The Aesthete receives his prize

... for the 1750 GTV that I took on the Alfa Romeo club run up to Oturehua (look it up if you don't know your central South Island geography). The prize was awarded for the best coloured car so I think it must have been a lady judge and a tasteful one at that. The girls just love verde olivia metallizzato AR-213.

1971 Peugeot 504. Given that these cars commonly travel 100,000 miles between oil changes in the wastes of Namibia, this example must be considered barely used. It has suffered from being stored outside under a cheap plastic cover but the small amount of surface rust seems manageable. You get another car thrown in with the deal and the reserve is $1. Come on now. One of you step forward.

For: It has air conditioning!
Against: Could it be the breeze entering through the rust holes?
Investment potential: 2/10 but then you get one of the best quality saloons ever built.

1960 Imperial Le Baron. Are these the worst pictures of a car ever placed on Trademe? It must be a close run thing and therefore the vendor's assessment of the worth of this vast show boat should also be viewed with skepticism. If you want us to pay upwards of 20K for it, best get busy with the dusting cloth and turn some lights on in the shed. Even so, this is a mighty piece of American parade pomp from the height of their imperial phase. I could imagine Gemini astronauts riding in the back of it.

For: Square steering wheel! Panelescent instrument lighting!
Against: "Not vinned but it can be easily done". I will have that on my headstone, thank you.
Investment potential: 1/10. Not much in it after a paint and retrim unless you are happy to live in a one roomed shack in the hills.

1970 Austin 3-Litre. As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly. The Aesthete is that way with Austin 3-Litres so what is the strange magnetism possessed by these blowsy products of the 1960s British motor industry? I imagine they are roomy, smooth, quiet and comfortable. Pininfarina may have got a tenner for designing the nose. That is all.

For: Stand up and salute, man!
Against: You will turn into a retired colonel as soon as you turn the key.
Investment potential: 1/10. I imagine they have their fans somewhere.

1969 Sunbeam Imp. Not a Stiletto sadly, but a rare variant nonetheless. The vendor's story raises some questions about the reason for a vacuum cleaner respray at some point in the car's history but this plush little buzz box meets and exceeds the Aesthete's criteria for such. Is it worth 5K? Only the serious Impophile could say for certain.

For: Leave it white but put it on minilite wheels. Grwwlll
Against: Read the vendor's comments carefully.
Investment potential: 1/10 but more if you can paint it yourself.

1950 Jowett Javelin. Here is another of the Aesthete's weaknesses but not as inexplicable as some of the others. This Javelin was modified by Dunedin's Leo Padman,  an eccentric but brilliant engineer and sound recordist who built his own tape recorders in the 1950s and produced The Tumbleweeds. He had a sideline in tuning the flat four Javelin and they were capable of 100 mph after he was finished with them. His own car was even quicker.

For: A piece of New Zealand history, yours for the taking.
Against. Nothing. Buy it.
Investment potential. 8/10

Meanwhile. back in Blighty

1962 Ogle SX 1000. David Ogle's brilliant reformatting of the Mini from a house brick into a gorgeous ovoid is like watching Jean Shrimpton coming down the catwalk. I think we all know what SX stands for. Yours for 15 UK + shipping. Go on. You know you want to.