Wonderboy is unmasked

The Aesthete's Fleet

... at a dinner party in Port Chalmers where postprandial chatter led to a guest being outed as the mystery mechanic known only to readers of this blog as Wonderboy.  I will take suggestions for a new alias for him but am quietly gratified that at least two people are reading the Petrolhead Aesthete.

The new Alfetta GTV was collected yesterday. As Wonderboy might vouchsafe, it motors very well. It will go even better when I have plowed the filler off it, a task that I began today with the left rear wing. Like all such cars it has been subject to indifferent repairs but the welds applied years ago have held and it is only holed in a couple of places.  Although you might add masochism to the Aesthete's list of vices, I only feel alive when attacking a woeful old Italian car with an angle grinder. If someone gave me a job doing it I would leave academe tomorrow.

1959 Volkwagen Kombi. This spectacular grossekombi kamperwagen has been expanded in all dimensions by an ingenious but unidentified coach builder.  The hopeful vendor suggests selling it for a fortune back in Blighty but the top money is only paid for lavishly restored many windowed micro-busses, not bloated one-offs from the colonies. Let that be your gain, however. I wonder what the interior is like?

For: I bet the Germans have got a better word for it.
Against. Every one of those 1600ccs will be screaming with the effort.
Investment potential: 3/10 but imagine the fun.

1966 Nissan Cedric. The Aesthete has expressed a fatal weakness for these Pininfarina-styled Nissans in the past but has sensibly recoiled from the 6K lichen coated example that that has been on Trademe forever. Here is one that might go for a sensible price. It is what the doomed Austin 3 Litre would have looked like if the BMC executives had been receiving the care they clearly needed. It probably attracts a similar sort of owner so I would like to be there to witness the sale.

For: Pininfarina saloon that looks like a Japanese Lancia. What not to like?
Against: You will probably end up with the 6K one as well.
Investment potential: Ngghhragah!

1951 Austin A70 Hampshire. What is this rolly-poly old lard bucket doing here, I hear you ask. The Hampshire was a bit of a Q-ship that stropped along nicely with its big 2.2 litre four, reaching a blistering 83 mph in 1948. It was a smaller version of the engine that went into the first Austin Healey and was so abundant with torque that they blanked off low gear for the sports car. You get that first gear here for nothing and you will climb any hill with it engaged.

For: Spats. The Aesthete likes a well turned out rear end.
Against: Old people will tell you about their courting days. Eww.
Investment potential: 4/10. You never know.

1989 Citroen BX TRS. As pleasant as modern Citroens are they are not really modern anymore. That all stopped with the BX with its plastic bonnet, glass C pillar and avant-garde interior decor straight from the set of Space 1999. It is therefore the only car of its era that looks good in white. This one-lady -owner example is barely run in at 79KMs and is the best way I can think of to pay homage to an otherwise appalling decade. Find your old Plastic Bertrand tapes now.

For: C'est chic, non?
Against: I zink nozink.
Investment potential: 4/10 The world must be running out of nice ones by now.

1968 Ford Thunderbird. The final year for the lean hipped 1960s Thunderbirds before the styling went completely to hell. This is overpriced I know but represents the cost of a restored car rather than one that has had a quick blow-over with a rattle can in a Puerto Rican chop shop prior to export to New Zealand. The shiny black has a real air of menace about it and they look even better without the ubiquitous padded vinyl roof. And those rear seats.... grwwwll.

For: A tasteful big American.
Against: Tasteful... such a loaded expression.
Investment potential: 0/10 sadly.

A bargain awaits the right purchaser.

1954 Kaiser Special. If you had a loose 20K and wanted something almost unique (they only built two of these apparently), why not a Kaiser? Sensibly and tastefully modified with a new V8 and automatic transmission, disc brakes, Blaupunkt sound system and modern electrics, you could be guaranteed that no-one else will have one. The Aesthete would tip his hat to you. He spits on the ground when he sees a 1957 Chevrolet.