The Aesthete goes rallying

 The Aesthete's Fleet

Wonderboy challenged me to assemble a rally package for the readers of the Petrolhead Aesthete, directing me to an Opel Manta Coupe that flashed like a comet through Trademe before disappearing. I diligently searched through the listings before assembling the following candidates for Scuderia Porto, surely the only suitable title for a Port Chalmers-based Lancia rally team.  

Lancia Delta Integrale Evo 16V. I suggest that you will be untouchable in this, even if some try-hard in a Quattro shows up. Developed with the design might of Fiat with the sole purpose of dominating rally events, the four wheel drive Deltas were tough and nimble without the technical overkill of the German team efforts. This means you have a chance of fixing it yourself which you will probably end up doing because it is a Lancia.

For: A proven rally champion at a decent price
Against: Figlio di puttanta!
Investment potential. 3/10 as long as you bring it back in one piece

1982 Lancia Beta Spider. You will need something light to buzz around in between dominating the gravel sections so here is the perfect thing. I mentioned before that the Spider was a Zagato design but it was actually Pininfarina BUILT by Zagato, therefore worth approximately three times the modest asking price in my view.

For: Refined, unusual and elegant convertible Lancia for 15K. What is not to like?
Against: Needs re-reg.
Investment potential: 2/10. Should be worth more, probably never will be.

1989 Lancia Delta HF Integrale 8V. Here is your spares car that you can place on the front lawn to horrify your life partner. It comes with a partly rebuilt motor (8V rather than 16V) but the shell looks in good order and that is the important thing if you have a big off and get stretchered out of the forest. A tip. The rebuilt motor is almost worth the asking price so you could sell that and have the rest for nothing.

For: It is a spares car for heaven's sake. What more do you want?
Against: See above.
Investment potential: 8/10. You will be glad you have this in reserve if you have to rebody the other one.

1959 Fiat Bartoletti Transporter. You may as well blow the rest of the budget on a classic race car transporter as a trailer will not cut it. Unfortunately, the days when you could find one rusting in a yard in Monterey have long past and the last one sold at RM Auctions for 990K so you will not get change out of a million if you buy the full set.

For: Great if someone else is driving it for you.
Against: Slow.
Investment potential: 7/10 with rarity and collector demand on your side.

1987 Fiat Chroma CHT. Every team needs something into which to throw the spare transmission when the good one packs up so here is the team hack; one of those unloved big Fiats that died on the second hand market. Dealers would shoo you away from their forecourts or pretend to be on the phone if you drove in with one. This one has low kms and looks ready to absorb all the maltreatment it will surely receive.

For: A better car than what most people think and it has a huge hatch.
Against: It looks like a Ford Telstar, tragically.
Investment potential: 0/10 but that is not what counts here.

The Aesthete's secret shame

Guilty pleasures

A reader recently sent me a pxt of a Lancia Fulvia sitting in a wood pile and the single word 'porno'. This person clearly knows my weaknesses for they are so so plentiful and vile that I would be an ideal candidate for the British Conservative Party. I encourage those of you with similar preferences to send me pictures so that I can view them privately before putting them on the blog.

1967 Singer Chamois Coupe. 'How much?' I hear you shouting. It is well known that Imp prices have languished while Mini Coopers keep climbing. There is no good reason for this. Not only are the Imp coupes far better looking and more fun to drive, rarity is firmly on their side. This example looks ready for road or light track use while fun and games are guaranteed with the bored out Imp Sport motor. I would cut off that nasty chin spoiler though.

For: No-one else has one.
Against: Saloons make better racers as the coupes are heavier.
Investment potential: 2/10. There are Imp fanatics out there but none who are rushing to buy this.

1970 Morris 1800 Utility. Another triumph of product planning from our friends at British Leyland. Here is how it must have gone in the boardroom. "Those colonials like those blasted utility vehicles, don't they? Tell them they can have one but it has to be front wheel drive, have four cylinders and cost more than a Holden. They will flock to it." If they had chopped a few of those awful Austin 3000s into utes they probably would have sold more.

For: I am lost for words.
Against: Sorry, I am still picturing trying to drive it up a steep hill fully loaded.
Investment potential: 4/10. Something for Morris Club days if nothing else.

