The Aesthete cheapens himself.

The Aesthete's Fleet

Apologies for the late update this week. I have been attending to complex family matters involving three generations of grandchildren, in-laws and parents all of whom live on opposite sides of Auckland's seething megapolis. I am not sure what I would choose to drive there on a daily basis, probably not an Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV or a Lancia Flavia 1800 Coupe, so I was pleased to finally get out of the borrowed Camry and into an aircraft seat for the flight home. I did remember how to get to the Auckland Art Gallery where the California Modern exhibition is being hosted. Take the Nelson Street turn-off, fly over the hill onto Mayoral Drive and pull up directly outside the door. Traffic congestion? Pfaff. They have got that bit working fine.

1953 Austin A30. Small and cheap is the theme this week so an A30 is a good place to begin. The shell looks acceptable and this is important as the A30 was the first modern unitary bodied car from Austin. They were built from melted down war-time field ordnance so if you are handy with a MIG you should have no trouble putting patches into this. Fit a tuned A-series 1275 and head off for the track.

For: It's $699 and it will go in the shed.
Against: For the price, nothing.
Investment potential: 6/10. Spend wisely on the mechanics and swap them into something else later.

1974 Fiat 124 Coupe. Smallness and cheapness should come with handiness and nothing is more fun to kick around than an Italian coupe from this era. Performance, handling and braking components were all considered as a group. When Fiat rummaged in the parts bin for sports car bits they had the best to choose from and because they made millions of them, what you need is always at hand.

For: Chic and quick.
Against: Have a good look underneath and beware of bad repairs.
Investment potential: 5/10. With Alfa GTVs climbing to the mid-20s, 12K looks like good value.

1969 Fiat 850 Coupe. Everything that can be said about the 124 applies equally to its little sibling. 850 Coupes allow for sensitive modification or jewell-like restoration, whatever type of ownership suits your budget. Restoring a rust ridden example makes little sense so 3K invested in a sound body is the basis of a rewarding project. And the wildest Abarth variations had 124 twin cam motors in the tail.

For: Girls like them.
Against: They were only meant to last three years.
Investment potential: 6/10. Nice ones will continue upwards.

1967 Peugeot 404 Convertible. Not small or cheap but this must be drawn to your attention. Pininfarina was having an average day at the drawing board but there is still something delicious about the long tail and elegant nose that lets you overlook the rest. The 404 Coupes and Convertibles were produced alongside my Flavia and share a lot of internal fittings. Rarity may not justify the steep price but you want one, take your shot now. The owner is a scoundrel and needs the money.

For: Tres elegante.
Against: For the Francophiles. I wish I had seen it on July 13.
Investment potential: 2/10. It needs work but would make a fine and unusual car.

1962 Peugeot 403. Oddly, there are two 403s in this delightful colour combination on Trademe this week but this looks the better option. You will be surprised how smooth and modern a good 403 feels on the road. In the absence of any fit Italian competitor currently on offer, I am prepared to overlook the fact that it is French.

For: Formidable.
Against: Exciting? Non.
Investment potential: 3/10. Just use it. Won't cost you a thing.

Throw this into your suitcase...

1956 Berkeley S-E 328. If small and cheap is the measure of things, you could not have more fun from less car than with a Berkeley. This one has the smaller two stroke Excelsior engine but would still be pleasantly terrifying at its top speed of 120KPH. Front wheel drive by chain and two stroke pinging on the overrun adds to the excitement possible with a mere 18 HP.

For: Made in Biggleswade!
Against: Nothing!
Investment potential: 6/10. This sold for less than US10K.

The Aesthete's glad refrain

The Aesthete's Fleet

What is there to be glad about,  I hear you ask? I got off the sofa to watch the Otago Sports Car Club's annual hill climb event on Three Mile Hill. Everyone is there, from callow youth in white Corona to grizzled veteran in hand built rally car. There appeared to be no rules and the Aesthete enjoyed seeing agile spectators jumping behind trees when drivers appeared to require more road than was available. The smell of burnt pistons hung in the air and a grumpy resident threatened to let a flock of sheep loose in the Octagon for having his sabbath day disturbed. Ah, Dunedin...

1970 Alfa Romeo GT Junior. Alright pedants, I know there was one of these on the list last week but I cannot help when people decide to quit their Alfas and so I exhort you once again to forget all other pretenders and buy one. This is more the genuine article than the giallo fly example and sports standard narrow wheels complete with hub caps - the mark of a serious Alfa owner.

For: I would be repeating myself.
Against: Oh, please...
Investment potential: 4/10 and climbing.

