Paul... The "bling" and/or the "looks" catch on with all of us sooner or later, especially when you see someone else's car. That is how I got hooked. Joe, Jose, and Javi ALL said they did NOT care about looks as much, but you got all of them polishing, shining, and waxing.
Actually, unless you have a "pure" 500HP turbo'd race car, I think the looks speak nicely for all of us. I think a 12-12.5 second street car that looks really nice is the way to go.