Five to make looking at Trademe worthwhile

Aesthete's fleet

I loosed the dust covered Flavia from the lockup and gave it a good scrub before heading up the Pigroot to Ranfurly. For those not blessed to live near Dunedin, this is an old miners' trail that winds up into the Central Otago foot hills and is one of the best open road drives in New Zealand. I left at a reasonable hour in the morning and counted precisely four cars using the same route – that is going in either direction. The Lancia was built in Torino and it is said that the gearing on these cars was tested on the mountain roads rising out of the Aosta Valley. It certainly feels that way and it was a real pleasure to open it up in its ideal environment. I have been doing some design work in Ranfurly recently including new welcome signs as you approach the town. These were illustrated by the peerless Stuart Medley in Perth. Keep an eye out if you are in the vicinity.

 

1962 Plymouth Fury.  There is something heroic about the early 1960s Chrysler range. It is as if they got sick of making the best looking cars in America and set about to design the ugliest, possibly with George Jetson as principal stylist. This Plymouth looks like it has been given a good fright with its mismatched front and rear styling and madly staring lights. I would like to own one just to see if the looks could grow on me.

For: You will not have to hunt for it in the supermarket car park.
Against: Not really ugly/beautiful. Just ugly.
Investment potential: 2/10. The looks hold the prices down so always a limited market.

1959 Rover 105S. For Rover fanciers in the know,  this is the pick of the P4 range. Launched in 1957 alongside the hapless 105R with its awful semi-automatic transmission, the S featured the same upgraded motor with twin SUs and luxurious interior with separate front seats. The P4 was never a sporty car but this was as close as it got.

For: This is cheap for a good car.
Against: Keep an eye on the body condition. Even though they have a strong chassis, rust can attack the door pillars.
Investment potential. 8/10 Do the brakes and double your money.

1935 Rover Sports 14. This must be the week for interesting Rovers because this rare and attractive close-coupled saloon is one of only a few left in the world. I have admired at it at a number of events over the years and would almost have it in preference to a Riley Kestrel. The quality of design and fittings is superb and the interior would give away little to a Bentley, if they had been inclined to make a smaller car.

For: The best of all worlds. Decent open road cruising speed and fantastic looks for a tenth the price of a Bentley.
Against: Alright. I know its not a Bentley.
Investment potential: 7/10. The market for 1930s cars is aging along with the cars but this should appeal to almost anyone.

1958 Lotus Seven series 1 Climax. For about the same price as a used Ducati you could scare yourself silly on four wheels in this recreation of Colin Chapman's working man's race car. The hand formed alloy body looks superb and the delicious confection is powered by a proper overhead cam Coventry Climax motor, not a feeble Ford side valve.

For: Picture the drive to work in this.
Against: Nothing I can see for that price.
Investment potential. 8/10. This has to be value for money.

1964 Chevrolet Corvette. People miss the point with these cars and seem to want them with the big block engines, side pipes and other addenda that generally spoil their usefulness. Despite Zora Arkus-Duntov's best efforts the chassis was never really fit for 300 HP and the smaller engined cars are much nicer. This two-owner car looks correct and the hardtop is a desirable feature.

For: Little red Corvette indeed. One of the more inspired metaphors for a feminine special place.
Against: Not a lot I can see.
Investment potential: 3/10. Without the thumping engine, one for the rare breed of tasteful Corvette owner.

Unnnguuragha!.. You know the rest.

1975 Maserati Khamsin. Maserati was part owned by Citroen in the 1970s and produced some startlingly modernist designs with high pressure hydraulics taming the slightly brutish qualities of their big V8 coupes. The Khamsin's asymmetrical air scoops and tight wedge profile is pure automotive pheronome and the Aesthete is starting to perspire with his finger over the buy now button.

For: OMG
Against: Looks like trouble...
Investment potential. 2/10. Could be a 100K restoration, easy.

Cinque automobili belle and one not so much

I was trying to make it a consistent selection this week but the odd one out is so interesting that I was swayed from my usual inclinations. See if you can guess which one it is. The correct answer can be found at the end of today's list.

1989 Fiat Panda 1000S: Ask Giorgetto Giugiaro about his favorite car designs and he will most likely tell you about the Fiat Panda. Making anything look good with flat glass all round is a challenge and one from which Italy's most gifted stylist did not shirk. The outcome was much loved by cardigan- wearing retired professors of sociology and you can still earn your carbon credits by saving one from the scrapper.

For: 1980s poverty chic.
Against: You will want to grow a beard or stop wearing a bra. Perhaps both.
Investment potential: 3/10. Cheap then and cheap now.

1969 Fiat 850 Sport. 12.5K is a little optimistic for one of these but a fair price if it requires no further work. It makes poor sense to pay Fiat money and follow it with Ferrari restoration costs so I recommend that you swallow hard and pay the man his money if you want one of these pretty and increasingly rare coupes.

