For me it's a long story, but then most things are when you're 71 lol. "Back in the day" when America was very much into its love affair with cars, the American cars were loud, brash, tended to be over-styled, but they had lots of horsepower and were cheap. Foreign cars were either exotic and expensive, or small and economy which didn't have that much appeal when gas was 18 cents a gallon. The classy/elegant exotic cars were British; Jaguar, Aston Martin, Austin Healey, Bentley, and of course Rolls Royce. The passionate exotic cars were Italian; Ferrari, Maserati and Alfa Romeo. The well-oiled machines were German; Porsche and Mercedes.
I was never drawn to any German car; they just never punched my button. They always looked and felt like a machine to me, very clinical. The common view was 'precision' more than anything else. As far as passion, I loved the Italian cars, but they were simply out of range price-wise. My first car was British, and I've had a soft spot for British cars ever since. My best friend in high school had an Austin Healey 3000. I was big into following Formula 1 racing, and Lotus was my favorite F1 team.
So for me, after a lifetime of growing up in and through the ICE era, the Emira represents the best of that history. It looks as good as any car designed by anybody anywhere. It's as exotic looking as any Italian car. Lotus was always known for its legendary handling and chassis performance, and the Emira has it in spades. It has a lovely sounding V6 and a manual transmission which is very reminiscent of the sound and driving experience I learned how to drive in, and grew up with. It's uncommon; something that's always appealed to me, which is partially why my daily is an Alfa Romeo.
The upgrades in fit, finish, quality and interior have brought it up to the level where it's pretty much perfect for where I'm at in age and at this stage of my life.
It's beautiful, it's exotic, and it's a Lotus. I can't wait to have it in my garage.
