The Aesthete's weekly summary

The Aesthete's Fleet

The mad dance of the Italian cars continues with the GTV's tail high in the air in the shed as rear axle bushes are replaced. I managed to plough the Lancia into an earth bank on the way home and bent the bumper out of shape. Annoyingly, it now fits the nose of the car better than it did before but that might be because other things are bent as well. Humbling phone calls to long suffering underwriters will be made on Monday. 

1959 Lincoln Continental. The Aesthete's attitude to American cars is avoid the middle ground. Corvairs are wonderful in their own way and so are Continentals. Particularly when the whole styling studio was participating in a drug experiment which the the only possible way you can explain the looks. The vendor tells us that it is the largest and heaviest car made in post-WW2 America which, oddly enough, enamors me even more. All that tortured sheet metal, glass and cow hide can be yours for 28K. How many Mercedes 600s are you going to get for that?

For: You could always live in it when your fortunes inevitably decline.
Against: The frugality of a Saturn 5 rocket.
Investment potential: 1/10. The enormous jalopy market is a bit tight and will probably remain so.

1967 Oldsmobile Toronado. All the same things could be said about this early Toronado apart from the looks which are utterly sublime. The poor vendor has just about given up as this is the same car that was advertised as being New Zealand new a couple of years ago. Clearly, no-one thinks it is worth the 12K asking price although the Aesthete might be persuaded, if he actually had the requisite 12K. Never mind... one of you should buy it.

For: Oh, the looks most certainly.
Against: What is the best cornering style with something like this? I would like to see it on a gravel road.
Investment potential: 0/10. Clearly there is no investment potential here but I advise you to buy it anyway.

1951 Austin A40 Sports. It appears as if someone has started something here that they could not finish. A shame as the Eric Neale-styled and Jensen-bodied A40 is a fine thing and a straightforward restoration proposition as long as the alloy panels are reasonable. Not particularly sporting in original mode, they can be made to get along nicely with a B-series engine and gearbox swap.

For: Elegant little tourer. More so lowered a little on painted wire wheels.
Against: A pit ponderous, even for 1951.
Investment potential: 3/10 if you do your own work.

1966 Plymouth Barracuda. The modern wheels are hideous but the rest of this Barracuda fulfills the Aesthete's strange prerequisites for an American car. If it was primrose yellow it would be perfect but the powder blue is almost as good and shows off the tinted glass in the massive rear deck to some effect. The modifications appear tasteful enough so you would not die of shame to be seen in it.

For: That rear window. Grwwlll.
Against: There are cheaper out there but without the NZ history.
Investment potential:  2/10. There will always be fewer on the market than Mustangs or Camaros.

Alfa Avanzo. The Aesthete was pondering something like this as a long term project. A Ferrari Monza look-alike shell with an Alfa engine and transaxle is a good combination but something less obvious like a Frua Maserati A6G/54 2000 or a Siata would suit his obscurest tendencies.

For: Paying someone else to avoid all that hard work is rather tempting.
Against: I would like to see how far I could get on 48K.
Investment potential: 3/10. A toy but a very nice one.

The Aesthete's forlorn hope.

1969 NSU Ro80. I ran into a pleasant fellow at the Rally of Otago street event who had just sold a set of Fuchs allow wheels from an NSU Ro80. I would have bought them in a flash in the expectation that I would find a car like this to put them on. Both he and Wonderboy asserted that the Ro80 was an ugly car. The Aesthete would say it was the most beautiful saloon car of its time but he is funny that way.

For: So clever.
Against: So doomed.
Investment potential: 3/10. You should have one of these and an early 911 Targa in the same hue.