The Aesthete does the rounds

The Aesthete's Fleet. 

 The Lancia sized hole in the collection has still not been filled by the Alfetta GTV although the long suffering proprietor of the garage where it is receiving work has not been able to get it off the hoist for three months. The drive shaft is now in place and the clutch input shaft has new bearings, so removing any eccentricity  between the rear mounted gearbox and the bits that make it rotate. Will it work? As they used to say at the end of the TV show Soap, "These questions—and many others—will be answered in the next episode of..."

1947 Studebaker Champion.  Almost all models from the other big American makers were rehashed from the 1930s, leaving Studebaker as the sole provider of a modern  car in the immediate post-war period. Oddly enough, this earlier iteration of Raymond Loewy's Studebaker saloon looks more modern than the later rocket nose cone restyle due to the balanced relationship between the low horizontal grill and the rest of the car. The reverse hung rear door add a touch of glamour to proceedings.

For: I see the car but also girls in nice frocks and Californian modern houses.
Against: The vendor shows us that the doors open and close but won't let us look inside.
Investment potential: 5/10. It is cheap if it is any good.

1960 Daimler Dart. Mason's black suits the idiosyncratic lines of Daimler's quality sports car that looks its best in sober colours. Styled at Hooper where the usual run of work was huge imperial limousines, the combination of upright screen and shaped wings recalled the larger Daimler cars that wore these features more elegantly. None the less, there is a coach-built quality about them that works well with Edward Turner's superb V8.

For: Makes a Triumph TR seem like a dray.
Against: The looks, mainly.
Investment potential: 3/10: Jay Leno owns one and loves it so 45K seems reasonable.

1984 Rover SD1 Vitesse. Don't let the automatic gearbox put you off as the Vitesse is still a very quick car capable of seeing off many pretenders to its touring car crown. This is not the track burning twin plenum engined variety, however, a detail the vendor cleverly skirts. Even so, a well cared for SD1 is a good asset for the garage in whatever form.

For: Smooth, simple and fast.
Against: Old people will tell you "I had a four cylinder diesel one of them. Terrible it was."
Investment potential: 3/10 as that cohort of owners pass on.

1995 Maserati Ghibli. That wiley old Argentinian Alessandro de Tomaso certainly squeezed plenty of value out of the Biturbo platform, letting Maserati's engineers refine it until it was a respectable high speed touring car. In Ghibli form with a restyle by Marcello Gandini, it was ideal for those who thought an M series BMW was just too obvious. Earlier Ghiblis are now seriously expensive so this is a sensible alternative to the 100K restoration project that featured briefly on Trademe this week.

For: Most bad traits of the earlier cars are gone by this point.
Against: "Sensible alternative" to what, exactly? Being dragged behind a hillbilly's pick up?
Investment potential: 3/10. They cannot loose much more value.

1958 Mercedes 190B. I list this on the recommendation of the other well known aesthete, now resident on diplomat's row in the capital and loudly ruing the sale of his Daimler Majestic. He avers that the Mercedes would be an acceptable substitute although it would not see Smart owners fleeing for the safety of the footpath like that old battle cruiser did.

For: If you can whistle the Horst-Wessel-leid you will probably understand.
Against: Buy a 3.5 Litre Rover. You know you want to.
Investment potential: 2/10 but still nice to own.

On some faraway beach

1967 Ghia 450SS. You may recall I showed you a wreck of a Dual Ghia a few weeks ago but here is a later example of the same formula of Italian carrosserie styling on a robust Chrysler frame. Designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro during a brief spell at Ghia, it wears it great bulk well. Poised on expensive Borrani wire wheels that would leave interesting patterns on the road with the torque from the V8, it must still be the ultimate value in Italo-American hybrids.

For: About one tenth the price of a Ferrari Superamerica.
Against: It is up to you if you want to pay 200K for every extra cylinder.
 Who knows what it will sell for but it is very usable.