The Aesthete gets on with it

The Aesthete's Fleet
Having made a point of never owning a car with a spoiler (déclassé except for the track), the Aesthete now finds himself with two.  The spoiler on the Alfetta GTV sits back under its long nose, its absence only indicated by the supernumerary mounting holes in the valance panel. Of course it had to be put back, leading to a weekend of rolling around on the ground cursing, welding up broken bumper supports and reshaping the new fibreglass parts. There is no point in taking a picture as there is nothing to see. If you should fall under my wheels in some tragic accident, you might appreciate the tidy manner of its attachment as I pass over you.

1967 Oldsmobile Toronado. One of the few big Americans to make the Aesthete stop what he is doing just to look, the Toronado has languished outside the both the muscle car and cruiser scenes.  Jay Leno, however, has repowered his original looking '66 with a twin supercharged 1000 hp power plant which shows there is some room for development, even if he abandoned the front wheel drive that made the car so different in the first place. Check this link for an interview with the designer.

For: A moment of forward thinking in an industry not generally known for it.
Against: Nothing really. A design milestone that reinvented the wheel arch for modern times.
Investment potential: 3/10. You may find better and cheaper where they came from.

1967 Jaguar 420. Jaguar with the wily William Lyons still aboard squeezed what there was left out of the old Mk II with the 420. There were few quicker saloons available at the time unless you trusted your life to something massively overpowered with cart springs and drum brakes. This is the rare manual overdrive version with Jaguar's own transmission. Glorious on wire wheels even if they are on the edge of coming apart controlling the torque and cornering forces.

For: One more spin of the wheel before the XJ6.
Against: Persistently low values mean that few have been properly restored.
Investment potential: 4/10 in the hope that buyers realise what good cars these are.

1968 Vanden Plas 1300. Loading up the earlier 1100 with lead filler,  leather, walnut and barrels of pitch for soundproofing meant that owners could not go anywhere fast. Not a problem when most were used to take Cynthia to the dahlia show on weekends but a bit of a bore if you need to venture out in modern traffic. This twin carb 1300 adds a dash of liveliness to the bourgeois charms of the little Princess so you can at least get off the hard shoulder.

For: Stand up straight man and take your hat off.
Against: That sort of nonsense for a start.
Investment potential: 6/10 with a snob's premium over a humble Austin.

1980 Citroen CX2500D. Perhaps not the first specification one might choose in a CX but this virtually unused car will have none of the vices that accrue in higher milage cars. The trim looks unworn, the headliner is not hanging in rags and it still has the spherical ash holder on the dash where you may rest your cheroot while charging up to Queenstown for a weekend on the slopes. You will get admiring looks from the French wintering over and maybe a round of polite applause when it rises on its suspension.

For: Nothing short of radical plastic surgery could improve your appearance more than being seen in this.
Against: Pongy old diesel not a match for latter day oil burners.
Investement potential: 4/10 but you should buy it and use it.

Peugeot 204 Cabriolet. There is no link as you have to call me about this and I will pass your enquiry to the owner. Although rare on New Zealand roads, Peugeot's little front wheel drive saloon was the top selling car in France during the late 1960s, occupying a similar niche to the BMC 1100. Virtually the only Pininfarina convertible that you could buy on these benighted shores is here in Dunedin and waiting for a new owner. It has an excellently fitted fabric top and has been recently fettled into good usable condition. 12K to you.

For: So much chic in such a small and perfectly formed package.
Against: Nothing. Parts are easy. Just look on Ebay.
Investment potential: 6/10 or better with a little elbow grease.

This week's mystery Italian

1960 Fiat 1800 Viotti Coupé Gran Lusso. Tom Bruynel wins the empty Chianti bottle with the candle in it this week. Viotti is one of the lesser known carrozzeria having gone the way of most of the others by the early 1960s. This elegant coupe was probably designed by Mario Revelli di Beaumont (1907-1985) whose pioneering aerodynamic work for Alfa Romeo in the 1930s is often admired without the designer being recognised. He finished his career with the Simca 1300/1500 series which shares some styling DNA with this.

For: No one else will have one.
Against: The Fiat 1800 was not the most thrilling of platforms. If it was a Lancia Flavia...
Investment potential: 4/10 as there is always a collector for this type of thing.





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