Originally Posted by Dr. Knowitall

I think I can explain the original thread. This area of VA is the wealthiest tri-county area in the US currently. It is known as the Technological Gateway, a new millenium catch-phrase which is in comparison to "Silicon Valley". What this means is that there are going to be alot of young people at the early stages of thier careers. What do people do when they finally make it through college and then land a high paying job...? They purchase a new car.

Two seated vehicles, historically, have always been a demographical trend. For example, the current issue is, on average are 350Z owners young, wealthy, and Asian? The 350Z is no exception when it relates to other two seated cars in that, it is impractical overall. When looking at a group that is demographically in contrast to our "sample" we will find that those people probably have children. In this area I am amazed at the absence of children, but it makes sense. We are after all looking at young people who are at the start of thier career. So this means they do not need or want a family vehicle at this time in thier life.

Another variable is that these young people are not going to just get any car. Because they are new to the field in which they work, they are being compensated minimally, especially when considering the cost of living in this area. Two seated cars produced by manufacturers that also produce family cars hisorically are cheaper. No exception here, the 350Z is a steal in comparison to the remaining majority of Nissan's vehicles.

So what does all this mean? Absolutely nothing...because you drive a 350Z you are only noting trends of the 350Z; it is not a Simple Random Sample...it is selective. Being that the car is produced in Japan there probably is a trend there of drivers who are young, male, and Asian. And in SOCal the birth of import racing was intuitive. Young men off to school inherited the parent's car which had to be modified. If you could show statistically that Asian parents most often purchase imported cars then that would make sense. Also it is common knowledge that speed is a young man's game. But real speed is expensive which is why Ferrari doesn't waste thier time by marketing to young people. I would not be surprised about the earlier observation of 30-35 year old males driving Corvettes. That is the age where the insurance is actually feasable and these buyer have enough work history to afford it.

However, oddly enough, last week I watched a young, classy, Asian guy leave my Verizon building and climb into a trimmed out 350Z. So go figure!?