I don’t know much about cars either, but that does happen. For example, Cadillac Escalade was/is based on a less-fancy-looking GMC SUV (Suburban?). Chevy Volt is also Cadillac ELR (different body and interior, same drivetrain), Opel Ampera (in Europe), and Buick Velite (in China, because Buick has a better brand recognition there)

Some cheaper car models come with variety of “sport editions” and out-of-factory tint and spoilers, which would be the equivalent to the RGB computer peripherals that you mentioned, and appeal to specific customers.

TBH I don’t know why some expensive car designs are perceived as “fancy” or “impressive”. I think they are mostly boring. And quality-wise, anything above bottom tier would have materials that last decades now.

If you make a Toyota fancy, you end up with a Lexus. If you make a Honda fancy, you end up with an Acura. If you make a Volkswagen fancy, you end up with an Audi. If you make a Nissan fancy, you end up with an infinity.

Because when they do, they start charging more for them. cough Kia/Hyundai

Lots and lots of reasons.

I’m basing this on your comparison of normal cars to currently existing exotics.

Predominantly - the vast majority of people don’t want an exotic car. They want to go from home to work and the store, maybe a drive for a leisure trip. They’re boring. They want to get their stuff and people in and out of the car easily and conveniently.

Exotics do not do this well. There’s minimal trunk space and fit two people, often “snugly.” They require some contortions to get into and out of. Now think of how out of shape many people are and see if they fit into a highly contoured and snug race seat and can crawl in behind a scissor- or butterfly-style door with a very low roof.

Engineering-wise it’s a big cost issue, both for the manufacturer and customer. Those compact, low, aerodynamic bodies on exotic cars take a lot of work to pack all the mechanicals in along with having to design a body that is crash-worthy for each new exotic style. On top of that, they’re often mid-engine, which means a lot of specialty parts like transaxles, and wildly different handling characteristics than the average consumer is used to when you shift weight to the back of the vehicle.

Manufacturers are sticking with the “boring” designs because they’re based on existing engineering that is safe, requires minimal cost to make the new iteration, aerodynamic, fuel efficient, and has proven to be sellable to consumers. Profit is king. They’re not going to take chances on crazy styles that may not sell because again, people are boring.

I know people are going to chime in about mundane cars in production today that have some of the features I mentioned and treat them as an exception that invalidates the opinions I’ve offered, but the point is that if they were economical and profitable designs in an exotic body they would be more widespread. “You could just take “x” engine and transmission and build a “y” around it” argument.

I would suggest maintenance is a cost problem, too…some exotics literally require the car be split - the entire rear of the car containing the engine and transaxle removed from the rest of the car because of the compact engineering and inaccessibility to some wear parts. However if Toyota made a low-buck supercar looking commuter car I’d hope the maintenance would be cheaper and easier.

So there you have it. Cost of design, engineering, and maintenance. Boring consumers, convenience, and safety. Affordability and profit. That’s why we don’t have exotics everywhere. The market has determined that the few Halo cars we see like the Supra or C8 Corvette, or even the Mustang, is all the market will bear.

They have “kit cars,” which are all the parts you need to build a fancy vehicle on the chassis and drive train of a normal car. When I was young, Ford Pintos were common chassis for kit cars.

Isn’t that what Scion does?

You forget that the companies making those cheap cars are often the same companies of the fancier cars. Thinking Hyundai and their Genesis line.

Hyundai will never make a Sonata look like a fancy super car because then they won’t have any reason for someone to want to pay more for the fancier models that their Genesis line has for 3x the cost.

The people buying the fancier cars want something exotic that no one else is driving on the roads. They will willingly pay the premium for that luxury to not look like the rest of the cars on the road. Many also don’t care what’s under the hood, i.e. doesn’t matter if a cheaper Chevy can beat their Maserati, they’re buying the car for the exotic looks.

And then you also have some people who don’t want something flashy even if it is cheap. When I lived in a not so great area, I specifically did not want anything that drew attention to me. For example, I didn’t even want to wear knock offs of high end clothing like a knock off of Gucci clothing because it makes people think I have money and am a target for being robbed. So yes, I want the generic 4 door sedan the broke college kids are driving. Maybe the local thief won’t be so likely to smash my windows or try to carjack me.

Some companies spend a lot of money on market research and trying to get ahead of trends (Mercedes Benz, Honda, Toyota) some companies disregard common sense and do what they want (Alfa, The French in general) and cheaper brands dont waste the money on price point cars. Its not an Iron clad rule but people buy a german to project wealth, you buy other euros to project style, you buy Honda and Toyota for reliability. You buy a Nissan Altima because they will finance you, you buy a Chinese car because you arent keeping it past warranty expiry anyway.

As to what sets them apart. Little things like painted brake calipers, the quality of the badging, the texture on the plastic interior, little trim pieces that stop you seeing any of the interior workings, the windscreen wipers looking “chunky”. Wheels and stance also play a large part of the image. Wide wheels simply look more expensive, as do lower profile tyres.

Then things get a little more tactile, the dull thump when you shut the door over the higher pitched clank, the thickness of the interior plastics and number of fasteners making the interior feel sturdier even though you cant see the difference, the sensation of the indicators being put on, the UI on the touchscreen…

Prestige brands also dont do trim level names/badges very often. They like letters and numbers like 330i M-Sport or c65 AMG. Lexus followed suit with the LS400. They WANT you to say “Yeah, I got the Touring package” or “I bought the AMG sports pack” and they know their owners want to do it too.

I’m the opposite: I find it increasingly harder to distinguish car makers just from looking at the car (without seeing the logo of course). They all look snazzy.

I just know that when I see a fancy car, and check the make, it’s BMW or something high end, and when I see a pygmy hippo lookin’ motherfucker, it’s made by one of those “buy one, get one free” type manufacturers that appeal to meth head soccer moms.

First of all, car manufacturers invest A LOT of resources into evoking that specific reaction in (potential) customers.

And I don’t like your attitude towards people who have less money than you.

I think our 2021 Honda Civic Sport looks pretty fancy. No one is going to mistake it for a Ferrari, but I think it’s pretty hot for the price.

I also wouldn’t fit in any real sports car anyway.

They want to “reserve” features looks and styles for expensive cars to make you upgrade.

You’re describing either a kit-car or custom fab.

I would argue that it is already the case that cheap cars look and perform excellently, compared with cars produced fifty years ago. They are more reliable, economical, comfortable, higher performance, superior in virtually every respect.

The other factor to consider is the use case. Something like a Ferrari is not reliable compared to a VW Golf, it sucks at carrying passengers and cargo, terrible fuel economy, it is horrible value for money and inferior in most ways apart from one - compensating for a small penis. That is its chief purpose and it is supremely well crafted for this use case.

Source: automotive engineer of 25 years.

Car designers trade off style, aerodynamics, cost of design work, and cost of manufacturing (and a lot of other things, not all I’m aware of). If you want an economy car you trade things off differently, you take the first design that meets your needs instead of tweaking the design for perfection.

What’s really interesting is when people take an actual lawn mower like the Kei class Honda Beat with its 3 cylinder 7k RPM mid chassis engine and engine swap it with a 200HP motorbike engine to get one of the most insane sleeper cars of all time.

I used to have a VW Polo that had turbo upgrade, full muffler refit, high flow cat, pod filter, tuned ecu, upgraded brakes, tires, adjustable suspension. This little thing looked like a basic nothing. Stock standard white paintjob piece of rubbish, sitting silent at the lights. Until you punched the pedal, then it’d roar like a dragon and take off like a damn rocket. It wasn’t anywhere near as good as my Golf R overall, but it was a stupidity fun little go-cart.