Now, what would I buy with $50k given the Supra is an option? Not a Supra. Here's why.
For not much less, I can have a Z Nismo with a manual. I trust the VQ37's iron clad reliability over any modern powerplant from BMW. This would have been a different story if the Lexus V8 was inside. The Z is more of what people are actually claiming to want from a sports car, but so many people dog it "because it's old". Well guess what everyone really wanted? A brand new 1998 Supra! Sports car buyers either already have exactly what they want and aren't buying anything new no matter how good it is, or buyers "wanna buy something, but not that." AKA they have no idea what they want, and they'll always find something to not like about it.
The enthusiast claims that he props up the sports car market and the sports car makers need to cater to him to be successful. The sports car makers make an attempt to satisfy enthusiast, enthusiast plays the enthusiast hipster card and does not buy. Or waits to buy used because "too expensive and I don't understand how inflation works when I compare new supra to old supra, or new 370Z to Z32 twin turbo" (look it up - a Z34 is in the price range of an S13 hatchback, new for new, when adjusting for inflation. I guarantee this new Supra is cheaper than the old one was when it was new.)
It is what it is. I think the Supra looks great, but the fact that it's really a BMW inside isn't what I would want from a Supra. I would rather buy the purer 370Z Nismo over it, trading some bells and whistles and an extra half second to 60 that I will probably never notice while enjoying the car, and have my manual transmission. Yeah, it's a homer pick, but if I couldn't pick the Z, I probably still wouldn't pick a Supra for $50k. I'd just employ the brute force technique on a Camaro SS 1LE, or save a touch more for a BMW M2, and then I'd have a BMW badge to go with my BMW, and I wouldn't have this nagging obligation to use my turn signals.
__________________
|