People buy Ferraris for the status as much as the performance.
Something that looks the part but doesn't have the gravitas just doesn't appeal to a large enough audience.
Pantera tried to make something like a cheap Ferrari in the 1970's. It was about $10k when average cars were $3k, and a Ferrari was $20k+. It did okay, but not a spectacular success.
And, there have been a few cars that tried to look the part, without the performance, but they did about the same. Pontiac's Fiero, for example.
Basically, the people that want that look also want you to think they paid a lot of money.
This, and if it's cheap at least it must be as fast as the real thing or faster, to silence the people laughing at the owner of what they think is a fake.
Good point. You can do well if you make a relatively inexpensive fast car, and you don't even need to make it look like a supercar to run with that pack.
The Mitsubishi Evo has been highly successful, and keeps up with much pricier cars...even bone stock, with no performance parts added. It looks like a typical 4 door economy car with some spoilers added. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ees2aZcDUn8 (BBC's Top Gear: Evo on a track versus a Lamborghini)
Add a bigger turbo and these things are scary fast.
Edit: That golf below is hilarious, but wouldn't fare well on a road that wasn't straight.
Of course, you could also have any type of car and just get dominated by someone who's crammed a huge HP engine into an old-looking Golf: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EE5x9vlb0ss
Something that looks the part but doesn't have the gravitas just doesn't appeal to a large enough audience.
Pantera tried to make something like a cheap Ferrari in the 1970's. It was about $10k when average cars were $3k, and a Ferrari was $20k+. It did okay, but not a spectacular success.
And, there have been a few cars that tried to look the part, without the performance, but they did about the same. Pontiac's Fiero, for example.
Basically, the people that want that look also want you to think they paid a lot of money.