Berlinetta Blog #4 – June 2016 features five truly great soft-top sport cars that should be bought for love, but can also earn you money:
Under £10,000
Fiat 124 Spider:
Surely the most shockingly under-appreciated budget classic convertible out there. Why buy an MGB, with its agricultural running gear, heavy iron block and ‘bar-o-soap’ styling when for the same money (or less) you can plump for a lump designed by Aurelio Lampredi (of Ferrari fame) featuring an alloy head, twin overhead cams and Weber carburation? Put that together with a 5 speed gearbox, disc brakes, and styling by Pininfarina and stand back to give yourself a well deserved pat on the back.
OK they are relatively rare, only originally available in LHD and you must hold out for the chrome bumper model, but really, with that pedigree what’s not to love? Oh, and also unlike the MGB you get a couple of seats in the back for the kids.
SMFH, as those kids might say…
£10,000 – £20,000
Austin Healey Frogeye Sprite:
Having allowed the Europeans an easy victory in round 1 above, it’s time to celebrate the Brits. A personal favourite of ours here at Berlinetta, the Frogeye is arguably the most charming and joyous form of transport you can buy at any price. Guaranteed to draw a bigger crowd than any Ferrari in a pub car park, and women absolutely love them too. With just 43 bhp on tap the Frogeye takes an admittedly leisurely 20+ seconds to wind itself up to 60mph, but who cares when the handling is this good and the styling this endearing?
Last year you could have had you pick of the best in the UK for £10,000, now you might struggle to find a really good example for under £20k, and the very best are advertised in the mid £30s.. The cat is out of the bag it seems – or the frog is out of the pond.
£20,000 – £30,000
Alfa Romeo Duetto:
Talking of ‘bar-o-soap’ styling…
OK we may be a little biased but when seen here (again executed by Pininfarina) it just looks gorgeous. We love the detailing on this car, especially the ever-so delicate front bumpers that you can see in the picture above – delicacy being an obvious quality to engineer into your bumpers if you’re Italian (and mad).
Again, the mechanicals wrapped in this lovely outer skin make anything on offer from the UK in period look fairly Neanderthal by comparison, although at the time you did have to pay for it – when new the Alfa cost about the same as an E-Type.. Ouch. Still, Try buying an E-Type for £20k now.. (does this argument actually stack up? Probably not but Dustin Hoffman never ran out of petrol in an E-Type, so that probably seals it.)
£30,000 – £40,000
Lotus Elan:
Weighing just 726kg, the Elan fully embodied Colin Chapman’s desire to ‘add lightness’ – normally until things broke, which the Elan often does if not properly looked after and used regularly. Actually even then it’ll probably break more times in a month than your 911 will in a lifetime – but that’s the sign of a ‘proper’ classic relationship isn’t it? The S3 SE (featured above, although not in an original colour), is the one to have, with the perfect combination of the rounded rear wheel arches, smaller rear lights, toggle rather than rocker switches, and window frames, to keep at least a little of the rain out.
Designed by Ron Hickman, who famously went on to create the Black and Decker Workmate (presumably to give him somewhere to lay out all the bits that had dropped off his Elan) and much admired by McLaren F1 designer Gordon Murray – the latter lamenting that the only regret he had from the way the F1 turned out was that the steering wasn’t as good as an Elans.
£40,000 – £50,000
Mercedes 250SL:
OK, not strictly speaking a sports car, but just look at it!
Also, we thought we should have a German car in here somewhere, just for old time’s sake when we used to be part of their gang.
The Pagoda Mercs are legendary for their looks and refinement and whilst in our books they’re definitely more Kings Road than B road, they still offer a whole lot of class for your money. The 250 is arguably the one to have, as most people who don’t know what they’re doing will pay a premium for the 280 which offers few discernible benefits. Examples seem to be worth anything from £30,000 to £130,000 so buy now, cherish and then cash in when the wind in your hair has finally blown it all off.
So, there you have it, 5 of the very best – and as a final score it seems to be UK 2, Europe 3, appropriately enough.
Leave A Comment