The Aesthete goes poking around Trade Me again

The Aesthete's Fleet

Somewhat forlornly this week as the supply of interesting cars has dwindled again on our favorite auction site. I wonder if it is a seasonal variation produced by climate change? The Other Well Known Aesthete has reported in from Wellington and tells me that the des. res. he has been looking at has a Lancia Fulvia Coupe in the garage. I think he may be toying with me but watch this space.

1994 Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Cloverleaf. The 155 was an unlikely star of the touring car racing circuit in the early 1990s and Alfa Romeo was not letting the public forget it. No longer rear wheel driven, the V6 powered cars lost the classic Alfa chassis dynamics but the square edged body was surprisingly aerodynamic and they can be made to go very quickly indeed. 4.5K is a bit of a snip for something with serious track day potential so I advise you to set aside any prejudices against Fiat engineering.

For: Fun, fast and cheap.
Against: Ugly I grant you, but when had Alfa made a good looking saloon anyway?
Investment potential: 4/10. Diminishing numbers of good ones and the nineties revival is almost upon us.

1956 Riley Pathfinder. Like warm woollen mittens and whiskers on kittens, Rileys are amongst the Aesthete's favorite things. Fifties saloons come no better looking than Gerald Palmer's Lancia homage and you get a thumping great twin cam motor to heave the thing along at a decent speed. Greatly superior to anything that later used the same badge although the penultimate Riley 2.6 has the most desirable instrument panel of any British mass produced car.

For: Characterful, fast and cheap.
Against: Nothing whatsoever.
Investment potential: 2/10 until they shake the associations with related marques.

1936 Hudson Custom 8. Few American mass produced cars of the 1930s are very interesting. Hudsons were a bit special, however, and this was recognised by some influential types in Britain including Reid Railton who built fast sports and touring cars that were essentially rebodied straight eight Hudsons like this one. Hudson fanciers are already circling ominously overhead, emitting strange high pitched cries.

For: Much work to do but possibly worth it. Check out the fencers' mask grill.
Against: Let's hope nothing major is missing.
Investment potential: 2/10. Sadly, not a Charlesworth bodied car or it would be worth a fortune.

1973 Fiat 130 Coupe. The charms of these big Fiats were lost outside Italy where the idea of an expensive touring car with the same badge as a poverty line 126 made little sense. Today, however, you could consider it a better proportioned Ferrari 400i that is possible to run on a reasonable budget. Which is why they are worth more and are a smarter buy than said Ferrari.

For: Oh come on. Look at that interior.
Against: Nothing. If it was good enough for Gianni Agnelli, its good enough for you.
Investment potential: 4/10 if you can keep it as nice as it is now.

1961 Chevrolet Corvair FC Rampside. The Aesthete's weakness for Corvairs even extends to their weird commercial brethren so I will draw your attention to this example. If you really want a four speed left hand drive rear engined air cooled flat six side loading pick up in red and white your choices are fairly limited so here is perhaps your only chance.

For: It may not be suitable for that hand made lace doily business you were thinking about but we get the point.
Against: It will need the right sort of buyer when you come to sell it as well.
Investment potential: 3/10 with the above caveats kept in mind.

1973 Lamborghini Jarama. Under instructions to produce something in a hurry, Marcello Gandini took the sword to the graceful Espada and produced the Jarama that only found a few hundred buyers in all versions. The odd looks have now aged into a general 'anything Italian of this era is beautiful' acceptance but the prices are still very low for something of this pedigree.

For: It's in Australia so you could look at it before to hand over money.
Against: You could find a pretty Italian car to waste money on.
Investment potential: 3/10 and will stay low while Espada are also cheap.

The Aesthete's Dream Machine

The Aesthete preserves this spot in the list for automotive fantasies that seriously challenge the notion of reality so what can you say about a Mk IV Zodiac that has been shed bound for twenty years but which the vendor is prepared to let go for 20K? It was either this or a rusty Morris Oxford that the seller was threatening to wreck right now if we did not buy it for $800.