Five for the Indian Summer

The Aesthete leaves town.

Your Aesthete is nothing if not catholic in his tastes so I went to an Otago Sports Car Club autocross event on a farm near Milton, proving that I can leave the city and survive without espresso for a morning at least. Quickest around the grass course was an ancient Corolla that looked to have been painted with a broom but was punted enthusiastically by someone that knew their car well. It was all huge fun and it made me wonder if the enjoyment was in inverse relation to the cost of the vehicle. I should have taken some photographs but I was using my phone as a stopwatch which you can do nowadays.

1957 Daimler Century. Huzzah! Someone has put a Daimler on Trade Me that looks suitable for cutting down into my Lancia Aurelia clone but look at the price! I am hoping there is no-one prepared to pay 7.5K for one of these so that I may swoop in with a desultory offer when the vendor is about to despair. Just to remind you of my dastardly scheme, here is my Photoshop mash-up of a Daimler Century with an Aurelia roof.

For: Twin SUs, torsion bar front end, alloy head and a stunning set of gauges.
Against: Pensioners can't pay those prices!
Investment potential: 0/10. I am only saying this because I want it.

1967 Sunbeam Tiger. 75K is pushing hard for a cleverly disguised Hillman Husky but think what this highly original example would be worth if it was an AC Cobra. The fitting of small block American V8s into open sports cars designed for half the power produced some lurid outcomes but the Rootes brothers built them tough in Coventry and Carol Shelby's workshop wielded the lump hammer to make the engines fit on the first few cars.

For: Deceptively effective.
Against: Long dry straight roads are the Tiger's natural habitat.
Investment potential: 5/10. Expensive but hard to repeat if the vendor's pitch is to be believed.

1982 Lancia Beta Spider. The Zagato styled Spider was oddly anonymous for that most avant-garde of Italian design houses but remember those awful Bristols and be grateful it does not look like that. The American market demanded roll over protection so you need to remove the roof panel and fold the rear section of hood down but in other ways it is as excellent a small fwd sports car as the HPE coupe was a GT.

For: Refined and practical.
Against: Don't hit anything in it.
Investment potential: 2/10. Fiat spoiled Lancia as a prestige brand so forget seeing much of your 15K again.

1989 Fiat Tipo Sedicivalvole. My outing to Milton caused me to focus on what I would bring to such an event. It is my perverse nature to want what no-one else wants so what better than this high performance Fiat that is already set up for the track? Fitted with the wonderful Lampredi twin cam in 16 valve form (hence the unpronounceable name) the whole thing could be yours for 4K or less as it has been on Trade Me for months.

For: Fast and ugly, just how I like them
Against: Don't blow it up. You can't run down to the local Sedicivalvole Super Store and buy a new motor.
Investment potential: 6/10 but only because I am funny that way.

1981 Panther Lima. 'Not a kid car' the vendor offers in a tortured pun that reveals the complex history of the Lima and the putative age group of its admirers. This retro roadster was a product of the fertile mind of Robert Jankel, an ex-London rag trade man with a transgressive eye for style. The Lima used Vauxhall running gear which is not as bad as it sounds as Lotus based its 1980s engines on the same block.

For: A  less tasteful Morgan with creature comforts.
Against: People will think you run a brothel.
Investment potential: 2/10. Cheap to run but no collector interest.


And finally...

1969 Chevrolet Corvair Monza. Chevrolet's ill fated rear engined compact offered an almost European package hampered by wayward American handling. They were much better by the end of the production run and this is the last Monza Spider produced according to the vendor. The low bids reflect the lack of interest in these cars but the Italianate styling does it for me.

For: Almost tasteful.
Against: Not to be trusted at the limit.
Investment potential: 2/10. Loyal followers outside the mainstream of Americana.