The car's creator, Warren Mosler, a south Florida financier-turned-car designer, is trying to bring a street version, the MT900S and the MT900 Photon, to market. The sticker price: About $160,000, the same range as the Modena and the Porsche turbo. The car, manufactured at Mosler's facility in Riviera Beach, features a slick carbon fiber body and Corvette engine. The car is awaiting governmental and regulatory approvals; Mosler Automotive hopes to have it on the street by the beginning of next year.
When it comes to fancy wheels priced at $30,000 or more, conventional wisdom nowadays says lease 'em. "Our wealthiest customers don't pay cash," says Marc Fisher, a Mercedes salesman at Tampa Bay's Crown Auto. "They lease." Fisher says his clients like having scheduled maintenance covered (up to a specified mileage cap) and take advantage of tax benefits associated with a lease. Some 80% to 90% of deals at Crown are leases, he says. At nearby Lexus of Clearwater, 60% to 65% of all new car deals are leases.
Special promotions are most likely during summer months and December. Also, watch to see when new models are coming out. Mercedes introduced two new E-class models last month, the 2003 E320 and E500, and dealers may offer specials on 2002 models they want to clear out. Lexus retools its assembly lines and redesigns certain models every five years. This December it will add a third sport utility vehicle to its showrooms, the GX470.
If it's a used Ferrari or tricked-out Chevy you're looking for, then the New Auto Toy Store in Fort Lauderdale is the place to go. The Toy Store sells only pre-owned cars: Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Bentleys and Rolls, to name a few. Prices range from $50,000 to over $100,000.
Finance a Mercedes CLK430 Cabriolet for $942 a month plus tax. A '72 Ferrari convertible on the lot is listed at $195,000.
The hot ticket item now: Hummers.
Recently purchased by Ferrari, Maserati has returned to the U.S. market after a 10-year absence and will launch its first product, the $80,000 Spyder, exclusively at The Collection in Coral Gables. There's already a lengthy waiting list for the car; the manufacturer hasn't set a date yet for delivery.
Other new releases: Ferrari 360 Spider, $165,000. It's sold out for the next five years. Aston Martin's new Vanquish at $250,000 has a three-year waiting list.
Vintage sports car racing is big in Florida, with speedways like Daytona, Sebring and Moroso in West Palm Beach hosting popular events. A fixture at these races is Kevin Jeannette, owner of Gunnar Porsche in West Palm Beach, probably the largest Porsche racing restorer in the world. Jeannette keeps a stable of about 30 racing Porsches for drivers who compete in vintage races. Actor Paul Newman has been driving Jeannette's cars since the late '80s and will be racing a Gunnar Porsche in this year's vintage car races at Daytona in late October. Jeannette and several of his Porsches depart this month for France and the first race for vintage cars in Le Mans.
The Collection in Coral Gables is a car dealership, not a resort, but some of the amenities are similar: A hostess greets you; a concierge can get you into Joe's Stone Crab that night. The dealer, which debuted lavish new facilities this past spring, is unique in the super luxury market because it features seven luxury franchises -- Audi, Porsche, Ferrari, Lotus, Aston Martin, Jaguar and Maserati -- under one roof and has one of the highest local market penetrations for new cars in the nation.
ENTRY-LEVEL LUXURY CARSCarPriceAudi A4$25,000Jaguar sedan30,000Jaguar X-type33,000Porsche Boxster40,000
Owner Ken Gorin expects to sell at least 1,000 Jaguars, 1,000 Audis and 700 to 800 Porsches this year, with some costing more than $200,000. Last year's sales totaled a record $179 million for the dealership.
At this end of the market, says Gorin, customers show up on Saturday mornings to visit and chat about their cars while sipping Cuban coffee and sharing pastries.
Gorin says he tries to never say no to a customer, even when the customer wants to special order a Porsche Boxster in yellow with a purple interior.