Last week was Monterey Car Week, and I’m still recovering from all the remarkable cars I saw and touched and smelled and (keep this between us) tasted. Of course, Car Week tends to skew towards the higher end of the market, as most of the attendees are people whose net worths dwarf mine like an ostrich does a hummingbird. There’s rich people crawling all over the place, so most of the new cars introduced at events during Car Week tend to be high-end ones; this is not the place where, say, Mitsubishi is going to unveil a new Mirage, for example.
But even with that in mind, as I flowed through the various lavish events of Car Week, drooling caviar juice on my one “nice” shirt, I still couldn’t shake the feeling that I was seeing too many damn hypercars. There are just so many options for the hypercar buyer looking to drop hundreds of thousands or even more dollars on one of these sleek, incredibly engineered, wildly fast beasts that will likely never be used to even a tenth of their capabilities, and will likely spend the vast majority of their lives keeping expensive, climate-controlled garage floors safely pinned to Earth.
Oh, and I’m calling these hypercars but some may be supercars or whatever; the line’s kind of blurry, I think, but generally I’m talking about cars that are very limited production and cost at least, oh, around $250,000 or so at the bottom end, but most likely much more.
I’ve never really understood the appeal of these incredibly expensive and rare cars, and while I’m sure my biases are coloring a lot of my thoughts, it still doesn’t change the fact that there feels like a glut of incredibly expensive cars out there, and a dearth of cars people can actually buy and use, and that doesn’t feel right.
If you’re incredibly, wildly rich you have a lot of options to find a car that really lets everyone know you’re incredibly, wildly rich. Cars like these, all of which were shown at an event named The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering:
- Gordon Murray T.33 Spider
- Pininfarina Battista Gotham
- Tuthill GT
- Maserati GT2 Stradale
- Lamborghini Temerio
- Karma Kaveya
- Hennessey Venom F5
- Kalmar 9X9
…and there’s even more out there. These cars range in price from about $250,000 to well into the millions, and they’re all targeting the same basic group of buyers, and they’re all cars that most of us will never see in person in normal life, really.
I’m just not sure I see the point here? I guess if these companies can keep selling these rarified machines to this small, fortunate segment of the population, great, but for everyone else, who gives a shit?
And for companies like Karma and Maserati, what does this really do for them? Maybe these can be considered “halo cars,” cars that are exciting enough to get people interested in a given brand. But, for that to work, people have to actually encounter these cars.
Currently, I think the most successful halo car may be the Tesla Cybertruck, which drives huge amounts of attention (good and bad) to the brand, and this partially works because the Cybertruck isn’t super/hypercar priced. It’s not cheap, but it’s affordable enough that you actually see them on the road.
Hyundai was very clever about this idea a while back with the Veloster, which you could argue was their halo car, even if it was also near the bottom of their lineup, price-wise. Making a cheap and highly visible halo car is a good idea.
That’s what Karma, who introduced their Karma Kaveya electric supercar during car week, needs to learn. Though official pricing has yet to be released, it’s going to cost somewhere between $250,000 and maybe up to $400,000, which begs the question: Just who the hell is going to buy this thing?
The brand has no real cachet, it looks cool but not so much cooler than anything else out there, it will likely drive like pretty much all fast EVs do – what’s the point? What if, instead, Karma had made a fun, fast, EV coupé or GT car or Supra-like sports car and it cost, oh, around $85,000 to start? That would be much more exciting because you might actually see those around, being driven and used and enjoyed.
I also think Maserati needs something more like what the Biturbo did for them in the 1980s: when Alejandro DeTomaso bought Maserati in 1976, they’d sold 201 cars the year before – the Biturbo itself sold 40,000. There’s a big advantage to making a car that can be bought by just regular old one-house-and-one-vacation-house rich people, and not just available to why-yes-I-do-have-a-small-island rich people.
It’s not like I have real data to back this up, but that’s fine, because fundamentally, this is just a rant: I’m sick of supercars, hypercars, all of that. It felt like new ones were popping up all over the place, and I just can’t get excited about a class of car that hardly gets driven and I hardly ever encounter.
