The Aesthete mingles with the aristocracy

The Aesthete's Fleet
Of Canterbury that is. He spent the weekend being squired around the place by a series of obliging old car fanciers and dropping in unexpectedly and uninvited at various locations. He received a thorough education on the sociology of the classic car hobby as well as a thrilling ride over the Port Hills in Tom Bruynel's Guilia 1600, enough of a car to take every uphill corner flat out at 5000 RPM. Sunday was spent with a DS owner and admirer of modernist buildings. I may as well have died and gone straight to heaven. Christchurch is certainly blessed with its variety of fine old cars, as well as their generous and tolerant owners.

Whoops. I almost forgot the song for the week. This little wonder induced me to by a Roland bass sequencer and attempt to programme it likewise.

1954 Morris J-Type Commercial. Yes, it is a terrible wreck but who would not want of these to potter around on the weekend and pick up a fresh tray of seedlings for the Alfred Buxton designed garden of their arts and crafts farmstead, after which it would be parked in the wool shed converted into an eight bay motor house?  Pardon me but I am still trying to recover from my weekend away.

For: Charm in spades.
Against: Noisy and slow but it is all relative.
Investment potential: 4/10 as long as the frame has survived.

1971 Lotus Europa S2. Given the high prices set by French sports cars of similar provenance, Europas are good value and have equal claim to competition heritage. The high winged S1 and 2 body looks like it was designed to go around Le Mans all night and the easy to keep Renault 16 motor provides reliable and flexible performance. The S2 even gives you winding side windows. What more do you want, you miserable complainers?

For: Fragile but fixable.
Against: Let's hope you have kept your dancer's hips.
Investment potential: 4/10.

1968 Volvo 122S. Like fondu, saunas and teak sideboards, 1960's Volvos are an acquired taste but they make excellent sense as a tough and well built enthusiast's car. This may describe the likely owner profile as well as the car so one had best cultivate an aura of Swedish modern functionalism in order to make the most of the cultural associations.

For: As bracing as a Swedish massage.
Against: I am starting to sound like Tom of Finland – look him up.
Investment potential: 5/10. Given the rally heritage, rather cheap.

1948 Packard Clipper Eight. Oh come on please, one of you. Step up and buy this magnificent Packard, the equal of a Bentley and so woefully undervalued that everyone seems to think it is just another big dumb American car. Apart from the petrol bills I could imagine fewer more elegant ways of getting around although you will need a big workshop and some welding skills.

For: Glorious patrician transport from the peak of 1940s style.
Against: What? Am I not praising it enough?
Investment potential: 2/10 due to its heroic scale.

1975 Rover 3500 P6B. The zenith of a dire era in British manufacturing, Rover's sporting saloon generally attracted mature buyers so could not prove its worth as a serious road car. With the suspension tightened up to control the generous roll and a tickled V8 you could enjoy its undoubted performance potential. You are half way there with the SDI wheels so why stop?

For: Start with a good one and not a wreck and it could be very affordable.
Against: Forget the retired harbour board manager buyer profile and look anew.
Investment potential: 3/10 but fun must surely be had.

On some faraway beach...

1969 Bedford CA Dormobile Camper. Alright. It is time to put the recent Kombi hysteria aside and drink in the sheer beauty of this Martin Walther built camper. See the grey formica and the elegant side flash and think of the great age of British jet travel on board a VC10. Enjoy your dinner of New Zealand lamb and a nice French claret served by an elegantly suited hostess. Not a Comet though. They used to break up in the air and kill everyone on board...

For: Think what a split window camper costs and do the maths.
Against: Following motorists will hate you, that is still a fact.
Investment potential: Oh, I don't know. 22/10.

The Aesthete is the Alfa whisperer

The Aesthete's Fleet
With all the 105 Alfa fettling that has been going on locally, the Aesthete has been out dispensing helpful advice and spanner swinging although not all of his ministrations lead to immediate improvements in the patients. There is a GTV in Outram with its front suspension installed backwards and a Spider temporarily fitted with a Sud distributor but all will be put right before these mutant Alfas take to the street again. The surgeon buries his mistakes but the mechanic just keeps fixing things.
Some have suggested that I return to offering Youtube links to long forgotten songs. Here is one to be going on with from the Monochrome Set. The struggling band I played in during the early 80s played a note perfect cover, if you can imagine it. I bought a very expensive flanger so I could copy the guitar sound. He's got clothes all red on a rumpled bed indeed.

1980 Fiat 131 Racing. The Fiat community has been roused to action by the emergence of this well preserved 131 from its lengthy storage. As the vendor points out in his comments, almost all its compatriots have crumbled into orange fragments or have been raced, rallied and rolled to pieces so this is almost a unique opportunity to acquire one of these hilarious devices. I hope it still has the purple velour interior as that is certainly to die for.

