185 in a Quattroporte? That must've been a grey market car. California choked off the performance off on alot of great cars not too mention what they did to the appearance of them. Nothing looked more ridiculous than seeing a smoth nosed exotic with a 15mph bumper tacked to the front.

As for police and ticketing there's a science to ticketing.

A) A red exotic car is the kiss of death. I think the majority of tickets I have received have been issued while driving a red vehicle. A red exotic or a red convertible says "I'm an @ss on an ego trip...please ticket me." You don't even have to break the law and you can get a few tickets racked up in a few months if you drive it daily.

B) Yellow is not much better. That these colors are the two color wavelengths that catches the eye most is not a coincidence. Black also seems to say "I'm a bad guy" to police officers.

C) Medium Blue or White is a much safer color for an exotic or convertible. It says "I'm friendlier, perhaps a bit stuck up, but choose not to drive the stereotype." You may still get ticketed, but it wont include how many inches you parked away from the curb in violation of city ordinances and whether or not your license plate light is bright enough.

D) Exotics are often impossible to drive and not get ticketed - unless you are in a neighborhood where the police are accustomed to seeing them and the officer feels "he/she" would be living up to the stereotype by ticketing it. La Jolla, Palm Springs, Scottsdale, etcetera offer a sort of reverse-prejudice hesitation in traffic stops - though not for parking violations or expired meters where they don't have to make face-to-face confrontation.

E) Lotus Esprits have the same tiny pedal arrangement you mentioned. Impossible to drive, much less drive well unless one answer's to the name Rumplestiltskin. The non-adjustable seats riding on the floorboard mean that if you don't fit - tough luck.

F) Female officers can be far worse than male officers when you get ticketed in an exotic. Never concede anything about your speed or the capabilities of the vehicle. They often just want to justify to themselves nailing you for everything and the kitchen sink. "If he wasn't speeding now he certainly has some other time when no one was around to see it!"

G) I find that if one want's to have fun driving without the hassle of tickets, 'classics' are the safer bet. They garner more as much or more friendly attention than outright hostility. The peace officers are much less likely to tag one. Anything from the 30's through the fifties is nearly immune to tickets unless you are going crazy with it. 60s era cars and musclecars, naturally are an exception to that maxim. They also warrant the scrutiny one tries to avoid.

And most importantly....

H) Have fun with whatever you got...but enjoy it responsibly.

;-)