And even when I do encounter them, like when we crashed the Exotics On Broadway event with our crappy Aztek, while I appreciate their looks and sounds and drama a great deal, it just reminds me how little these cars tend to get used.
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There were dozens of McLarens and like 20+ Paganis/Koenigseggs at this supercar parade, and it feels like outings like this are some of the only times these cars get out and driven. Now, of course there are exceptions (though the number of people who daily drive a supercar without also having a YouTube channel seems small), but I think what I’d rather see being introduced at events at Car Week are more cars that people will actually buy and use.
It’s possible to have something that’s too good, and I think that’s the Achilles heel of hypercars. They’re too expensive and rare and valuable to actually be used and enjoyed, so that makes them, effectively, useless.
So, fuck the hypercars, shove it up your exhaust manifold, supercars, and next year I hope to just see some exciting cars I can’t ever afford as opposed to a bunch of exciting supercars almost nobody can ever afford.
Maybe it’s sour grapes, but driving a slow car fast is more fun that driving a fast car slow.
I’m here for this rant!
If I were not already subscribed I would have after this post. I am so so so over the rich boy toys for super rich folks. I used to think the engineering was kind of neat, but now I would rather hear about engineering that will be beneficial for us workaday stiffs.
That out of the way, what car should I pair with my upcoming lunch of a tomato sandwich? Sommelier is wine and Cicerone is beer, but what should we call the expert pairing cars with food?
And who do we trust with the job? Shower spaghetti dude, or ‘once made his own astronaut poop-containment system, and tested it in his bath’ dude? I know there are many other, very fine Autopian contributors, but, well, car sommelier sounds like a job for one of the weirdos…
OK richest of the rich, you want to show us how rich and POWERFUL you really are? Do you want auto enthusiasts to praise your name to the stars?
Don’t buy a brand new hypercar, raise the dead!
Build factories to stamp out factory fresh long dead vintage cars, perfect right down to the VIN and tire nuts. You need not worry about any pesky legal issues since you have a highly talented legal team and prominent lawmakers in your pockets to make your desires nice and legal(ish).
Then sell those perfect long nose air cooled Porsches, Ferrari California Spyders, Gull Wing Mercedes, Jaguar XJ13s or whatever at prices far less than it cost you to make them to anyone who wants one. As a bonus you’ll undermine the wealth of other rich people by reducing the “value” of their collections. They will curse your name which serves them right for them daring to consider themselves your peer.
Do it you cowards!
This is similar to my plan to produce a Porsche 718 GTS for each person on earth. Partly to guarantee a deep supply of spare parts and partly to see all the 718 adaptations people will make for local needs.
DO IT!!
I think there’s a distinction between halo cars and hypercars. To me hypercars are built by the McLaren’s and Koenigseggs of the world and that’s mainly what they do. Ferrari, Lamborghini and Bugatti may also have some but mainly it’s the ones that build a few a year and custom mold the seat to the buyer’s butt and what not.
Halo cars I think of like the Corvette, the Viper, Ford GT, the NSX, and now like the Hummer, the Cybertruck, the Celestiq, from regular car makes, the dealer can have one in the showroom for people to gawk at, now look at this Equinox over here, it’s got the same badge on it as that Corvette, pretty much the same for 1/4 the price, awesome right?
I think Jason definitely has some bias, I couldn’t afford to hardly look at one of these, but they’re fun to see at at car shows, it’s the kind of thing kids put posters of on their walls, and when we see them actually roll in at a cars and coffee it’s neat.
And you get the Doug Demuro’s of the world that will occasionally buy and drive one, he made enough money to be able to say ok, I can buy one(used) and not bankrupt my family, and he’s enjoying himself. If there weren’t that many options then does every person that enjoys cars and wants ‘the next level’ of them just have to get a McLaren and call it good? That seems kind of boring.
The VW Phaeton is a good example of a halo car that’s not a hypercar. Or the XL1 come to that.
Piëch liked his halo cars.