1964 Morris Oxford Traveller. I maintain that you do not need to go fast in a station wagon because they are for packing dismantled motor cycles into rather than cornering on two wheels. The longer cabin actually improves the looks of the narrow Oxford hull and you can fix the motor with a hammer and forge if anything breaks.

For: From the days when people simply did not do it unless they were married.
Against: People will tell you they did their courting in one just like that. Yuck.
Investment potential: 2/10 unless people start aging in reverse like Benjamin Button.

1936 Riley Kestrel. It vanished for a while and then returned so I will take the opportunity to tell you why you should buy this vintage Riley. Fitted with the rakish six-light saloon body and Wilson preselect gearbox it will take you back to an era when chaps had narrow scrapes and names like Vivian. It all looks like jolly good fun to me.

For: A real sports saloon for a modest outlay.
Against: Forget popping in to Super Cheap Auto unless it is for oil.

1967 Citroen ID 19. The great Osbert Lancaster wrote that a taste for luxury once acquired, like morphine is hard to keep within limits. I am told by Wonderboy and his circle of Citroenophiles that it this ID is a peach with the original madcap French interior in two tone blue and white a delight to the eye. It pays to buy the best with these cars and then, as Edith Piaf would have said, you will regret nothing.

For: Nonpareil.
Against: I have seen many innocent young lives ruined by Citroens.
Investment potential: 2/10. The wheel is on the wrong side but then nothing else is where you would expect it to be.

1947 Packard Clipper Six. By the Aesthete's measure anyway, the best looking product of post-war America except Veronica Lake. Elegant in every detail and the equivalent to a Bentley Continental, the Clipper was a promise of great things unfulfilled with the company losing its way in the 1950s. This one needs taking in hand but I tell you the rewards are considerable.

For: That patrician nose makes all other leering Yanks seem vulgar.
Against: Not exactly nimble on its toes.
Investment potential: 2/10. A diminishing band of loyal admirers who need their names written into their clothes.

Awaiting your instructions for transportation...

...is this fine looking 1963 Chevrolet Corvair, the last time the mainstream US car industry attempted anything truly different. They soon learnt their grim lesson when drivers began exploring the tail heavy handling of the Corvair in combination with turbo lag. If you want to know what driving a pre-war Auto Union racer may have been like, may I introduce you to the Corvair Monza Spyder.

For: An unusual combination of looks and menace.
Against: Ralph Nader wrote that book for a reason you know.
Investment potential: 4/10. American compacts will have their day, I am sure. Even the dangerous ones.

The Aesthete hits a century!

Well, one hundred posts under the Petrolhead Aesthete banner anyway. That equals almost six hundred  cars reviewed while, to the best of my knowledge. only one reader has followed my advice and actually bought anything I have recommended. The rest of you have shown uncommonly shrewd judgement. Keep it up.

1963 Buick Riviera. The main problem the Aesthete has with these fine cars is that they are often owned by people you would not wish to sit next to at a dinner party. So it is with this gorgeous Riviera. the vendor drawing your attention to the little figure on the boot lid inviting you to plant one on its posterior. I would love to but I am washing my hair that night. Oh, and get rid of those wheels, please.

For: A sybarite's playground. But its a car.
Against: It has style but not all will get it.
Investment potential. 2/10. Still surprisingly cheap to buy in the US so not yet a bargain.

1972 Alfa Romeo GT Junior. Its a looker in the wonderful hue of Giallo Fly but your attitude may depend on whether you want quite so many modifications. There is something good and true about the rubber mats and 1300 engine that the Junior came with. They made the elegant Bertone coupe seem a bit more like a racer and you were tempted to wring their scrawny necks for all the available performance. 35K is pushing on but I am happy to see the value of these cars going up for completely selfish reasons.

For: After one hundred posts, do I have to tell you?
Against: Marque purists may demur.
Investment potential: 4/10. People may realise one day that this is the perfect car. Until then...

1947 Rover 16. With its helmeted front wings and bodywork slung over the back wheels, Rover was a bit cheeky trying to sell this after the war. On the other had, it was smooth and quite modern to drive without the quirks of a Riley or Jowett and a reminder of the wide choice buyers had, even in those benighted times. I would buy it for the dash which is like something out of a De Havilland Dragonfly.

For: The interior, mainly
Against: You will be the youngest person on the rally, I can assure you.
Investment potential: 2/10 but I do not think you will lose anything.

1987 Lotus Excel. The least mad of Oliver Winterbottom's 1970s wedge shapes for Lotus. the Excel survived through a number of updates that still did not persuade buyers out of their Porsches. And why would you want one now? If you want young folks to tip their hoodies to you and say 'cool car, dude', this will probably do it.

