You think maybe at some point the car modeling perhaps was rushed after said realization?
The opposite in fact, it suggests (to me, wish to point that out again) they initially started modelling all sorts of cars confident they could build a large number meaning the initial selection wasn't that important as the total number of Premium cars would eventually be bigger.
Now that the selection is smaller than initially planned (again an assumption or hypothetical possibility) the cars modelled first (for example the Cervo I mentioned but there are a few others as well) stand out as an odd choice whilst when the selection was much larger (say about 400) they would just be another model, not part of the small core of Premium cars.
Maybe after this realization they had to take a different approach filling in the gaps to make it seem like a coherent line-up, not rushed but a change of strategy perhaps.
I mean if you introduced a new way of modelling whereby the results can be used in future games as well I would make a carefully chosen list of cars to include
at least in the first game which features them, a base from which to continue.
Making sure the first cars finished are futureproof themselves, are 'proven' to be appreciated by your fanbase or new additions to the series which are somehow logical (again the first cars to model, not the final list).
Kaz is a petrolhead himself, it's not that he doesn't have a clue what will be appreciated and what not which makes some cars odd to include first if it were planned this way.
This isn't about what cars the majority of casual gamers would like to see by the way but within the context of the cars historically featured in GT-games before.