Koenigseggs Is an interesting case. First off he seems like a fun guy, but he’s developing some truly interesting technology and out of the box thinking. I only hope that Koenigseggs are doing some consultancy and licensing arrangements like Porsche does.
“people whose net worths dwarf mine like an ostrich does a hummingbird.”
The ostrich may lay the largest eggs per se of any birds but it also has the smallest egg to body ratio whereas hummingbirds lay the smallest eggs per se but they also have particularly large egg to body ratios (for those of you wondering, top spot goes to the kiwi, ouch) so you may be on to something there.
the 1% are the only ones who can afford to buy a car right now. they arent driving them. theyre just collecting them because its expected that they have them. cars driven under a certain mileage every year over a certain worth need to be hit with a huge tax bill. its an enormous waste of resources.
I get what you are saying, and agree to an extent, but while I don’t care for/about the way these cars are used, I am happy that they get made at all. I am happy that there are engineers that get to work at small companies where their only goal is to make the car beat some record. I very much dislike the idea of patronage, although I think that is kind of what is happening here. This isn’t a new thing, all of the famous art of the renaissance was funded by some rich person patronizing the artist for a painting from da Vinci or Botticelli, etc. I am happy that the Sistine Chapel exists, despite knowing that I will never be as rich as the Pope, so I probably won’t ever be able to support an artist to create anything that valuable, much less own it. That being said, I would happy to see those hypercars in Monterrey, but it makes me even more happy that those rich folks support the regular people who get the chance to work at companies like Koenigsegg doing something they love.
That all being said, I don’t believe in “trickle down economics”, and have to believe there is a better way than a medieval economic system of patronage to support artists, engineers and other specialists to create great things.
That all being said, I don’t believe in “trickle down economics”
Pretty sure when you’re down there, looking up it’s not “economics” trickling down.
And yet here we are:
http://www.patreon.com
I agree, I lost the plot a while back, and I simply can’t do anything to make myself care about any of these hyper cars. Frankly, I have lost interest in most new cars as a whole, and my tastes and interests have moved into the more weird, obscure and old. I’ll be more excited at this point to see a Crosley than whatever the hell a Tuthill GT is. That or older, prewar cars and the like, there’s just something more of substance to these vehicles than the pure vapidity on offer from so many “high end exotic brands.” Jack Baruch described the car week events as “self congratulatory displays of generic wealth” or something along those lines and it seems perfect
I think the bigger problem is there are too many damn billionaires.
*One* is too many, period.
Unless I’m that one. Then it’s ok.
I used to get so excited by the Veyron, F50, Koenigseggs… now I just find myself not really thinking of them, they’re so unbelievably unobtainable that I really don’t want to think about them. I guess it’s the reality of going from an ambitious kid to an adult and reality hits hard, back when we were young, the idea of a Zonda in the future was so realistic to us but we didn’t have any plans to achieve it, we just had dreams… now I find myself more excited about rumors of a new Celica and MR2, more realistic fun cars.
Hate may be a strong word, but I have certainly become jaded and nonchalant about all the new hypercar manufacturers.
I think there are a few things going on.
One, as mentioned, there are so damn many of them.
Two, horsepower seems like an embarrassment of riches rather than a precious commodity these days. Seems like most anybody can throw a few engineers in a room and dial up several hundreds pretty easily.
Three, I am old, which actually has two consequences. a) I am never going to own a hypercar, I know that, when younger there was always the question mark or dreams, and b) whiz bang numbers alone 250mph! 1200 HP!! don’t thrill me so much anymore.
Lastly, a real world comment. I have driven a couple of 500 plus hp modern cars on the street. They are going dangerously and illegally too fast before you can read this sentence, and so the fun is limited and over quickly.
You hit the nail on the head. When I was a teen in the 90’s I geeked out over “super cars” and I knew all of them. Now I could care less. Like you said there are so many you can’t even keep track and you never see them. It’s out of control. I saw a insta reel of a hyper car parade and I could name/recognize 1 out of the 30 cars. And I really like cars.
*couldn’t care less
I hang out with young kids all day, my grammar mind is mush. Thanks for the refresh.
