The Aesthete curates his selection

The Aesthete's Fleet

I went to see Rush last night. The scene I most enjoyed was Niki Lauda driving a Lancia 2000 Berlina very fast with two excited Italians in the back seat shouting "Niki Lauda, Niki Lauda!" There was also a great divers' meeting where actors were clearly selected for their eerie resemblance to Emerson Fittapaldi, Jochen Rindt and others. I was waiting for Brian Eno's Baby's on Fire to appear on the sound track but that opportunity for period similitude was missed.

1974 Mini De Joux. Ferris DeJoux was an Auckland based designer and builder of refined specials with an output that got close to small scale series production. He was an ex-window dresser and so had a good eye for form. His fibreglass bodied Mini is almost as nice as David Ogle's SX 1000 but I am not aware of one of those here. This wreck certainly needs work but you would then have a piece of New Zealand design history to drive about in.

For: Clever and stylish local product.
Against: Most were built by the owners. Results may vary from the image on the pack.
Investment potential: 2/10. The parts you can actually buy are cheap enough. Who knows about the rest though?

1969 Fiat 850 Sport. Or you could just say "Shag all that. I will have the best looking small coupe of the 1960s and save myself a lot of hard work." And who could blame you? This 850 Coupe is absolutely the right colour and has clearly been treasured. You can tell very quickly if they have not been so chose well.

For: Bellissimo!
Against: Nulla!
Investment potential: 7/10. Even if they frack the whole country wide open petrol is never going to get cheaper.

1960 Lotus Elite Super 100 S1. I interviewed the New Zealand designer John Frayling in Wales many years ago and he related various tales of the development of the fibreglass monocoque Elite, including having to start again after they failed to use the correct release agent and the moulds stuck fast to the styling buck. It was all very Lotus. Hardly anyone got paid but the project was guided by some of the smartest minds in the business. I am not sure if there was a cleverer car made in England until the McLaren.

For: A true landmark in style and dynamics.
Against: Fast but noisy and fragile.
Investment potential. No price but I would hazard upwards of 120K.

2002 Peugeot 406 Coupe. Old friend Buck took me to task for my narrow selection of contemporary classics and he is quite right to say that the Pininfarina designed 406 Coupe is one. Colour makes all the difference so the Giallo Fly example I had ready to go this week has been snapped up. Well equipped, decently quick in 3-litre form and becoming ridiculously cheap. Many have run up high milages already which suggests their owners can't keep out of them. It is a good sign.

For: Glorious looks.
Against: Not much that I can think of.
Investment potential: 0/10. The lift is still going down, sadly.

1963 Studebaker Lark Cruiser. This was Studebaker's last effort to capture part of the luxury compact trade and they looked to Europe for ideas. Although many see an American Mercedes, I suspect they had a picture of a Lancia Flavia saloon pinned up by the drawing board as many of that fine but ugly saloon's eccentricities are evident here. This one is the desirable small V8 with manual gears so might be quite fun to drive. The Flavia pic is for reference only.

For: If I had to attend a beach hop it would be in this.
Against: You have to want one but relatively few seem to.
Investment potential: 1/10. No-one under the age of 65 knows or cares about Studebakers any more.

Something for the weekend, sir? *

1953 Healey Alvis 3-Litre. Considerably more rare than the Nash Healey that it is based on, this big sports car features the smooth Alvis motor and the all synchromesh gearbox for which they were justly reknowned. I doubt if many were sold in period when you could have bought an XK120 but I am quite taken with its Anglo-American-Anglo heritage. Oh, and when looking at the dealer's pictures, observe the honey taking them. Grwwlll.

For: Odd but strangely attractive.
Against. A bit of a duffer in the sports car stakes.
Investment potential: 1/10. A tough sell, then and now I imagine.

* Apparently a question asked by barbers who were allowed to sell prophylactics but could not say so directly.