I have to admit it was looks that captured me! My other choices were a Mazda RX-8 (I'm an old RX-7 guy) and the Infiniti G35 coupe, both beautiful cars but the Crossfire has them beat hands down. Mercedes engine and underpinings and those wheels are just icing on the cake. Car & Drivers report also helped me decide, they refered to its structure as being as strong as an Abrams tank with handling better than the SLK. If they had a problem it was with available power, mentioned it could use a few more horses, but it's plenty quick enough for me. If I wanted a pocket rocket a Honda 2000 would have been my choice.