I propose establishing tracking halo ceo’s, to replace the hyper/supercar class. Lets start with Tavares and Musk. Both are useless, overwrought, bloviating, narcissists. They both are rolling wrecks sure to draw unnecessary attention to the mother company.
Could set up car week debating matches between them where they could discuss whatever bs pops into their respective heads and requure all the richies to sit through the debates.
I hope the hyper rich all get their rockets and just leave Earth. But knowing them, they will just get their stans to do the dirty work while they watch.
The reality is automotive technology and normal roads have just reach the point of diminishing returns. You need all the high tech aeros to keep the car on the road. EV gives you great acceleration and 0-60 in sub 2 secs are not going to get you out of a city commute any faster.
I hope the hyper rich all get their rockets and just leave Earth. But knowing them, they will just get their stans to do the dirty work while they watch.
I’ve long predicted that the first wave of starry eyed space colonists will die horribly and at some point become food for the second. They in turn will feed the third. Its going to be pretty ugly for a long time.
And your right, the rich will send the expendables to set things up and to exploit once things are set up. Only when the colonies are any where near self sufficiency will the rich dip their toes in the new world if only to have an on site rebellion squasher.
If only Mitsubishi did unveil a new Mirage at Monterey Car Week. Maybe there would be at least one car with the high-tech and advanced Jatco Xtronic CVT. A shame none of those cars had the best fuel economy, performance, or driving experience as they could have had if properly equipped.
Mitsubishi should definitely have introduced the new Mirage there. I’m pretty sure the Autopian would have lent them the wheelbarrow full of shrimp to make it a proper swanky affair.
They’re mostly ugly if you take the scales from your eyes (or remove your rose-colored glasses). They are insectoids. Ugly and boring. Engineering marvels maybe, but they have near zero appeal to me as a car lover.
Yes, they’re impressive with numbers and engineering but truly miss out on the emotion
My thoughts are a little more…complex? Forgiving? I’m not unhappy that they’re out there, but that’s chiefly because they do not now and likely never will affect my life. It was a little more fun when it was easier to keep tabs on a limited number of players in the game for the performance crown, but I’m not mad about it; it’s more indifference than anything.
It’s kind of like videogames when I was young and my family was poor: every single one was to be ground into powder, good or bad, because we could count them on two hands. Now, years later, I’ve got hundreds of games spanning three decades or more of video game history, and I think “nah I’ll just do x instead.” The combination of a surplus of (cars, games, books, projects to do, nice days for cycling/motorcycling) coupled with shifting interests just means I’m much more interested in those things than 7-figure land rockets.
The things that do rustle my jimmies are or should be vaguely attainable, like a Blackwing/M3-class car.
When the rich get richer, they need more ridiculous things to buy so they can one up each other. As long as it’s more rare, more expensive, and puts up the right kind of numbers… That’s all the matters.
I’d argue the MX-5 is peak Halo car for our era. It’s unique. It’s attainable. It’s not super practical (compared to your average grocery getter). And it speaks to the ideals of the parent company.
The great thing about the MX5 is that it is practical. Other than fewer seats, and less space for cargo it’s no less practical than a Fiesta or equivalent. You get in it, you drive places, it’s just like a car but more fun.
Hyper cars on the other hand are too wide, too low and too expensive to use as transport without forward planning.
I’m with you on this, but I feel I need to remind you that not all rich people are the free thinking individuals they are made out to be. They are mostly tribal conformists that desperately need the affirmation of doing what all the rest of them do. This provides a perfect opportunity for some industrious business to sell them expensive crap. See also, handbag collections…
The only car from Monterey car week that I really want to read about is the 1934 Bugatti Type 59 Sports that won the Pebble Beach Concourse.
You guys are doing a lengthy article about it right? A totally mind-boggling story.
I mean it ties into the supercar thing right? The king of Belgium decides to buy a Grand Prix winning race car, has it re-bodied for the road (It’s good to be the king!) and then it goes on racing for another 40 years.
And Leopold III of Belgium was probably the rich asshole to end all rich assholes (Belgian Congo! ), so there’s that too.
