Note, I said a spare £16,000, not my only £16,000. If it was all I had I'd probably go for the house also.
But it's still a pretty sharp little car, with all the bells and whistles. A couple of the car magazines on the stand now (UK magazines, even) rate it pretty highly and there is no mention of even the faintest whiff of onions or garlic (or any other xenophobic remarks) just the pleasing new-car aroma of fresh plastic and man-made fibres.
As for something unique, by all means get a Skyline, Evo, or Impreza. Keeerist, they were like ants at a picnic at JAE and, with their four, five and six hundred hp rolling road ratings are, in my opinion, just another take on the "mine's bigger than your's" theme and useless for anything other than waxing and bragging rights.
Each to his own, of course, that's what makes the world spin 'round. But I'd still have one. In that blue in the photo, or black, even, thank you. Just the thing for rocketing off to Sainsburys for a bottle of French wine. But I doubt I'd ever develope a craving for snails or frog's legs just because I drove one.
S