Never mind the money or the maintenance costs; I’m not sure that I’d want any of the cars in this collection.
If pressed, I’d go with the Ferrari 288 GTO:
…simply because it was the last of the “slimline” Ferraris (before they got as fat as the Ford F-350 dually).
Feel free to weigh in with your choice(s). (People who are satisfied with their Toyota pickup or Ford Taurus need not participate.)
…featuring “Gentlemen” and “Professional” drivers.
Note the grid lineup (R to L):
Quite a few dollars in that lot.
Anyway, take an hour or so and enjoy the sounds of yesteryear…
From Over the Pond, a Touring Car race at the Goodwood Revival (what I done missed this year sob sob) that features practically every Le Mans-winning driver of the past two decades, some former F1 drivers, NASCAR’s Jimmy Johnson, and Rowan Atkinson: all driving cars what I loves (okay, the Ford Galaxies not so much).
Next year, I promise… I’ll sell some guns if I have to — just watch me.
Ooooh this one gets me where I’m prone to tingle:
THREE stunning classic Land Rovers are going under the hammer and look likely to fetch £50,000 each. The classic off-roaders have all been fully restored and are ready and waiting to be driven and enjoyed by the highest bidders.
Here they are (full descriptions are in the article):
Yikes.
As we saw last week, there’s really not a good reason for a car to have a jillion horsepower — one of those “just because you can doesn’t mean you should” situations. Lots of power on the racetrack: good. Lots of horsepower on roads and streets: ehhh maybe not.
And when looking at cars on this here back porch o’ mine, can older cars be far behind? Remember, they’re grouped into “taking the family out for a drive” (saloon cars) and “I’m taking my best girl out for a picnic or date” (sports cars). So here are my choices, from a bygone age.
Saloon Car:
Citroën Traction Avant 15/6 Normale (1949)
I know: the earlier Traction models (pre-1938) were horrendously underpowered, but the later 15/6 version had a 2.9-liter inline 6 engine which boosted its initial 32bhp to a stratospheric 60bhp, and this yielded a top speed of about 70mph. I know: I wouldn’t be able to take this splendid creature onto an interstate, but then why would I want to? Country roads at 55mph, city streets (drawing admiring looks from everyone). It’s still one of the classiest cars ever built.
Daimler Consort (1952)
Let’s see: heavy, underpowered (2.5-liter engine / 70bhp) and supremely comfortable — sounds like my kinda car, and it is. And it’s gorgeous, so much better-looking than modern saloon cars, and classy (which no modern car is, to the same degree).
Sports Car:
Fiat 124 Sport Spider (1966)
Built by Fiat, design by Pininfarina, the 1400cc engine developed 89hp (once again, enough for country lanes and pootling around city streets).
Sunbeam Alpine Series III (1967)
I have to admit a serious crush on this model, with its snappy little 1725cc / 96bhp engine. It’s beautiful, cheeky and nippy, despite its underpowered engine. Of course, it’s not as classy as its predecessor:
Sunbeam Alpine Mk I (1955)
This is the car that Cary Grant used to seduce Grace Kelly in To Catch A Thief, but I have to admit that its 2.2-liter / 96bhp engine, while larger than the later Mk III, had to move a chassis which weighed nearly three times as much. But hey, I don’t do drag races.
Go ahead, laugh all you want at the above. But I’d have an ultra-luxurious drive in the first category, and a super-fun drive in the other, whichever the choice. I don’t need a massive, loud, gas-guzzling engine to do either; but most of all, the cars are all stylish, in a way that modern cars cannot compete with.
Remember: these are cars of their times, not for today, so don’t apply modern-day standards to either — although I’d happily drive any of them today, given the chance.
From Younger Reader Daniel D:
As I have watched your frequent auto posts I notice that higher end cars, Farraris and the like, from your youth appear frequently. Many seem in immaculate condition, as I suppose anything of that value is, but it seems the same tier of cars are fairly often seen for those who travel in those circles. These are not mass-market cars like the classic Mustangs of the same era, so their continued existence despite I assume the same level of gleeful driving seems somewhat remarkable. I wonder if you have any perspective on the price at these times as it relates to spending power, as I have not seen anything other than which reflects their value as collectibles. I wonder if this tier of automobile was slightly more accessible as a doctor’s life goal type purchase as opposed to buying a house’s worth that someone else could T-bone. Were higher tier cars at a more accessible price point in the past for the merely well-to-do as opposed to only being a plaything of the rich?
It’s a really good question, with a couple of answers necessary.
Firstly, the issue of price vs. wage level, at various points in history. I often use the comparison of my own situation in the mid- to late 1970s as an example (using the SA Rand as equal to the US$ in terms of its local buying power, which it was for almost everything except gasoline/petrol). So:
Now, the approximate sticker costs during the same time period (and in today’s dollars):
I should point out that the official increase (or decrease, if you will) of the dollar’s value from say 1976 till today is about 5.21, but for automobiles, it’s about a 6.14 – 6.15 multiple.
In actual fact, given that today a Corvette actually costs about $65,000 (double the “official”) and any Ferrari or Rolls is north of a million shows you how unaffordable the upper-end cars have become.
(I remember talking to a doctor friend back in the day, and he commented that buying a Rolls in 1965 and keeping it for 20 years would actually have saved him money, compared with buying a new Merc every five years, even with the maintenance costs included.)
But let’s just stay in the 1970s for a moment, and consider my annual salary as a humble assistant statistician back then was $4,800. (It was NOT a bad clerical salary at the time.) If we take that Porsche 911 S as an example, it would have cost me about 1.8x my annual salary.
That same position’s salary in today’s dollars is probably $55,000 per annum, and a “base” 2022 Porsche 911 with only a few options will set you back about $115,000 — or about 2x the annual salary. Not too far off.
However: my rent back then constituted about 22% of my monthly salary, whereas rent for the same type of apartment today would account for almost 90% (or more, depending on the city) of my monthly salary — and assuming I moved out to the ‘burbs, it would still account for close to 50% of my nut.
So the takeaway from all this is that a “reasonable” sports car was more within the average Joe’s reach back in the 1970s, whereas those same cars are completely out of reach today.
And yes: even back then, the truly high-end cars were pretty much accessible only to the very well-to-do, as they are today. My father was an established civil engineer in the early 1970s, and the Dino would have represented 1.3x of his annual salary — and there was NO WAY he would have considered it. He chose instead a Mercedes 350SL, at 0.6x, and who would blame him?
By the way, an immaculately-restored Dino 246 GT — Ferrari’s attempt at an “entry-level” car — will now cost you from $350,000 to $stupid.