1974 Ferrari Dino 246. Alright. I know nobody can afford it but with good Dinos outstripping property you might consider selling the house and renting somewhere with a heated garage. This example has the right specification and while oil continues to flow you will not regret making whatever sacrifices need to be made. Pininfarina's highest accomplishment and therefore the best looking car that will ever be.

For: Sublime
Against: Would you use it?
Investment potential; 5/10. The hyperbole is probably true.

1973 Citroen DS23 IE. Once again, the canny Citroen fancier does not mess around with shabby old DSs but lies in wait for the best ones to come on the market. Even 40K is not too much to spend when you think that you are getting the last and fastest of the great DS line for the price of a used Toyota Hi-Lux. There is no better way known to man for getting to Queenstown unless you have a private jet.

For: Magnifique!
Against: Must be kept on top of.
Investment potential: 5/10 Even at the steep asking price it is attracting bids.

1965 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia. Oh dear. It looks like someone has fallen out of love with this car but it is is the early shape body with the nice painted steel dash so is surely worth the effort to save. If rust has got into the complex floor structure and you can't weld, you may be forgiven for running off but otherwise it appears to be a good project.

For: Refined Ghia looks on a reliable platform.
Against: Slow as only a 1300 cc VW can be.
Investment potential. 2/10. Needs a lot of work and no photos of the interior.

On some faraway shore...

1965 Sunbeam Venezia. There was a brief craze in the early 1960s for expensive Italian coachbuilt bodies on prosaic British underpinnings. They seldom worked out as elegantly as the Sunbeam Venezia which was built like an Aston Martin with an alloy body on a light tube frame. This partly finished car is painted a horrid colour but it really needs to be a nice graphite grey metallic with a red interior on wire wheels. Grrrwwlll.

For: Aunty Minx in Gucci culottes.
Against: Complex and delicate.
Investment potential. 3/10. Be careful. The owner sounds like an angry man.

The Aesthete sweeps out the garage

The Aesthete's Fleet

It is the time of year when I think about shutting up the shed for the winter as the idea of rolling around on a cold concrete floor does not attract me as it once did. For those of you who have more grit, here is a selection of worthy projects for your careful consideration. 

1974 BMW 3.0 CSI. If you want a good one right now be prepared to hand over 50K so 10K for a wreck sounds alright until you start doing the sums... These are expensive and complicated cars to restore, therefore beyond the range of even the well equipped layman. The body looks awful so the interior and mechanicals had better be retrievable otherwise certain financial catastrophe lies ahead.

For: Without doubt one of the high points of the era.
Against: Yikes!
Investment potential: 1/10 given that it needs a total rebuild. Exercise great caution.

1964 Morris Mini Traveller. Older Minis are a safer bet for the hobbyist and can be tinkered with effectively using a Haynes manual and a set of ring spanners. This charming early wagon version has kept the hard to find bits although a nong has had a go at it and it is missing its front seats and bus tiller steering wheel. These are available from any one of the dealers who prey on Mini fanatics so this looks fairly straightforward to me.

For: The right sort of price for a project.
Against: On its original 850 motor it will be no ball of fire.
Investment potential: 3/10 as long as the structure is sound.

1957 De Soto Firedome. My guess is this car has been imported from the US and was found to be rustier than the owner can hope to deal with. It comes with repair panels and looks reasonable in the photographs but these Virgil Exner styled cars look great even as rusty hulks. The four door pillarless construction may pose challenges as they tend to be a bit rubbery in the middle.

For: One of the best American shapes. And the name of course.
Against: Vast.
Investment potential: 3/10. It is here in New Zealand so no point in looking for a cheaper one elsewhere.

1974 Fiat 124 Sport. The hapless owner has experienced bearing failure and parked this attractive 124 Sport in his shed so at least it has stayed dry for the past while. Oh, and he also confesses that he has lost the steering column. Dear me, how careless.

For: Possibly better that it appears.
Against: There is no point in starting with a wreck. Inspect carefully.
Investment potential: 3/10. At least he is sensible about the price.