For: Girls think they are sweet and will probably go for drives with you.
Against: Nothing. Get over yourself, tough guy.
Investment potential: 5/10. Keep it spic and span though.

1980 Fiat Spider 2000. Fiat's long-lived Spider was a popular alternative to an MGB in the US and I have always wondered how the British sold any of their sports cars at all when you compare their respective merits. Designed by the young Tom Tjaada at Pininfarina it was effortlessly elegant and powered by Fiat's modern and delightful twin cam motor. Even the big rubber bumpers can't ruin it and this one has had the wheel put on the right side for you.

For: Fun, capable and great looking.
Against: Can get shabby quickly. As this one is doing.
Investment potential: 2/10. Should always be worth more than a B but seldom are.

Fiat 130 Coupe. Ungrrnggggghah! I MUST NOT BUY THIS CAR!! I tell you, the Aesthete's responsibilities as a good husband and home repairman weigh heavily on him at times like this. The glorious Pininfarina designed Fiat coupe is a Ferrari in all but name and has the best interior ever placed into a car that a mortal being could afford. The steel quality was another matter and there are very few left in a drivable state.

For: I have said enough.
Against: I have said too much.
Investment potential: 6/10. 22.5K is cheap when looking at the competition.

1951 Jowett Jupiter. You can't buy it as it is sold already and I am not surprised due to its rarity, attractiveness and modest price. Those are three qualities not often seen together and further evidence that New Zealand is a fruitful place for the Aesthete to peddle his twisted views on what constitutes a classic car today.

For: No-one else has one or even knows what it is.
Against: Gawky looks.
Investment potential: 8/10. Woolly caps are being flung in the air in Blighty over this one.

Far, far away in a foreign land...

1971 Fiat 850 Bertone Sport Racer. It may surprise you to know that Fiat produced coupe versions of its own coupes but that is how the bespoke production culture of the Italian industry worked. The lower body is similar to the 850 Spider but the closed coupe roof-line makes it look an entirely different car, albeit not as visually successful as Fiat's in-house effort.

For: As for the Jowett above.
Against: Ditto.
Investment potential: 2/10. You would have to love it. As I do.



The odd one out: The Panda of course. It's a saloon.

Five for the Indian Summer

The Aesthete leaves town.

Your Aesthete is nothing if not catholic in his tastes so I went to an Otago Sports Car Club autocross event on a farm near Milton, proving that I can leave the city and survive without espresso for a morning at least. Quickest around the grass course was an ancient Corolla that looked to have been painted with a broom but was punted enthusiastically by someone that knew their car well. It was all huge fun and it made me wonder if the enjoyment was in inverse relation to the cost of the vehicle. I should have taken some photographs but I was using my phone as a stopwatch which you can do nowadays.

1957 Daimler Century. Huzzah! Someone has put a Daimler on Trade Me that looks suitable for cutting down into my Lancia Aurelia clone but look at the price! I am hoping there is no-one prepared to pay 7.5K for one of these so that I may swoop in with a desultory offer when the vendor is about to despair. Just to remind you of my dastardly scheme, here is my Photoshop mash-up of a Daimler Century with an Aurelia roof.

For: Twin SUs, torsion bar front end, alloy head and a stunning set of gauges.
Against: Pensioners can't pay those prices!
Investment potential: 0/10. I am only saying this because I want it.

1967 Sunbeam Tiger. 75K is pushing hard for a cleverly disguised Hillman Husky but think what this highly original example would be worth if it was an AC Cobra. The fitting of small block American V8s into open sports cars designed for half the power produced some lurid outcomes but the Rootes brothers built them tough in Coventry and Carol Shelby's workshop wielded the lump hammer to make the engines fit on the first few cars.

For: Deceptively effective.
Against: Long dry straight roads are the Tiger's natural habitat.
Investment potential: 5/10. Expensive but hard to repeat if the vendor's pitch is to be believed.

1982 Lancia Beta Spider. The Zagato styled Spider was oddly anonymous for that most avant-garde of Italian design houses but remember those awful Bristols and be grateful it does not look like that. The American market demanded roll over protection so you need to remove the roof panel and fold the rear section of hood down but in other ways it is as excellent a small fwd sports car as the HPE coupe was a GT.

For: Refined and practical.
Against: Don't hit anything in it.
Investment potential: 2/10. Fiat spoiled Lancia as a prestige brand so forget seeing much of your 15K again.

1989 Fiat Tipo Sedicivalvole. My outing to Milton caused me to focus on what I would bring to such an event. It is my perverse nature to want what no-one else wants so what better than this high performance Fiat that is already set up for the track? Fitted with the wonderful Lampredi twin cam in 16 valve form (hence the unpronounceable name) the whole thing could be yours for 4K or less as it has been on Trade Me for months.

