Some combination of Emira, Cayman, and A110. The Cayman will no longer have an ICE and has always looked wonky, the Emira is overstyled and has pedestrian engines, and the A110 doesn't have a manual gearbox. In an ideal world, it would be the GTS 4.0 engine in an A110 body with a manual gearbox and Lotus suspension tuning.I think what you've just described is pretty much the Lotus Emira.
When I see people say things like this, I think they mean it looks generic. In some ways it's a bit derivative since its a blend of inspirations from the 1960s and 1990s. Referential might be the best term. Still though, having your car look a bit like a 33 Stradale isn't the end of the world...Am I the only one who thinks it looks like a car from a GTA game?