2003 American Exotics Comparison Test

The last time we brought together these otherworldly muscle machines, former editor Brent Romans wrote that it was as though the heavens had opened up, snatched him from the clutches of office boredom and deposited him directly into horsepower nirvana.

Although it seemed like all our prayers had been answered when the call came down from above to conduct another American exotic grudge match, it quickly became apparent that Señor Romans might have used up all our good graces the last time around. From the minute the test started (or should we say almost didn't start?), the press car gods were not looking down on us favorably.

First, the Viper threatened to not participate at all. Since it's built in limited numbers, Dodge isn't too keen on letting its 500-horsepower flagship loose on journalists hell-bent on proving that it can in fact run an 11-second quarter-mile. We begged and pleaded and even offered up our associate editor as collateral until permission was finally granted. We would get the car, but when it finally showed up, the ABS warning light was already glowing before we even laid a hand on it.

A call to our friendly reps over at Chevrolet regarding a certain Torch Red Corvette resulted in some disheartening news as well. Apparently they had a Z06 with our name on it, but it was in dire need of some new rubber - imagine that. A set of replacement tires was found, but it would take a couple days to get them mounted. So once again, it would show, but two days later than we expected.

Naturally, we hesitated before calling the folks at Ford, half expecting them to inform us that the 2003 SVT Cobra we had scheduled had been lost in a sinking transport ship from Detroit, but to our surprise and relief, it was in good shape and ready to go. We were fully prepared to nix the Acura NSX should it be delayed, but a quick call confirmed that it too was ready and waiting.

Were our misfortunes now behind us? Not exactly. Although performance testing went off without a hitch (a few locked-up Viper tires aside), our planned day at the Willow Springs road course was far from perfect. Testing conditions were hardly ideal as temperatures hovered in the mid-30s all morning with random sprinkles thrown in for good measure. Granted, it was December and all, but we hadn't seen rain in Southern California for months; surely, it wouldn't decide to start right then?

Well, not right away. We were able to get in a few quick sessions in each of the four cars, but then the sky opened up and dumped the biggest load of water SoCal had seen in a long time. It was virtual bumper cars on the freeway as we crawled home in the slow lane, desperately trying to avoid the numerous accidents occurring all around us.

Thankfully, all the cars were returned in one piece, but it seemed like we had just picked them up only a few days before. Our normal schedule of editor test-drives had been pretty much tossed out the window in a vain attempt to secure some much needed track times. In light of this, we dispensed with our normal routine of evaluations and calculations to determine the winner and instead went with a more subjective evaluation method. It doesn't have a very scientific air about it but then again the decision to buy one of these cars is rarely a rational one, either. We kept that in mind as we selected the finishing order in the hopes of choosing the car that best exemplifies that theory.

When all was said and done, we once again had ourselves a winner, and although we would have liked to have logged a few hundred miles more in each car we're confident in our choices. We may not have reached the exotic car nirvana we were hoping for, but when you get the chance to drive cars of this caliber, any mile is worth smiling about.