The Car Search Part 1: A Rating System

One reader writes that he's tiring of his VW Thing, and wonders what might be more fun. Something vintage and Japanese like a Honda S800, or old and British like a TR-6?  Or something more modern like a Mazda RX-7 or 8?  Or maybe an old Yankee land barge like a Hudson Hornet or Nash Airfllyte? Well, Duke Ellington said that good music was beyond category, and that's probably true of cars too. It's not for this writer to say that a '70 Alfa Junior Z is inherently more fun than, say, a '55 Imperial limo. Indeed, it's possible to imagine having some kinds of fun in the latter that would be very difficult in the former. However, it may be helpful to set up a rating system for evaluating possible automotive purchases.  I'm going to suggest a five-star rating system based upon ascending level of difficulty, and essentially reduce the measurement of difficulty to the one-dimensional challenge of finding spare parts. At the summit of our Challenge Scale, however, we'll have a rating which may deter some purchases, as it assigns a value to the possible emotional trauma associated with restoring certain kinds of old crocks. Once I've described the system I'll apply it to some example cars.  Here we go:

*One Star:  Drivetrain and body parts are available from the manufacturer, who is still represented in the US market.  One example would be the Acura NSX.  

**Two Stars:  Drivetrain parts (at a minimum) are still available in the US, even if the model in question was not officially imported.  Examples range from imports like the BMW Z1 to some domestic cars like 60s Lincolns and Cadillacs.

***Three Stars:  The car has been out of production for so long, and / or is so rare in the US, that parts are usually acquired by finding and dismantling a parts car.  I once had a Lancia Flaminia that fits into this category.

****Four Stars:  Drivetrain and body parts are only attained by making them.  Here one thinks of all manner of Twenties and Thirties classics, from Bugatti and Delage GP cars to Stutz Super Bearcats, and some more modern cars like early 50s Ferraris and Maseratis.

*****Five Stars:  Purchase of a vehicle in this category could potentially destabilize the purchaser's marriage, familial and even professional relationships.  If you've read this far, you've likely already pined for a car in this category, and it's lodged in your memory like a lost love from a soft-focus summertime of wasted youth.  It would be disrespectful of me to suggest any names. Far better to observe a silent Moment of Sadness before we proceed…

Today's examples would all offer a driving experience markedly different from that of an early 70s VW Thing, and also from each other.

*Mazda RX-7 Third Generation (1991-2002):

Yoichi Sato's design still looks clean and modern a quarter century later, and at 68,500 units was made in similar numbers to E-type Jaguars, but only offered in the US from 1993 thru '95.  Still, there should be enough of a selection available here to avoid Japanese market cars with their right-hand drive.  All had a 1.3 liter twin rotor, twin turbo engine with horsepower ranging from 255 to 280.  Think of a Miata with 300 extra pounds, but twice the power…

**Peugeot 504 Pininfarina Cabriolet and Coupe (1969-83)

If the Mazda is an authentic sports car for carving turns in the mountains on weekends, the PF Peugeot is a suave boulevardier suitable for the beach promenade.  Both coupe and cabrio share advantages of the sedan which was once familiar Stateside: a sturdy engine, nice handling and ride from 4 wheel independent suspension and disc brakes.  PF designer Aldo Brovarone gave these cars elegant proportions and clean details (avoiding the odd bent trunk from the sedan) and created a car that symbolized lounging on the Cote d'Azur as well as the original Mercedes 230SL.  Like Aldo Cello from those old wine commercials, he may not have spoken any French, but he knew what women liked.  Engines varied from 1.8 liter and 2.0 liter inline 4 (with carbs or injection) to the PRV V6 which also appeared in Renaults and Volvos.  I'd take the cabrio with the V6.  A victim of the OPEC oil crisis, it was made in less than 1,000 units from '75-'77.

***Fiat 2300S Ghia Coupe (1961-68)

Sergio Sartorelli's design echoed Ghia's (and Virgil Exner's) work on the Dual Ghia L6.4 prototype, and Aurelio Lampredi's sturdy pushrod inline six was good for 150 hp. and 120 mph in the S. Some versions had Abarth tweaks for rallying; all had 4-wheel discs & live rear axles like the contemporary Alfa 2600.  The interior was as luxe as those on senior Lancias and Alfas, with leather seats and full instrumentation.  A charming car; and a possible door opener to the Concorso Italiano for $25K to $38K.

****Delage D6 3 liter postwar (1947-53)

The D6 is the Dodge of French classics in a certain way, sturdy and reliable (unlike their GP cars) and lagging in market value until the recent boom.  Even now they're behind Delahaye or Talbot unless you find one bodied by Figoni or Saoutchik.  You might, however, be charmed just as easily by something like this 1947 Vutotal pillarless coupe by Letourneur et Marchand.  Their ready-to-wear line was bodied by Autobineau (think of an early 50s Mercedes), all with the Delahaye-derived pushrod 6 and Cotal pre-selector transmission, but with hydraulic brakes instead of the mechanical ones favored by Delahaye and Bugatti, because that's the way founder Louis Delage liked his brakes, and he stayed on as an advisor to the Delahaye-Delage combine after Delahaye's takeover in 1935.

*****Abarth Simca 2000 (1963-65)

Like many an object of unreasonable desire, the Abarth Simca 2 Mila is not what she would appear. Because of exposure to Fiat Abarths, people expect modified Simca engines here, or at least Simca engine blocks.  But the position of "Abarth" in front of "Simca" is a clue; the cars were designed to reflect racing glory on Simca, but had engines designed and built entirely by Abarth, twin cam inline 4s of 1300, 1600 or 2000cc mounted behind the Simca transmissions (a weak link).  The floor pan was a shortened version of the Simca 1000 and the 2 Mila (short nose shown) was available in Stradale or Corsa versions.  The latter, making around 202 hp, handily beat the Porsches in the European Hillclimb Championship, and may be considered a bargain at 1/6 the price of those same Porsches today.  Alloy bodies look like Zagato but were mostly by Sibona and Bassano.  Does the French chassis and transmission disqualify it from Italian car events?  Who cares?  I want one…

Photo credits:
All photos Wikimedia except Peugeot (classicdriver.com)