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pplater
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"Seconds away; round two"...

Talbot-Lago T150-C (Chassis 90019)

The most romantic era of automobile design has to be the era of the ‘teardops’ or ‘streamliners’ of the 1930’s. The most evocative designs of that era have to be the designs of Giusseppe Figoni and Ovidio Falaschi. The most swooping of F&F designs have to be those executed for Talbot-Lago and one of the most compelling of the Talbot-Lago designs has to be Chassis 90019, a relatively rare drop-head coupe.

(photos of this particular beast are hard to come by: make do with a hardtop and a nasty colour scheme for now)

Dino Ferrari

More curves than Brigitte Bardot; lower than a Philadelphia lawyer (sorry brothers!); the Ferrari you have when you’re not having a Ferrari. The fact that the old man would not grace such a compact beast with the family name adds to the inverse snobbery allure; the fact that it was so beautiful and so successful nonetheless makes it a must-have.

Ferrari GTO 250 SWB ‘California’

Like baby bear -  not too this, not too that, but  just right on each and every dimension by which a car should be measured.

Jaguar XKE “Series 1.5”

(The first of the flat floor). Track too narrow. Bonnet too long. Cabin too cramped. Brakes too weak. Gearbox too tricky. Engine too fickle. Even so, it blew the automotive world away, and who still would not give a kidney for a concours ‘E’-type?

Jaguar XK 120 DHC

England was still in its post-war funk of dour restriction, depression and ‘greyness’ and Jaguar’s competitors (both in England and abroad) were largely and slavishly adhering to pre-war design constructs when Jaguar took the next major evolutionary step in stylish sports motoring. It’s just beautiful. The XK140 stayed true to the original design whilst introducing some technical improvements but Jaguar lost the mojo with the XK150, only to regain it in spades with the XKE.

Aston Martin DB4 Series 2

Aston Martin was on song with the DB4/5/6, and it is only a matter of personal  preference that will point you towards one or the other. From a personal perspective, the DB5 is indeed a beautiful car, but it carries the very heavy burden of its popular appeal predicated in large part on a movie appearance and some trick FX.  The progenitor DB4 was the model which introduced the now familiar lines, and the evolution can be seen within the DB4 series (Series 1 and 2 not having faired-in headlights; Series 2 getting the ‘traffic-light’ rear lights; Series 3 and 4 getting faired-in lights and a more rounded rump, etc.). Purely a personal view, but the best balance of the features, the best mix of masculine and feminine characteristics as well, is found in the DB4 Series 2, with the ‘traffic light’ rear lights, the somewhat lengthier body and the full headlamp tunnels. The DB6 was a DB5 with a Kamm tail; sort of like Sophia Loren without hips (or, for the younger readers amongst you, Angelina Jolie without lips..). Still wouldn’t say no to any of them of course…

The Embiricos Bentley Chassis B-27-LE

The quality engineering and brute strength of a Bentley in a classic teardrop skin. Enough said.

Ferrari 550 Maranello

Away from the pure sports car, Ferrari seems to have had mixed success with its GT models. Some have been sublime; others arguably missed the mark. The Maranello represents the first of the successful modern era GT Ferraris: suave, sophisticated, drivable and not too outré – almost practical. Just as acceptable for the middle-aged businessman as for the lairy playboy or celebrity-du-jour.  The tweaks in the 575, though, pointed to the impending triumph of technology over motoring, and by the time these evolved to the 612 we are in spaceship territory.

Mercedes 300 SL “Gullwing”

Where the road used to meet the racetrack. Some things you can’t explain: you just know. With the Gullwing, you just know.

Lamborghini Miura

If you have to ask you should not be reading this thread.

Maserati 3500 GT

A wonderful example of the fertile era when improvements in technology allowed style to share equal billing with performance, safety and allure. The years between, say, 1960 and 1969 gave us such a disproportionately high number of the most desirable cars in history. This product of an eminent Italian house shares the same DNA as the 250 SWB, the BMW 507, the Mercedes 190/230/250/280SL. the DB4. It looks fast just standing still, and so mean that you feel it will bark and bite if you try to approach.

Lancia Aurelia Coupe

A sleeper; a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Not a wasted line from Pininfarina. By a quirk of Italian road rules, many were made in RHD (important to those of us who drive on the correct side of the road J ).

Bugatti Type 57SC

The zenith (in this forum, and with all due respect to Thierry Nataf, it might have been safer to say ‘the high point’) of the teardrop/slipstream design era. Look upon it and weep. As only the Almighty can achieve perfection, however; if one had to look for a shortcoming it might be the grille/headlight combination. This was not a F&F design (so all the more remarkable for its beauty) – one will always wonder what they might have done with the front end and that iconic grille.

Porsche 356 Speedster

The flagship of the pre-911 shape and the coda for all Porsches to follow. You get the sense that this is what Ferdinand Porsche did for love before the 911 became what he did for a living.

AC Cobra 427

The motoring equivalent of Arnold Schwarzennegger and Uma Thurman’s love-child  sprinting the 100m Olympic final in an oily bikini. Try getting that image out of your brain tonight!

BMW 507

Sheer grace, period.

Shelby Mustang GT500

Many ‘ponies’ have been appealing, but could this be the crossover point at which the powertrain finally delivered what the shape promised?  There have been other great ‘muscle cars’ from the spiritual home of the muscle car (Jerry, that split screen ‘Vette is right up there!), but arguably none so enduring.

1929 4.5 litre Bentley ‘Blower’

What a brute! In its day there were cars with greater power, or more elegance, or greater racing success, or higher levels of engineering innovation, but few (if any) where all of those variables were met to such a standard in the one package. And it was British. And it was green. Mostly.

Morgan Plus8

From the oldest surviving car manufacturer in England and (kid you not) the largest surviving car manufacturer in England. All this on the strength of something built with wood, the design of which has been largely unchanged since Noah played quarterback for Jerusalem. Says something, doesn’t it?

De Tomaso Pantera

You’d be forgiven for thinking the Pantera was designed recently.  2004 perhaps? 1999? How about 1970? Something for boys of all ages to drool over whilst dreaming of a walk on the wild side. Driving a Pantera is said to be like riding a brumby on a frozen lake without a saddle. Anyone out there able to comment?  

Cheers,

pplater.

[photo credits embedded in photo URL’s]