The Aesthete rakes the embers of Trademe

The Aesthete's Fleet

 There is little to report. The mild winter has produced no more snow and therefore no further opportunities for reckless outings in the Lancia. I drove it over the hill to Long Beach last weekend to gloat over the immobile BMW 528 parked on the grass outside Shrimp Cottage. "Buy something with a carburettor" I shouted to the wooly hat wearers peering into its cold innards, a lame joke that will soon backfire on me, I am sure.

   

1956 Wolseley 6/90. Gerald Palmer's handsome six cylinder dreadnaughts came in Riley and Wolseley variants. Both were fast and stylish with endearing quirks such as right hand floor mounted gear levers and cutaway seat bases to accommodate them. Forgetting where said control is while barreling into a sharp corner in top will guarantee an entertaining bar room anecdote, should you live to tell it.

For: Character
Against: Counter-intuitive layout.
Investment potential: 3/10. Not many left in original trim like this.

1982 Lancia Gamma Coupe. You may recall my failed negotiations with old friend Buck over his Lancia Gamma Coupe. He politely demurred following my insulting offer so I can now taunt him with this one in the hope that he will finally see reason. It is missing its elegant rectangular headlights but the brown on brown colour scheme will please genuine admirers of 1980s decor and you could not get a better pedigreed car for the price.

For: Fantastic. Well, what would you expect me to say?
Against: Check behind its elegant Roman nose for botched surgery.
Investment potential: 4/10. A Pininfarina coupe for pin money.

1972 BMW 1602. I have never been tempted to name a car, finding that a spit driven string of vulgarities does just as well, so 'Molly' may have to change if I was her new owner. Still. it seems like an honest if slightly careworn example of the basic 02 BMW range and would be a rewarding weekend project. You could distract yourself by reading the original literature between buggering things up.

For: Original and unrestored.
Against: Needs more than a quick Hoovering to get right.
Investment potential: 2/10. Not the most desired model.

1970 Citroen D Special. A picture of a dusty Citroen in a darkened shed is all it takes to get Wonderboy plotting as dark eddies of high pressure green hydraulic fluid swirl about his head. He and others dream about floating across the ground in these wingless aerodynes and there is something extraordinary about them, as if the designers had somehow left all earlier constraints of engineering behind. Don't leave it too long in the shed, however.

For: If Salvador Dali designed cars...
Against: He was also fond of leaking fluids.
Investment potential: 2/10 with a maintenance burden to consider.

1987 Citroen CX Turbo 2. If the retro-futurism of a DS is a bit scary, you may want to consider its more rational CX replacement. It finally got a decent alloy engine and the Turbo version was an Autoroute rocketship with an all day cruising speed of 200KPH. No better way exists of traveling across land unless you have your own private train.

For: Cheap for what it is.
Against: Not for dawdling around town in.
Investment potential: 3/10 if common sense prevailed in the purchase of Citroens.


Call that shipping agent now...

1967 ISO Rivolta GT IR300. If you want to know what makes the Aesthete break into a febrile tremor, it is these things. Imagine a grown up Bertone Alfa GTV with a Corvette engine and you have the formula. Unlike other US/Italian hybrids, ISOs were proper production cars, well engineered and very refined. This one is attracting strong bids and looks great, even in its dilapidated condition on a trailer.

For: UNGHHRRRAGH.
Against: Nothing, sadly.
Investment potential: 2/10. Currently at NZ32K it is no longer cheap.