Spring is in the air

Cars, girls' names, cocktails and songs

Iggy sees a Eldorado rolling along below his window carrying a nameless black girl in the back. Trouble predictably follows.

1973 Dino 246 GT. I know this debases the rule that a car should not account for more than the annual salary of a mid-career academic but if I had bought one twenty years ago I could retire now. They sold for the same price as a Porsche when new but not now that a ratty but usable 911 is yours for 20K.  For: Pininfarina at the height of their mighty powers. Against: You would not want a ratty Dino under any circumstances, not even as a gift.

1973 Alpine 310. Another Dino competitor reduced to hard times. Renault-powered Alpines were dominant in the early 1970s rally circuit, later gaining the big V6 engine from the Peugeot 604 and startling performance if they could be kept on the road. The handling characteristics suited the smaller power plant and this is a rare example with only 600-odd built in 1973. For: No one else has one. Against: Quelle horreur!

1985 Lancia Beta Volumex Coupe. The Volumex was a supercharged version of the Fiat twin cam, cleverly designed to get around the throttle lag that came with early turbo installations. The belt driven unit was unorthodox but gave the front wheel drive Beta a pleasing amount of urge. I suspect very few survive of the 200 RHD cars the vendor tells us were made so it may be some time before we see another. For: Should be more expensive. Against: Nothing. Go on, buy it.

1989 Lotus Esprit 2.2. This must be the week for cars not taken as seriously as they deserve, Lotus struggled with the multi-cylinder fetish that dominated their part of the market and so eventually gave the Esprit a  V8. The four cylinder cars are just as capable and a lot cheaper to keep so 25K seems rather good value. For: The clever Peter Stevens restyle enabled the car to outlive the Roger Moore James Bond era. Against: Check the receipts carefully.

1996 Fiat Barchetta. It will never be worth 325K but it will provide fun in inverse proportion to the price difference. Based on the Punto platform and with the right amount of power, the Barchetta was full of brio. The styling has aged well given that it is almost 20 years old and makes an MGF look rather timid. For: Much more fun than a Miata. Against: Sinistral steering wheel.