runs of desireable autos but that's not how they earn their daily bread... I would love to have an '89 930....
Many people have corrected me, new list: Porsche: CGT, GT1, 959, GT3, Speedster BMW: Z8, M1 Yes I would consider the GT3 as exotics, and I would also consider the 360/355 etc exotics. Definitely not the Turbo, and definitely not any of the M-class Bimmers. I also think the Speedster should be on the list, don't they sell for about $100,000 max now? But yes there's lots of gray area between exotics/semi-exotics/sports cars and obviously we will never agree entirely. Without a doubt the CGT, GT1, and 959 are exotics but I think the original question was directed more towards 911s and descendants.
I recently bought an 850CSi and I love it, its even better than I expected, and I am surprised at how much attention it gets especially from more knowledgeable people who know the difference between it and a standard 8 series. I still wouldnt say its an exotic tho. Steve
Yeah wow I'm surprised I forgot about it and you are the only one to mention it but the 550 Spyder should DEFINITELY be on the exotic list for Porsche.
See, the thing about Porsches and BMWs is that their top models are just evolutions of already existing models. Even a GT2 is 'just' a hotted-up Turbo which is 'just' a hotted-up 911. The only Porsche models that qualify in my mind are the 959 and Carerra GT, which are stand-alone machines. I don't think there's any BMW except the M1 that's an exotic. Even the burliest M5 or M6 is 'just' a hotted-up 5 or 6 series. The Zed-8 isn't an exotic in my eyes because it ended up being so poorly focused as to be almost unusable (according to almost every honest review I've read). A real exotic is finely focused.