For: Only if you like to bask in the attention of hoodie wearers.
Against: They cost a lot to put right. And it will go wrong.
Investment potential. 3/10. Just wait for the hoodie to get a decent job.

1982 Alfa Sud Ti. 1.7 16V. "No such thing" I hear you snort. Maybe but there should have been. The great thing about small Italian cars is that the handling and brakes were so good that you could safely double the power and have twice the fun. Try it in an Allegro and you would be dead before you left the driveway.

For: What a clever thing to do.
Against: You will lose your right to drive on the roads, I suspect.
Investment potential: 8/10. So much for so little.


Ya ya, das ist gut!

1966 NSU Prinz 1000. Whether your heart gives a little skip when you see an NSU Prinz 1000 depends on how glazed your automotive palette has become. If you still get excited by Toyota Starlets this is not your thing but if you want the German equivalent of a Sunbeam Stiletto, form an orderly line to the left and no crowding. Oh, whoops. Someone has already paid 25K US for it.

For: The Aesthete's pick of 1960s buzz bombs. Look at its cute little nostrils.
Against: YOU PAID HOW MUCH FOR WHAT?!
Investment potential: 4/10 and you can get three into the tray of a Dodge Ram

When you are tired of Trade Me, you are tired of life.

No, wait. That was Paris. Well I can tell you quite frankly that I am a bit tired of Trade Me. If I see another vendor demanding that I buy their car or it will be sent back to the states I will do something thoroughly rash like look at an alternative trading site. That will show them...

1952 Peugeot 203. This three-owner Peugeot 203 is still wearing its original paint and has been kept in trim for gentle rallying purposes. They are strong and sophisticated cars and possess considerably better road manners than anything one could have got from England in the same class.

For: A sunroof adds to the pleasure of ownership.
Against: Not particularly quick but so what?
Investment potential: 3/10. You may struggle to find a better one.

1967 MG 1100. Some vagueness in nomenclature suggests the vendor just wants to see her dad's final project gone from the shed. It looks like a tidy example although I am more enthused about the rarer two door model that has been for sale on Trade Me for months. This one needs much less work, however, and that is important in these straightened times.

For: British Racing Green and red vinyl. Grwwll.
Against: 1100s not much quicker than an Austin or Morris. Start looking online for that big valve head.
Investment potential: 2/10. There was a brisk trade to Japan for nice ones but I do not know if it has persisted.

1965 TVR Grantura. Blindingly expensive at 70K but the vendor is right to say that if you need to buy a local TVR Grantura 1800, this is your one opportunity. These MGB powered cars are well balanced, unlike the sociopathic Griffith models that had an American V8 jammed into the same short wheelbase package.  The price puts in the same league as the best racing Elan or an Alfa GTA Replica and I am not sure if it quite rates in that company. And no boot, to boot.

For: Am I damning this TVR with faint praise?
Against: I can think of better ways to spend 70K. But then people want 60K for a Karmann Ghia.
Investment potential: 1/10. I would wait for a bit.

1988 Porsche 944 Turbo. The 944 is the Porsche that dare not speak its name so why would you pay six times the going rate to own this one? It all goes back to why they were unloved in the first place. No-one could tell them apart from their van-engined ilk and so buyers were disinclined to pay the steep asking price. This is a very quick car so if you take your mind off what you are doing it will kill you. Just like a proper sports car should.

For: It may surprise you.
Against: Icky decor.
Investment potential: 1/10 I am sorry to report

1972 Ford Capri 3000 GT. I would ask delicate readers to look away at this point in case the purple metallic of this Mk1 Capri sears their retinas. I can see little point in the smaller engined models that could barely pull themselves up the drive with a bag of groceries in the back so get the biggest one possible.  This one needs a respray but it seems a shame to disturb its charming patina. Bwahahaha.

For: Where are my Whitesnake cassettes?
Against: Where do I begin?
Investment potential: 4/10. It is a 3 litre in a vile colour, therefore quite desirable.

In a dusty, one horse Texan town...

1955 Studebaker President Coupe. How much for the most tasteful American car of the 1950s, I hear you ask? 12K which seems good value to me compared to the ridiculous prices put on engineless heaps on Trade Me. The President Coupe wears its battle scars gracefully and people would take notice if you turned up in Queenstown with it. Particularly if you were wearing a black eye patch.

For: It belongs at the Museum of Modern Art but you can drive it.
Against: Nothing, damnit.
Investment potential: 3/10. Why would anyone pay 100K for a Chevrolet?