The Aesthete has an epiphany

The Aesthete's Fleet

An epiphany is not a new type of party drug (now there is an idea...) but a moment of sudden and great revelation or realisation. I had one when I realised that the loud rattling in the GTVs cabin that sounded like it was right inside the car indeed was right inside the car. The long rear side window had become unglued from its fragile supports and a healthy dab of Araldite stopped it resonating. You would almost want to drive it a long distance now so I am weighing the options for a modest road trip. The blog has an impact greater than I expected with Andrew Fletcher's Daimler Dart listing making its way to the Herald's motoring section where his good reasons for not calling him about his car were enumerated again for the benefit of North Island readers. For those that missed the listing, I quote but a modest section of it below...

Beware…. if you like shiny, over restored, buffed up, trailer puppy’s, don’t contact me. Or you think you might like to own an old car and does the hood leak - don’t ring me. If you think a sensible question is “what’s it like on gas” don’t ring me, if your favourite teacher, uncle, mate etc had one once, I don’t care. Or if you think because there are some cracks and scratches in the paint and seats stitches are coming apart it needs “restoring” do us both a favour and don’t contact me. If you have ever owned an Italian car don’t ring… If actually you want an SP250 think hard..why? then don’t call. Ok. 

1988 Maserati Biturbo. If you are going to find a Maserati mouldering away under a tree nowadays, it will be a Biturbo. This is not just to do with the relatively high production rate but a general lack of feeling for these fine cars that were BMW challengers rather than competing in the Ferrari league. They have depreciated in the same way as their Bavarian fellows but their electronics are even more of a hurdle today. Befriend a helpful young person with a laptop and a talent for hacking ECUs and you could be on your way with a 230KPH Italian for the price of a Nissan Nopulse.

For: An early Biturbo with manual transmission is almost as good as a Porsche 928 but even cheaper.
Against: They are cheap for a variety of good reasons.
Investment potential: 4/10 but I would say that.

1957 Buick Riviera. This black Riviera pillarless coupe has a menace about it that lifts it from the usual heavy iron. It would look even better with a silver roof, almost like a Facel Vega, and the vendor has the original steel wheels to replace those egregious low profile tyres that do nothing for the car at all.

For: I could see this being driven around Monaco in 1957 and getting the right looks.
Against: Would need a red leather retrim and an expensive repaint before you parked outside the casino.
Investment potential: 2/10

1937 International D-Series Van. The vendor explains that this is a New Zealand built delivery van on an International Harvester frame but I am sure there is more of a story to it than that. The questions on the listing suggest it was a grocery delivery van but there are no images of the interior and it seems to have a row of rear seats. Whatever, it hits the Aesthete's spot for unusual commercial vehicles and local design significance.

For: Do you need an unusual load carrier?
Against: An esoteric one?
Investment potential: 2/10 with its dumpy looks a minor drawback.

1975 Daimler Vanden Plas. Early V12 XJs are a rare sight now, most being too expensive to maintain and consequently suffering from long periods of disuse. This vendor has not stinted on the repairs and shows us this by offering up lots of images of expensive garage bills. You may not consider this a clever way of selling a car but a fuel fire in a V12 engine bay is the unpalatable alternative.

For: Golden sand, tan leather and vinyl roof. Grrwwlll.
Against: More to be spent on it yet? I hope not.
Investment potential: 4/10 with a buy now price of 9K.

1959 De Soto Firedome. All looks superficially well with this handsome De Soto Firedome in coral pink, one of the Aesthete's favourite hues when applied to big American cars. The terse sales pitch tells us it needs an engine rebuild so one imagines its exterior does not match the condition of the mechanicals, so often the case with US imports. A rebuilt 361 cubic inch hemi V8 will see you to 100 kph in a bit over 7 seconds so do check the brakes.

For: Virgil Exner at his Forward Look best.
Against: Best check out the rest of it before committing yourselves.
Investment potential: 1/10. Add 10K for the motor and it is not looking too bright

Whoops. I forgot the funny foreign car

1981 Renault Alpine A 310.  Arriving at the end of the avant-garde A 310s production run was an upgrade to the V6 engine found in cars as varied in character as the Peugeot 604 and DeLorean DMC-12 Restyled by Citroen SM genius Robert Opron, the rear engined Alpine was hard to beat on the rally circuit and the equal of a Porsche 911. This well kept example is available for less than 20K EUR or around one fifth of the German competition.   Vive la différence!

For: Gorgeous and awkward simultaneously.
Against: Nothing and so cheap!
Investment potential: 6/10 and more saleable than the bigger Alpine replacement.
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