For: Lampredi engined rear wheel drive shouty Italian. What more could you want?
Against: You will be bidding against people who know how good these cars are.
Investment potential: 12/10

1954 Austin Healey BN1 100. Gerry Coker's slipper bodied Austin-Healey saved the business in 1952 as  previous products were barely pardonable in the styling department. Coker (b.1922) was employed as a body engineer and also conceived the Frogeye Sprite, one of the cleverest and most original things ever to come from the British side of the industry. This usable car is the best looking of all the many variants and therefore very good looking indeed.

For: A proper sports car.
Against: Rude hidden parts.
Investment potential: 4/10. Do some tidying and your investment is safe.

1938 Ford V8 Coupe. Some may find it a surprising admission but the Aesthete likes a well turned out street rod, appreciating the streamlined 1930s looks with tooth loosening performance. This properly engineered Ford looks like it could deliver the goods and the combination of solid body colour and American Racing wheels seals the deal.

For: Find your inner pony tail.
Against: And the hair dye and treadmill.
Investment potential: 2/10 given that the market is a bit crowded.

1974 Ford Capri GT. Much the same might be said of 1970s Fords. While sullenly grateful to have his mother's Mk 1 Escort 1300XL in which to speed around the North Shore, the junior Aesthete would not have been seen dead in one otherwise. Maturity has seen these prejudices melt away, as I am sure would have the resistance of girl passengers had my mother insisted on one of these. Oh well...

For: A time machine is waiting to take you back to Glenfield.
Against. NO NO! NO!! I don't want to go!!! You can't take me back there!!! Etc etc...
Investment potential: It depends what value you put on being seventeen again.

1952 Armstrong Siddley Whitley. I am sure no-one ever wasted his youth in one of these unless you are one of those Tory types dreading the footfalls of the vice squad as they investigate your brief spell at Eton. My old friend Bob from the motor trade tells a great story of taking one as a trade-in, followed by increasingly desperate measures to see it off the yard. Time heals all wounds, as they say.

For: Stand up straight and take your hat off, man.
Against: Nothing. Like Kim Philby, charming to a fault.
Investment potential: 6/10. Its cheap.

On some faraway beach...

1959 Borgward Isabella Coupe. If a Karmann Ghia is too little of a challenge, you could take on this moist and trailer bound Borgward. The coupe shared nothing with the slightly pudding like saloon and is a svelte autobahn cruiser with one of the most spectacular glass houses ever put on a car body. Just the way the door shut reaches up to the screen pillar is enough to make the Aesthete's head spin.

For: Ya das ist gut!
Against: Like a child's drawing of a car but is that bad?
Investment potential: Oh I don't know. Infinite.











 

The Aesthete sifts through Trademe again

The Aesthete's Fleet
There is nothing much to report on the fleet at present. The Aesthetette was busy in the arena, seeing her expertly drilled pony club charges to a resounding victory in the local competitions, so we missed out on the Alfa club run to Queenstown. I slouched off to the Rally of Otago Mouton section instead which takes place around the wharf area. I swear the BDA Escorts were cornering on a single wheel and the organisers were letting them out two at a time so there were plenty of gasps from the crowd. 

1975 Austin Maxi. The five door Maxi was Alec Issigonis's last stand before he was forcibly retired by new management at BMC. It was what the 1100 should have been with its lively overhead cam motor and five speed gearbox, as well as the practicality of the rear door. It was all too late however as everyone was in the hatchback game by then and this was a car from another era. Anyway, this is probably the best example anywhere in the world and must be commended to anyone who wants one.

For: A good bad car for certain.
Against: Nothing really. No restoration costs either.
Investment potential: 3/10 as people realise there are none left anywhere.

1985 Porsche 944. Offered the choice between an Austin Maxi and a Porsche 944, the Aesthete would not have great difficulty in arriving at a decision. The forgotten pearl in the Porsche font engined range, a properly sorted 944 has performance and road manners superior to anything available for the modest asking price. A good good car then.

For: Not like a Porsche at all really.
Against: See above.
Investment potential: Pearls before swine.

1958 Borgward Isabella. The Borgward Isabella combined excellent dynamics in a modern mid-sized saloon. They only came as two door models but found a ready market in New Zealand where their performance and equipment level persuaded buyers to forget about the war and enjoy this product of the reconstruction.

For: Smooth, quick and refined.
Against: Dumpy but then compare it to a Morris Oxford.
Investment potential: 3/10

1933 Riley 9 Falcon. The Aesthete likes a good Riley, appreciating what a step up from the everyday these cars represent. The tiny four door Falcon features a twin cam 1100 cc engine so will show clean heels to most else in the 9HP sector of the market. The proof of this was the 1934 Le Mans endurance race where Rileys took 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th and 12th positions, only pipped for first by an Alfa 8C.