There was a thread elsewhere discussing the death of the sporty car & convertible, in which the consensus opinion was nobody had the money to afford a second car, so a car that couldn’t do everything couldn’t sell anymore.
Meanwhile we’ve got an absolute flood of ultra-exclusive 1-of-n-where-n-doesn’t-include-you stat-mobiles because the economics on those is working out just fine – there’s enough ultra-rich out there to keep an entire cottage industry of replacement-level hypercar makers in business.
I don’t wanna get all political here (“stick to cars”), buuuuuuuuuuuut….
“1-of-n-where-n-doesn’t-include-you” is a stroke of genius
That is a very, very good point.
I lost track of super / hyper cars around the time of the La Ferrari. That seems to be around the time that every hypercar manufacturer was launching a new car that looked exactly like their other one.
Every damn Pagani looks the same. I don’t care that you changed one knob on the dashboard and want to call it something else. Geezus. I feel like every individual Bugatti vehicle is its own specific model. That’s fine, but keep it between you and your customer. I don’t need a press release covered by 32 different blogs.
I just feel like hypercars have gotten so stale that they’re boring. Sure cars like a Bugatti are impressively fast, but what else did you expect when you can just pump money into it like VW did?
I’m right there with you. The time around the La Ferrari marked some sort of clear divergence in my own interests
Although I can take them or leave them, I think Monterey car week is the place and time for them. There are thousands of car shows, cruises, club runs, etc for non-supercars.
Car Week does seem like an appropriate place for these cars. The cars were where they belong. You were out of place.
I don’t necessarily disagree but here’s a counterpoint…
When the cars are limited production run, it makes the economics work. The rich guy can buy the car and when he/she is done with it, they can sell it to someone else for about the same money (or sometimes more) than they bought it for since the cars are made in such small numbers. I think that is why there is a lot of different ones. Generally rich guys are good with understanding depreciating assets and seek out the exceptions. 30 years later, these hyper-cars are the stars of Pebble Beach with their advanced technology of the time and unique quirks. I do agree it doesn’t really move the industry forward though for the masses.
I struggle with this one. On one hand I’m like you, Torch, in that I see a new super/hypercar announced, and it is low and lean and slinky and mean and fast and sexy and I just can’t manage to dredge up even a scintilla of interest in it. I find that distressing – I had the Countach poster on my bedroom wall when I was a kid just like everyone else I knew, and could quote power, top speed, etc. ad nauseam – they were interesting, and I was interested, despite them being just as un-attainable then as the new batch of hypercars are now. So have they changed, or have I? Maybe both.
I’m not one to begrudge the rich their toys – on the contrary, in order for art and other lovely-yet-useless things to exist, rich people need to spend their riches in frivolous ways; a 100% stone-cold rational world would be an ugly and miserable one to live in. Just like a marble statue, I’m glad that the Maser-rari Hyperleggera Quadrifoglio XXLi’s of the world can be created and sold so that we can appreciate it, even if we may never own it. But the automotive creations in that rarified strata over the past decade or so have failed to move me, unlike their progenitors. Perhaps, similar to art, just because something is expensive doesn’t mean it is beautiful. There are plenty of examples of works of art that are too garish or shocking or self-absorbed to be broadly appealing. Maybe that’s what’s happening to these cars? Are they the automotive equivalent to ‘modern art’ (but it’s actually just a banana duct-taped to a blank canvas) – created for and marketed to a group of consumers for whom the exclusivity (via price or production volume, usually both) *is* the appeal?
Since you’re artist *and* a gearhead (I’m only the latter, I don’t have a trace of the skill to be the former), I’d love to hear your thoughts.
I don’t think you’ll find too many people just knocking that they’re expensive. It’s that they’re expensive AND boring
“in order for art and other lovely-yet-useless things to exist, rich people need to spend their riches in frivolous ways; a 100% stone-cold rational world would be an ugly and miserable one to live in.”
Not at all! Things can be lovely and quite useful. There’s no reason a building can’t be practical and beautiful. Same with cars, same with dogs, same with diamonds, same with people.