Nah, don’t get too wound up about it. The Exige and the Federal Elise with sport pack are the same car other than some bodywork differences. You’ll see the European mags talk about how much more competent the S2 Exige is, but that’s because the sport pack wasn’t an option for the S2 Elise until this year.
So I’d put the Exige as the most overhyped car. The S1 Exige really was an insane version of the S1 Elise. The S2 Exige is just a bodykit.
You talkin’ to me? 
Brands mean very little to me. Sure, some marques have an impressive pedigree, but I’ll take a works-prepared Escort RS Cosworth over a Ferrari Mondial anyday, if you know what I mean. A good car is a good car.
The big question is: what does a good car make? And that’s a personal one.
Automatic gearboxes are great, especially if you do a lot of heavy traffic driving. I curse the heavy clutch pedal in my Alfa every time I hit a traffic jam. But on a sporty car, I prefer a manual. It gives me more control over the vehicle, which given my limited talent is a dubious blessing at best, but still. 
Background, pedigree, experience? 14 years of driving experience in a lot of cars. Mechanical knowledge zip, I can fill 'r up and check the oil. Tyre pressure, I can do that too.
I never claimed otherwise - there you have it. I don’t see how this somehow makes me any less of a participant in a discussion about cars, here or on pistonheads, as long as I give no one any false ideas of who or what I am.
Having said that, if you like your sporty cars with automatics, more power to you. There’s tons of people who agree with you - AMG don’t even offer manuals on their extremely high-powered Mercedes derivatives.
Oh, and the current price for a Corvette in the Netherlands starts at €90,000 for the Coupé. That’s about $105,000 at yesterday’s rate. As a comparison, your base model 911 will set you back €110,000 ($129,000). Whilst the Corvette is a quicker car than the base 911, you can easily see that the relatively small price difference is a problem for the 'Vette: Euro trash likes their Porsches.
I wouldn’t kick one off the driveway though.