Firstly, when I was a kid I loved Lotus Esprit turbo challenge and would discuss driving physics with my dad while playing it.
My next encounter was the first Exige which I thought looked absolutely epic and a proper weapon (Exiges are great).
Then, years ago, when I had an Alfa GTV (which I still love) I sat back to back in a TVR Cerbera and an Elise. The Elise felt perfect, then I went out in it and it was a hell of a lot more comfortable than I was expecting on the move as well.
Finally when I wanted back into a sports car after a super barge, I wanted something that was relatively light, not too wide, fun to drive, naturally aspirated, manual, good on road trips and not as fast in a straight line as my old car which you could just never enjoy. I also wanted it to be fun in every situation and a bit quirky.
I also missed the Alfa effects. Both the friendly wave (alas now lost to newer Alfas) and the fact that if something fell off you never felt bad, it was part of the charm.
So I bought an Evora!