1965 Mercedes Benz 230S. The final model fintail has an interesting history and looks like it would respond well to a good tidy up. The budget will go haywire if the chrome needs work or the exquisite interior is scruffy but both these aspects look acceptable and the white paint may allow for selective touchups. The vendor says it has a five speed gearbox which seems unorthodox but a fintail fanatic (are you reading Matt?) could adjudicate on that.

For: A running restoration.
Against: It takes a lot of work to rescue a bad one.
Investment potential: 7/10. Spend 5K prudently on improvements and you will probably come out on the right side of the investment.

And now for something completely different...

1959 DB HBR5. What is this ugly bug, I hear you asking? Deutsch-Bonnet was a manufacturer of bespoke Panhard based sports cars, as if a Panhard was not bespoke enough already. They competed in the small capacity class at Le Mans with these slippery fibreglass coupes and won impressively. You do not get race pedigree like that for the asking price and I would happily clatter down the highway behind the air cooled parallel twin with a Gauloises hanging dangerously off my lip.

For: Idiosyncratic and wonderful. Cheaper than a Porsche 356
Against: Zere is nozing!
Investment potential: 2/10. It is missing a few important parts so polish up your schoolboy French and get online.

The Aesthete's mixed assortment

The Aesthete's Fleet

Just as the Flavia takes to the road again, I am called into the panel beaters to inspect the GTV's drivers door which has been festering around the top hinge mount. It is indeed as bad as it looked from the outside and will require a lot of new metal. The man with the hammer in his hand told me off for not rustproofing it but I did not have the heart to tell him that there is no such thing with an old Alfa. 

All of this travail made me wonder what it was like to have a trouble free modern classic so I went for a test drive in a 2000 Mercedes 600 SL.  It was pleasant but totally uninvolving and so full of technology that I could have shuffled across into the passenger seat and it would have driven back to the yard on its own. I am not ready for a grown up car yet but will be sure to tell Matt at Armstrongs when I am. In the meantime, I wish for depreciation to do its wicked work so I can have a 340K car for something less than 10% of that.

1936 Reo Flying Cloud. I would never suggest you buy a car just for the name alone but there are few nicer to roll across the tongue than this. Try saying it. "I drive a Reo Flying Cloud". Okay, are there any better reasons to choose this than any other '30s American? Although Reo was starting to run out of will and the body panels were shared with the contemporary Graham Paige, it is a handsome streamliner and much more interesting than a Dodge or other middling brand.

For: It keeps company with a modern Bentley and looks to have had lots spent on it by the late owner.
Against: Not widely recognised these days.
Investment potential: 1/10. I suspect that Reo enthusiasts are rapidly succumbing to old age.

1959 Goggomobil. As you search for your new project. does your finger go straight to 'G' for Goggomobil? I thought not but these are certainly fancied by micro-car enthusiasts although they are somewhat larger and more practical than an Isetta or similar contraption. There was an effort to establish production in Australia so a few ended up here and this charming example may be one of those. I prefer the dull green of the interior rather than metallic pink but beauty is as ever in the eye of the beholder.

For: Same as the Reo, really. "I drive a Goggomobil".
Against: Noisy, smelly, slow and ugly.
Investment potential: 6/10 surprisingly.

1952 Jaguar Mk7. Silver is a good hue for these big Jaguars as it shrinks the slightly elephantine lines and the red leather interior and early slim bucket seats continue the sporty theme. Stirling Moss apparently used to brace himself with his left leg against the passenger door while negotiating tight right hand bends. I would like to know how he could change gear while doing this but it is a nice image.

For: Unusual and handsome colour combination.
Against: It is a lot of car.
Investment potential: 2/10. Buy one like this that has had a lot of money spent on it.

1966 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia. If you have already visited the link you will know the worst at once but I suggest that you stop bellowing "How much?" and think about the real costs of such a thorough restoration. I would want to use it though and it then becomes subject to the same sort of depreciation as any new car. Let us see what the market dictates. It may be like the poor soul who is trying to sell his restored Jeep Wagoneer for 100K. He will also wait a long, long  time.

For: Stunning
Against: Price
Investment potential: 0/10 when an immaculate example can be had for half the price.

