Have you considered other things you could do with the same money? Like a cruise or three, maybe pay down the mortgage, get a little sailboat...a car full of fancy camping equipment and a lifetime of park fees...
I'm a big fan of the old IS300/Altezza. Drop a turbo on the 2JZ-GE and go for 400hp (should be easy). You can also get a nice hellaflush stance. Alternatively, you can put together an S13/14 and do a SR20 swap. I drove around in both a Boxster S and a Carerra 4S for a few days - I was personally pretty disappointed. Too comfortable for my taste. This is a great, cheap option. Easy to work on, easy to get parts, easy to replace if you crash it. You can also drop is an LS1.
Rather and S2000 instead of a Miata. And the v1 S2000 HID headlights are hands down the best projectors available in the world still to this day. The headlights alone if parted out are worth $200-$300 each. That's just the projector, not the housing ballasts or bulbs. And it is not such a girl car (j/k)
The S2000 has probably the best 6-speed you'll ever drive. The AP1 gets nervous at the limit though (don't try drifting it). Funny thing is that I know a girl with a beautiful white one on BBS LMs - Google "Miss S two"
Another vote for 2 wheels. I have a 1988 yamaha FJ1200 that will leave almost anything on 4 wheels in the weeds and I paid under $3500 for it. The ladies love it too! http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/FJ1200_3CV.jpg
I too had these yearnings and justified the purchase of a used Jeep Wrangler because a Hybrid can't be towed 4 wheels down behind our motorhome. Is it practical? Hell no, it sucks gas, but it's also a convertable with a 5 speed manual, and it's blast to drive both on and off road! Not every decision in life needs to be practical!
We'll see how I feel about it in 6 years (IS 300 and others). I'm curious to see how well it ages. If I really love it then I would still want it in 6 years. My neighbor used to do this with her son. If he wanted a toy she would make him wait a week. Almost always he would drop it by then. But if he still wanted it after that time, she knew he wasn't just talking before. Slightly OT, I'm curious to see how the Prius will age. Let's see it's been 7 years since the Gen II came out? IMO, it's looking pretty good.
