The Aesthete's summer holiday

The Aesthete's Fleet
Painting the Alfetta GTV meant that your Aesthete has lost the better part of summer shut in the shed and covered in dust. A rough tally of hours comes to over two hundred and the paint cost more to buy than the car so what is the outcome? Frankly, all that time adds up to a second rate job compared to the work of the refinishing trade with access to spray booths and some level of skill. So what is the point of doing all this work on a car that very few people rate? The directness of the preceding Giulia coupes was always more satisfying than the rattling dashes, Kombi gearshift and buzzing drive trains of these cars. They also deteriorated and became unwanted within a few short years. Even so, becoming intimate with the car has revealed charms that I had not hitherto seen. The rear quarter detail with the letters GTV punched out of the vent is magical and pure Milan show car.  Even the interior with the divided instrument pod is pardonable as a piece of mad futurism. The next task is to repair and replace all the broken and missing bits. To that end, a long email has been sent to Chris Sweetapple at Highwood Alfa in Swansea, the only UK specialist in these unloved cars.

1952 Daimler Consort Shooting Brake. This epithet seems more appropriate than the vendor's 'woody' for this charming and rare Daimler station wagon. The timber framed body looks professional and it would be interesting to know if it was a local production or by one of the many English coach builders that specialised in such bespoke conversions. This entry wins the coveted Petrolhead Aesthete award for the worst automotive photograph. Step forward, that man.

For: Ideal for pottering around the old estate and shooting at things.
Against: Needs a retrim at least.
Investment potential: 3/10. Well, it is the right price for a project.

1956 Nash Rambler. Less overtly Italianate than the earlier Pininfarina Nashes of which I am known to be fond, this Rambler has charms of its own. It was one of the few mid-sized cars able to get away with tri-tone colour schemes with the roof detail particularly nicely handled. The styling became more frenetic as the decade progressed with fins and other gewgaws spoiling the clever outline.

For: Look Anna. It has a tow bar for that caravan.
Against: The modern electronics but that is an easy matter to sort out.
Investment potential: 2/10 but you will need to find another committed Nashophile, and most of them have been.

1984 Rover Vitesse. An automatic Vitesse seems enigmatic but if you wanted a British built continental cruiser to outrun a big BMW or Mercedes, the specification is spot on. It is pointless comparing them to the earlier cars, being the product of a corporatised industry where the badge identity was decided by a marketing subcommittee. The boffins could still play out of sight, however, and the Vitesse was a seriously quick car in the 1980s.

For: A blast from the last golden age, and increasingly rare.
Against: Nothing that matters. Buy it now.
Investment potential: 4/10. See it as a four door Ferrari.

2009 Lotus Elise SC. Offered as a track day tonic for the troops, this no milage Elise offers a great deal of potential fun for a particularly modest outgoing.  The vendor suggests a steering conversion is possible to allow the car to be compliant for road use however there are possibly less troublesome ways of acquiring an Elise. Best follow his advice and join the growing enthusiast scene at Cromwell's Highland Park.

For: Lotus temporarily recovered on the extruded aluminium frame of the Elise which was a very clever little car indeed.
Against: Impractical but a little indulgence never hurt anyone.
Investment potential: 2/10 as it is a new car but how many like this are there?

 



Well halloo old friend

1938 Willys-Overland Model 39. The Aesthete does like a good streamliner and Willys-Overland produced one of the best examples on its four cylinder economy car frame. It is the sort of thing that whizzed around in miniaturised form in the Futurama display at New York's 1939 World Fair, although that terrific spectacle was sponsored by General Motors. The vendor does not make it easy to find on Trademe listing it as a Ford Deluxe. Maybe that is why it is not selling.

For: 1930s scientific charm.
Against: Like flat roofed concrete houses, you like this sort of thing or you don't.
Investment potential: 1/10. Obviously.


On some faraway beach...

1971 Mazda Cosmo Series II L10B. Mazda's in-house rocketship styling for its rotary range leader was looking a bit antique by 1971 and few were sold outside Japan. This second series car has an improved twin rotor engine and stronger brakes to cope with the added propulsion. Mr Spacely of Spacely Sprockets was named Cosmo and I am sure a live action remake of the Jetsons would be a sure fire summer hit if someone out there would like to pick up the option.

For: Nostalgia for an age yet to come.
Against: Strong collector interest keeps prices high but not as high as a Toyota 2000.
Investment potential: 3/10 with Jay Leno in the race.