1962 Dodge Phoenix. You have to peek through your fingers to take in these early 1960s Chryslers but that just makes me admire them more. It is almost as if they gave the stylists a separate corner of the car to work on, did not allow them to see what the other was doing, and killed them afterwards. This is an Australian built example with the wheel on the correct side. It would be a good match for the Goggomobil then.

For: Avoid looking directly at it.
Against: Apart from the lethal looks, a little average.
Investment potential: 4/10. The vendor seems sensible.


On some faraway shore...

1973 Ginetta G15. You would not normally go shopping in the US for a Ginetta G15 but lack of awareness of these excellent little Imp derivatives may keep the price sensible. The fibreglass shell weighed almost the same as a paper bag and the fizzy Imp motor gives entertaining performance and mini-Porsche dynamics. Forget those boring Bel Airs. Buy an Imp from under a tree for spares and pop this in a container instead.

For: Clever and quick
Against: Fragile
Investment potential: 3/10. You do the expensive work and I will buy it off you. Promise.

The merry, merry month of May

The Aesthete's Fleet

I took the Flavia for a tentative drive today and tested its Frankenstein gearbox, composed as it is from the remains of other dead Flavias. It did not feel like a new car exactly but rather  a fifty-year old one that has had quite a lot of money spent on it. Anyhow, all the earlier screeching, grinding and rumbling has vanished from the tortured item and the gears shift like a rifle bolt, both up and down. Meanwhile Wonder Boy is preparing his fee account...

I will shortly take over a 1967 Triumph Tiger 100T from a dear old friend who has long had it mounted in his parents' billiards room like a trophy head. It needs a rewire and a tightening of its various loose parts that tend to vibrate off and fall on the road when you least want them to. I have been reading the website of a Triumph Tiger obsessive who can tell me what type of Lucas rear light it should have for the frame number within the particular model batch. Not the sort of person you would want to be seated next to at dinner but useful from a safe distance.  

1956 Daimler Century. The 2.5-litre Daimler was more adept on the road than the upright looks indicated and was built to a high standard. This example appears complete and previously well cared for with a decent leather interior and carpets. Be quick though as it is standing outdoors and will soon decay into a moldering ruin.

For: Better that you would think, especially the twin-carb Century model. 

Against: Expensive to restore for little financial reward.

Investment potential: 1/10 but don't let that put you off.

1955 Austin Princess SWB Saloon. As the well informed vendor points out, this is a rare owner/driver car fitted with separate front seats and without a limousine division. Powered by an almighty Austin truck engine, these impressive conveyances could keep out of their own way and make a stylish alternative to a Mk7 Jaguar.

For: Beautiful details. The petrol filler flap alone would make you weep.

Against: Not for hurtling around the countryside.

Investment potential: 4/10. A glorious mode of travel.

1939 Fiat 500 Topolino. Forget Austin Sevens and other similar primitive devices. Here is the design that began the small car revolution. The tiny but smooth four cylinder engine powered a streamlined and well sprung steel shell and it will feel twenty years more recent than its date of creation, as with most Fiats since. 13K is a bit stiff seeing as the engine is in parts but we shall see what the market says.

For: One of the most significant cars of the century.

Against: Lots of work do do yet.

Investment potential: 3/10. Small and light enough to work on with basic equipment. One of you should step forward now and take up the challenge.

1967 Aston Martin Vantage. I don't know about you but 325K is more than I have to spend on a car, even with old Aston prices climbing faster than property. The Rosso Corsa paint is a bit shouty for a car like this, even if the lovely Touring lines seem to be able to carry it off.  The vendor threatens us with the prospect of sending it back to Blighty if we don't meet his terms. Yawn....

For: The seats fold down so you could live in it at a stretch.

Against: You will risk being called a big noting prick.

Investment potential: 3/10 depending on the quality of the work now being carried out.

1989 Alfa Romeo 164. On the other hand you could rummage around under the sofa cushions and find enough money to become the owner of this Alfa Romeo 164 with the desirable 5-speed manual gearbox that goes so well with its mellifuous V6. The milage is right for much further use and the flaws look mainly cosmetic so save yourself $323,800 and buy this instead.

For: Classic Pininfarina looks and great dynamics.

Against: Most of them are past saving now.

Investment potential. 10/10. For that sort of money who cares?