The Decline and Fall of the Supercar Empire
Supercars aren't what they once were.
I'm starting to wonder if we should attach a Surgeon-General-style
disclosure notice to every test or article we do concerning a car that
is financially out of reach for all but the very wealthiest driver. It
would go something like this: "WARNING: Many supercars tend to be
purchased by people who got rich doing things that would shock and
horrify you."
We live in a world where the rich keep getting richer, and that is why
the demand for everything from Bentley Mulsannes to Pagani Huayras is at
record levels. It's a world where Mazda's decision to produce another
generation of Miata virtually amounts to charity because the pool of
prospective middle-class buyers keeps shrinking but Bugatti can raise
the price of the Chiron to $2.5 million and nobody bats an eyelash.
The worst part about this, speaking as a dyed-in-the-wool automotive
enthusiast, is that this economic stratification produces less involving
supercars than we'd have otherwise. I'll explain. If the middle-class
economy can't sustain sales of great enthusiast cars like the Miata and
the Mustang, then the chances of young people being exposed to those
cars in their parents' garages or the used-car lots of their
neighborhoods declines. So even if those young people eventually have
the means to buy a supercar, they won't have any idea of what a
real performance car should be.
(Road&Track.com)
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