The Aesthete's pleasures and sorrows of old car ownership

The Aesthete's Fleet

The pleasure came when I parked the Lancia beside the Laird of Excelsior's Peugeot 406 Coupe and a Saab 900 belonging the local stand-in for Top Gear's Richard Hammond. This image could be captioned 'Where the designers are', a nod to the  movie 'Where the Boys Are' that starred Dolores Hart and Yvette Mimeaux. Dolores joined a convent shortly afterwards so at least one of us probably needs to get right with God. The sorrow came when the Lancia's horn again gave voice loudly in the driveway between 11.45 and 12.10 last night. We were alerted by a txt from the neighbours...

Bond Equipe GT. Regular readers might recall the Herald-based Bond coupe that was recently on the list. Its upgraded successor was built on a Vitesse chassis with an attractive and modern fibreglass shell by Trevor Fiore, a British/Italian designer who also produced the completely mad Monteverdi Hai. This one is New Zealand-new and has fallen victim to an abandoned rebuild. I am not sure I would want to race one but it would be ideal as a quick road car with its 2.5 PI upgrade.

For: A cheap mini-exotic. If it was Italian, who knows what you would have to pay?
Against: Not much at that sort of money.
Investment potential: 4/10 if the work has been done competently.

1929 Austin Seven Special. The interface between car and motorcycle is again explored in this tough looking little special with various features only a keen student of the subject might appreciate. The aircraft style instruments and staggered seating layout suggests much more power than could be wrung out of a two main bearing Austin Seven motor but that is all part of the charm.

For: Someone who read Biggles books would get it immediately.
Against: Oily, noisy and dangerous. Hang on. Those are positives, aren't they?
Investment potential: 2/10. Commute in it. I dare you.

1971 Ford Zodiac. There was much awry with Ford's Mk IV but nothing that a big V8 and a wider set of wheels could not fix, a solution arrived at by hoons when the cars were almost new. This innocent looking example is a masterpiece of subtlety compared to those that were driven by disreputable types around Auckland in my youth and the modern injected V8 is a further incentive to forgo all good taste.

For: Whadareya?
Against: Have you noticed all the bogan shows on TV lately?
Investment potential: 3/10 but less if the legitimate owner gets out of jail and finds you.

1965 Van den Plas Princess.You are less likely to have your kneecaps shot off by the vendor of this VDP Princess who had his car at the recent Dunedin Autospectacular and seems like a decent chap. These are interesting cars with their Rolls Royce engineered power units delivering 175 horsepower, more or less. The ropy poly Austin underpinnings were barely up to it but most were driven at civic parade speeds anyway. I have always wondered how one would go around the track.

For: A Chief Borough Engineer sort of car.
Against: You would want to do things to it. Bad things.
Investment potential: 1/10. An ageing following and no one else understands them.

1971 Renault 17 TS. The sight of one of Renault's avant garde coupes was enough to get the junior Aesthete flipping through his 1971 World Cars Annual although the actual specifications were always a bit of a let down. Surely something with four separate hooded instruments on the dash should be as fast as the wind but even the sportiest of Renaults was some distance from a Lancia or Alfa. The novelty now offsets that deficit and this one looks like it could be saved, if only from the chump that currently owns it.

For: Dirty and sweet with a hint of cigarette smoke, like all early Renault Coupes.
Against: Men of a certain age will think you are easy.
Investment potential: 2/10 but you may struggle if there is anything broken or missing.

1967 Sunbeam Alpine GT. Rootes got ex-Raymond Loewy designer Kenneth Howes to draw their new sports car with work commencing as early as 1956. Not so under the thrall of the Italians as his peers in the industry, Howes drew a subtle dart shape that took Virgil Exner's 'forward look', mixed it with a dash of Thunderbird, and gave it wind up windows, a heater and decent seats. It should have outsold the competition but never rose to its full potential.

For: Civilised fun.
Against: I can see little wrong from here.
Investment potential: 3/10 and getting bids already.

Awaiting your instructions for shipment...

1955 Studebaker President Speedster. The Aesthete remains confused about classic Studebaker prices, finding them infinitely more appealing than Chevrolets and Fords with perhaps only a Lincoln Capri tinkling the bell harder than one of these. Lack of funds to restyle the Loewy design meant that the best looking ones came early in their production history and the chrome belt above the rear window of this pillarless coupe is heavenly. The quilted interior less so.

For: You could be seen anywhere in this.
Against: You could not fault the looks, surely?
Investment potential: 2/10 as the market dozes.