For: Fast and ugly, just how I like them
Against: Don't blow it up. You can't run down to the local Sedicivalvole Super Store and buy a new motor.
Investment potential: 6/10 but only because I am funny that way.

1981 Panther Lima. 'Not a kid car' the vendor offers in a tortured pun that reveals the complex history of the Lima and the putative age group of its admirers. This retro roadster was a product of the fertile mind of Robert Jankel, an ex-London rag trade man with a transgressive eye for style. The Lima used Vauxhall running gear which is not as bad as it sounds as Lotus based its 1980s engines on the same block.

For: A  less tasteful Morgan with creature comforts.
Against: People will think you run a brothel.
Investment potential: 2/10. Cheap to run but no collector interest.


And finally...

1969 Chevrolet Corvair Monza. Chevrolet's ill fated rear engined compact offered an almost European package hampered by wayward American handling. They were much better by the end of the production run and this is the last Monza Spider produced according to the vendor. The low bids reflect the lack of interest in these cars but the Italianate styling does it for me.

For: Almost tasteful.
Against: Not to be trusted at the limit.
Investment potential: 2/10. Loyal followers outside the mainstream of Americana.

Five for a long hot summer

The summer looks like it will not fade away early this year so what better way to get your hair gently ruffled than in a smart French convertible? Forget metro-sexual. It is way beyond that...

1961 Renault Floride. Renault's Frua-styled boulevardier is an unusual sight now, most having fallen to ruination years ago. Modestly powered by a Dauphine engine housed in the shapely rear, it was just the thing to carry the pony-tailed set down to the beach for frolics in the surf so they rusted more or less spontaneously. Period Cote-d'Azur style for those that hanker for old Jean-Paul Belmondo movies.

For: Tres jolie, n'est pas?

Against: You would not want to be in a hurry with 35 bhp.

Investment potential. 2/10. Those driving lights do not look right so I wonder about the rest of it. 

1964 Jaguar Mk10 Limousine. Who would have wanted one of these in the 1960s? If you said Reggie Kray you would probably be on the money as few others in the limo market needed to travel at 120 mph and Jaguar was already making the hilarious Daimler Majestic Major for them. This is a careful recreation with a brass plaque to tell you so. It should still cause sweat to pop on the brow of the other well known aesthete for whom a sliding glass division and cocktail cabinet is the motoring equivalent  of the Nike of Samothrace. 

For: Metallic grey, red hide with wire wheels.

Against: Can you think of anything?

Investment potential: 4/10. Mk10s are all undervalued anyway and this one is better than many.

1989 Volvo 740 Turbo. Despite having the wind cheating properties of a tilt-slab warehouse these Volvos were serious contenders in saloon racing. Who could forget the fastest estate wagon in the world hurtling around in the British Touring Car Championship in the mid-90s? You have forgotten? Oh well, maybe its just me then. A committed owner (perhaps certifiable is more appropriate) has turned up the wick on this example to recapture those halcyon days. I would ditch all the stripes and aerodynamic addenda for a Baby on Board sticker. 

For: Preposterous.

Against: You have to laugh.

Investment potential: 3/10. It probably cost four times the asking price to build.

1939 Ford V8 Tudor. There is no doubt that Ford styling reached a zenith in the late 1930s when the aerodynamic lessons learnt on the V12 Lincoln Zephyr were imposed on the more mundane parts of the range. You can thank the visionary Joop "Jan" Tjaarda van Sterkenburg for that although they re-engineered his rear-engined prototype along typically Ford conservative lines. This one has a stronger Mercury motor and a high ratio top gear for relaxed cruising. 

For: The looks, mainly.

Against: Solid front axle harks back to the Model T.

Investment potential: 2/10. There is a glut of these cars as their owners head to the retirement village.

1969 Fiat Cinquecento Giardiniera. 'Very rear' the vendor tells us and indeed it is, this delicious wagon being built on an elongated 500 platform. An Alfa Romeo club member who restored one in Dunedin commented that almost all the panels were unique to the model so it had better be the case that it only has rust in 'three places'. These caveats aside, this would be an excellent restoration project that would reward you in many different ways.
For: So cute...
Against: ...but it looks far gone to these jaded eyes.
Investment potential: 8/10. Worth a substantial markup on a saloon and people want crazy money for those now.

And now for something bright orange...

1973 Lamborghini Jarama GTS. The linear Jarama has been almost forgotten in the 70s Lamborghini range but now that the more exotic examples are heading towards a million dollars, 79K US seems very modest for a car of this pedigree. And it has 6600 miles on the clock.
For: Indecently cheap considering the rubbish on Trade Me for 100K
Against: A bit of use might be warranted.
Investment potential: 7/10. This must make sense for those who can overlook the other Italian exotics.