For: That is quite a heritage.
Against: Nothing really. One of the great small cars of the period.
Investment potential. We must wait and see where the bidding goes but I give it 8/10

1954 Alvis TC 21/100. The oddly named Grey Lady added some spice to the somewhat turgid 3 litre Alvis range and was guaranteed to reach the ton, quite a feat in an upright saloon on a heavy chassis in 1954. The launch of the Jaguar Mk VII in 1950 threw an almost impossible challenge to other sporting brands and Alvis abandoned the field in favour of the svelte Graber styled TC 108G coupe in 1955.

For: Not as staid as it looks.
Against:  Who bought these at the time? Answers please.
Investment potential: Modest start price so could be value. 3/10

On some faraway beach...

1964 Siata 1500 TS. Siata (Società Italiana Auto Trasformazioni Accessori) specialised in transforming Fiats into symbols of the Italian good life. This alert looking little coupe was designed by Giovanni Micholetti and is like a cross between a Ferrari 330 GT and a Lancia Flavia. One can only guess at the economics of production as they must have been hand built in tiny numbers.

For: The mechanicals are simple at least.
Against: No-one will have a clue what you have bought.
Investment potential: Values are rising for drivable Italian specials so 5/10

The Aesthete picks five bad cars

Why should we be interested in bad cars? Surely no reader of this blog  suffers such poor taste that they would unknowingly pay for something bad so this list attempts to find something good in cars that most sensible people look away from. There are different types of bad of course. Bad bad is just plain bad and always to be avoided. Good bad has some redeeming character such as being a very fine example of a bad car. Bad good suggests something that was once good is good no longer because of neglect or outrageous repair costs. Good good is often beyond reach. So we will start with...

1978 Morris Marina 1800 Super. It is a tragic fact that the British motor industry diverted so much money and talent into producing cars like this while Italy made Fiats, Lancias and Alfa Romeos. It was an attempt to replicate the success of the Cortina but Ford engineers had a bigger and better parts bin to rummage in while BMC was left holding old Morris Minor suspensions and a thirty year old cast iron engine.

For: There are probably none left in the UK now if that means anything to you.
Against: This is close to bad bad but has a fabulously high irony factor.
Investment potential: 0/10 but the that applies to all that follow.

1959 Edsel Ranger Coupe. In a rash of poor product planning, Ford tried to manufacture a car as pointless as a Plymouth, something that fitted between their well regarded Ford and Mercury models. Somehow everyone involved in the Edsel enterprise knew it was doomed but behaved like a crew involved in making a terrible movie.  Early cars broke down within sight of the dealerships and soon the fact that they were appalling to look at almost seemed trivial.

For: Relive those halcyon days with this Edsel Ranger.
Against: Quite a lot to spend on an abject failure.
Investment potential: See above.

1980 Nissan Sylvia. Perhaps we could consider this in our good bad category as the vendor seeks to convince us that it is the best example in New Zealand. It may well be as I doubt if there are many others left as rust and advanced apathy have cut through the ranks.  Still, the tartan decor make it look like a used car dealer from the 1980s has been flayed alive and his hide used to provide material.

For: If you are suffering from broken sleep, a spin around the block before bed time will fix things.
Against: People sometimes ask why there are so few Japanese cars on the blog.
Investment potential: ibid.

1989 Lancia Thema. It should not be on this list as it actually appears to be a good good car and therefore should be snapped up quickly. It won't be though, such is the lack of awareness of how good these Lancias are. This one languishes unsold and therefore must be a bad car by sheer public lack of acclaim. Quickly, buy now and reap the advantages of ignorance and unreasonable prejudice against big Italian saloons.

For: Handsome, fast, tough and cheap.
Against: General lack of interest.
Investment potential: Slightly better than the rest.

1951 Bond Minicar Mk "B". So anxious were buyers to acquire transport that a ready market was found for the Bond Minicar, just a small step beyond being dragged along the road on an oven tray. No doors, three wheels and a yowling Villiers two stroke suspended in the nose was all you got for your money back then. Makes a Ford Popular look like a Lagonda Rapide.

For: Absolutely nothing. The ultimate bad bad car.
Against: You could restore it but then you would have to drive it.
Investment potential: Try your luck.

On some faraway beach...

Michelotti Shelette. Not necessarily a bad car but a funny way of spending 120K on a Fiat that you probably could not use unless you own a private beach. What is that? You own a private beach? Okay then, bid freely you great bloated plutocrat.

For: Beach cars are hot.
Against. Fine if you look like Barbie. The bald and sun spotty need not apply.
Investment potential: Have these not peaked yet?