Experts Say You Shouldn't Buy These Sports Cars, But They're All Wrong

When buying an Italian sports car, buyers want two main things, gorgeous looks and amazing sound. The Maserati GranTurismo has both. No, it is not going to be as reliable as a Lexus, and no Maserati buyer expects that. Nor are most folks dropping $174,000 on a new model when you can find examples with the same timeless style and reasonable miles for under $40,000.

This is an old-school car, with old-school charm. In our 2018 review, we said -

“It was never the fastest, the greatest performer or the most powerful—but that was fine. It never felt concerned with such trivialities. It looked good and sounded great.

Why Maserati still has the dated GT as its flagship is anyone’s guess, but even though it’s “so 2007,” it feels old in the best ways. It still has a switchblade-style key. The engine isn’t obscured by an expanse of plastic shrouding. The temperature control unit uses a greenish digital screen. The speedometer numbers read by 20 mph increments, not 10. There is no start/stop option. It only has six gears. It has hydraulic steering!”

Any discussion about the Evora eventually leads to a comparison with the Porsche 911 and when comparing new cars to new cars, the Porsche is objectively the “better” car in terms of a complete package and overall liveability. But have you seen the 911 market right now? Ten-year-old cars with reasonable miles are retailing around $80,000. Or you can save about $25,000 and get a more exotic package, with a mid-engined Toyota-sourced V6 and less fuss. Of course, the Lotus is bare bones that’s the whole point!

In our 2020 review, we described the Evora GT as exactly what a sports car should be -

“The Evora GT is criminally underrated. It’s well built, the detailing is nice, it looks cool in person and it’s unreal to drive. It’s one of those things where comparing prices and specs leads you to miss something very special.”

Just like the Maserati GranTurismo, you buy this Jag for looks and sound. Though it certainly doesn’t hurt that it’s also fantastic to drive. Is the infotainment system a hot mess? Absolutely! Is it as reliable as a Corvette? Nope, but you also won’t be required to wear a pair of white New Balance when you drive it.

Even in its most recent model year, we called the F-type an “Aging Charmer” but the real fun is in the older and in my opinion better-looking models, that can be sourced for well under $50,000. While my preference would be the supercharged V6, I certainly wouldn’t fault you for getting one with the obnoxiously loud V8 that may let your intrusive thoughts win.

From our 2016 review -

“Hearing that filthy exhaust note detonate from the tailpipes every time you push the throttle will send some pretty stupid thoughts through your head. Thoughts like, Hey, I’ve never done 100 mph down this road before, or I wonder if I can set off that car alarm occupy a more-than-okay part of your brain, but good judgment has to kick in somewhere. (For the record, it’s incredibly easy to do both of those things in this car).”

The only real downside to the 4C is that they are still kinda pricey because they are still awesome, but that just means that the depreciation curve is minimal. So you can check this Italian sports car off your bucket list, drive it for a few years, and then sell it with minimal loss.

Here is everything you need to know about the 4C from former Jalopnik Editor-In-Chief Patrick George -

“With this new lightweight sports car — one with nearly no creature comforts, a turbo engine that screams in your ear and no power steering — they have created probably the purest, most unapologetic, stripped-out enthusiast sports car you can get in America right now, since you can’t buy a new street legal Lotus Elise and Exige here anymore. It puts other sports cars to shame the way Random Access Memories did to other musical acts when it came out.

The 4C is a junior Ferrari for a fifth of the price. Except not a modern Ferrari — an old-school one, back when they were for guys like Steve McQueen and not guys like Justin Bieber.

In some ways it’s the best sports car of the moment, but only the hardcorest of the hardcore need apply. It’s not for squares or posers or people who need their cars to coddle them.”

I am well aware of the obvious criticisms of the BMW i8 and the fact that more modern electric vehicles have leapfrogged it in terms of tech and range. But where else can you spend under $70,000 and get a car that looks like a six-figure exotic with butterfly doors, a mid-engine layout, and gives you the ability to take a quick drive without using much fuel?

Would it have been nice if BMW gave the i8 more horsepower? Sure. Does it really need it? Here is what we said in 2018 -

“I was disappointed that BMW didn’t give this spaceship-like hybrid more power. This was its chance to finally make an all-powerful electrified halo supercar, I figured, and it missed the opportunity.

I realize that I am a big, dumb idiot for believing so. The i8 is gorgeous and striking. It makes futuristic noises and the chassis is excellent. It doesn’t need more power. That’s not what it’s about.

In fact, performance almost takes a back seat to everything else you get to experience while driving it.”

The GT-R was made with one objective, and that was to absolutely demolish performance cars that carried price tags two or even three times what the Nissan retailed for. It also does so with a level of technology that allows your “average driver” to tap into a performance envelope that is almost hard to fathom. And to think for about $70,000 you can see what it’s like to drive the legend known as Godzilla.

Is the R35 GT-R way too long in the tooth and dated? Absolutely, but from our 2018 review -

“...overall it’s a deeply enjoyable car to drive, particularly to drive in anger. And I’ll say this too: there’s something truly fun—even subversive—about knowing how fast this car is despite its age and its badge. When you’re in it, you can go ahead and give a dirty look to that person in the freshest AMG or the Ferrari or the McLaren. You’re in an old-ass Nissan, and you could still wipe the floor with them. They exist because you allow them to exist.”

No modern safety tech, a mid-mounted V10 sending almost 600 horsepower to the rear wheels and mated to a six-speed manual with a clutch so heavy you better not have skipped a leg day. The Carerra GT is definitely “unsafe for a beginner” and if this car is not driven with respect it can have tragic consequences. However, the reason why the GT is currently retailing between 1.5 and 2 million dollars is because it is essentially a straight-up racecar, and Porsche will never make another model like it. So if you are dropping millions of dollars to curate an exotic car collection with some of the greatest of all time, it’s hard to argue against the Carerra GT.

Tom McParland is a contributing writer for Jalopnik and runs AutomatchConsulting.com. He takes the hassle out of buying or leasing a car. Got a car buying question? Send it to Tom@AutomatchConsulting.com