RyanR317

iTrader: (2)

See sig pic.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Yet another Subjective subject but a good one OP!

IMHO I think its the Badge, Price tag, and Prestige that garner the "Exotic" label. A degree of exclusivity reserved for these elite class of cars based on their aesthetic and performance prowess.

Of course my own double standard goes against cars such as Corvettes and GT-Rs which may be bargain Supercars, but are in a way crude. Exotics to me tend to have poise, elegance, and pedigree.

The OP brings up a good point about such cars as the Rossion Q1. Which due to its exclusivity, relatively lower price tag, uncommon nature? or even other low volume or one-offs should also be considered Exotic by nature.

My break down of Exotics for example:

High Performance Cars:
Chevrolet Corvette
Nissan GT-R
Dodge Viper

Supercars:
Lamborghini Gallardo
Mclaren MP4-12C
Ferrari 458
Lexus LFA
Jaguar XJ220
Aston Martin DBS
Ford GT

Hyper Cars: The Pinnacle of Automotive performance (speed, braking, laptimes etc..)
Pagaini Huayra
Bugatti Veyron
Koenigsegg Agera
Gumpert Apollo
SSC Ultimate Aero (or now Tuatara)

jpvarghese

iTrader: (1)

I think there's a distinct difference between exotics and supercars. Cars have been labeled both and one over the other.

superchan7

I think an exotic car is simply any car designed to maximize appearance, exclusivity, performance and/or luxury with little or no regard to cost. The resulting cost would usually be many times that of a "normal" car.

Squirrelz

What about a Lotus?

Vroomin350

iTrader: (28)

Question for ya, what makes a woman exotic?

Ice350

iTrader: (1)

I'm not disagreeing with you, I'm just trying to define exotic.
I can't do it either.

Maybe this will end as a "you'll know one when you see one" type of thing.
That would be too subjective but subjectivity rules the car world anyway.

Ice350

iTrader: (1)

Good post!
I'd prolly change the "bargain supercars" heading to High Performance Cars.

07grIS350

For me, it is simply something rare and desirable but not easily attainable for most people from either the original or competitor sources. This is obviously a relative concept, so the definition would change from one person/group to another.

kumquatism

iTrader: (10)

Exotic to me, is a very rare car; something I don't see very often, if at all. But it has to be a very impressive car, whether in the looks (exterior or interior) or performance. That way, an AE86 would not be considered exotic, even though I hardly ever see them. And a Rolls Royce, which isn't very impressive on the outside, have absolutely exotic-looking interiors, which would qualify it for exotic territory.

From the list you provided, the 911, XKR, and GTR are not exotics. I see them around too often to be considered. R8 is borderline, but I'll let it pass because I still stare every time. The SLS and Q1 are definitely exotics.

Brian@Vossen

I lol'd


I think low volume has a lot to do with it and price. For example a Rolls Royce or a Bentely is exotic even if they do not look like a supercar.

Toys4RJill

My take on this is:

An exotic is a car cannot be determined without looking at the brand as well.

For the purpose of Lexus, which is what this forum is about, the LFA is not a exotic car. A supercar yes!

Access to the brand is the deciding factor, most people cannot access the Ferrari, Lambo or Bugatti.

Any car company can design and build a $400,000 supercar. Does it make it an exotic? NO

If Ferrari started offering a $29k hybrid (Lexus CT) fighter. What would we say about that?

Is the LFA a supercar? Yes. Price and rarity alone does not make the LFA an exotic.

Ap1_Alan

iTrader: (1)

I'd agree with everything on your list except the 911 series and ZR-1. The average person probably won't know the difference between a 911 turbo, gt3, gt2, or a base 911, and the same can be said about the ZR-1 and base corvette. And the 911 or corvette are both too common to be considered exotic

TwiBlueG35

In my opinion an exotic must be:

1. Very expensive(at least $120,000 in the U.S.)
2. Rare enough
3. Very powerful(500hp or more in today standard)
4. Coming from a company that also builds other exotics(see 1. 2. and 3.)

Of course these are the new exotics's minimum thresholds. For the ones in the 90s or earlier, price and horsepower/top speed could be slightly lower.

BNR34

iTrader: (1)

Qualifiers are:

1, Exotic-ness of the brand name.
2, Price.
3, Rarity.
4, Engine sounds it makes.
5, Exotic material and construction.
6, Styling.

In a nut shell, is the presence and prestige of the car.

If you think about it, performance is cheap, there are tons of non-exotic car under $100k that is crazy fast, Nissan GTR and Z06.....to name a few. But very few cars under $100k that makes that exotic noise. Also there are quite a few exotic car that is pretty slow.

Nissan GTR is not an exotic car because of the brand, then the noise it makes, and most importantly that Japanese ricey styling really kills it, it looks cheap, it just looks like an expensive ricer.

On the other hand, a Lotus Elise is consider an exotic even though it is not expensive at all. It is due to the Lotus exotic name, the exotic styling, you rarely see one on the street and they actually manage to make that Toyota 2ZZ motor sounds exotic.

The most confusing one is Porsche 911. Obviously the Carrera and Carrera S are not exotic at all, even though they are pretty pricy now a days, I think the Turbo is really the cheapest Porsche that can consider as an exotic. The GT3/GT2 RS are definitely exotic because they are expensive, rare, exotic styling, exotic sounds..............etc.

There, I summed it up, exotic-ness is determined by price, rarity, brand name, styling and sounds it makes.

Exotic cars are all about posing, in order to pose, it must have the proper highend brand name, styling and sounds to attract attentions, it must be rare so it is precious and not common and it must be expensive so the owner can brag about it.

From your list, the Q1 is an exotic because it is rare and look exotic, XKR is not because it is too common and too cheap, XK-RS is an exotic though. SLS and R8 are exotic.

I think the R8 is the cheapest car that can be consider as an exotic except the Lotus Elise, in my mind, $140k MSRP is about the cut off point.