Good morning, and happy March 32nd to all those who celebrate! Today, I’m once again inflicting crappy old British and Italian sports cars upon you, and I make no apologies. But I know in the past some of you have complained that my selections are overpriced, and I think, just maybe, today you might be right.
But before we get to those, let’s finish up with Friday’s foursome. As expected, the little Civic took home the prize, with the Mini coming in a respectable second. The Probe got a few honorable mentions, but not enough votes, and the poor old Chevy truck came in dead last. Sure, you hate it now, but when you need someone to help you pick up that new sofa you bought because you’re too cheap to pay for delivery, you’ll all love the old crappy truck.
Seriously, though that Civic probably is the right choice here. It’s an appreciating classic, but not one so nice that you have to treat it with kid gloves, and it’s reliable enough to enjoy without having a tow truck follow you around all the time. A good scruffy classic is a fun car to have.
Which leads me to today’s choices. If you want to drive an old classic sports car on the weekends, obviously you’re going to have to sacrifice some things. You’ll have to be willing and able to drive a manual, for starters. And don’t expect any power assist for steering or brakes, either. Power mirrors? Forget it. CarPlay? Dream on. And of course there’s no air conditioning; better get those arm muscles in shape to roll down the windows – using manual cranks.
And for either of today’s choices, you’ll have to put in some work before you can even think of those Sunday drives. Which one is worth the trouble? Let’s take a look and see.
1961 Aston Martin DB4 – $325,000
Engine/drivetrain: 3.7-liter dual overhead cam inline 6, four-speed manual, RWD
Location: Astoria, NY
Odometer reading: 39,000 miles
Operational status: Engine runs, has not been driven since 1970
Typically, if an automaker fields a factory racing team, the goal is not to win races, but rather to promote its production cars. “Win on Sunday, sell on Monday” and all that. But plenty of marques, especially early on, have started out with race cars, with roadgoing cars coming later. Such was the case with Aston Martin, which has a rich racing history dating all the way back to 1913. That racing heritage is alive and well today, even after numerous financial disasters, bankruptcies, buyouts, and revivals.
This car, the DB4, dates from what might be called Aston’s “golden era.” Sir David Brown combined Aston Martin and British marque Lagonda, went racing again, and created a decade-plus-long line of beautiful roadgoing GT coupes, all with a powerful twin-cam inline six, a development of a Lagonda design, under the hood. One later version of this car, the DB5, became famous for having some extra options installed. This one has no machine guns or ejector seat; sorry.
This DB4 hasn’t been on the road in a while; more than fifty years, actually. The last known registration was in Florida in 1969. The engine has been started recently, however, which is step one. As someone who has brought a British sports car back to life after a long time off the road, I can tell you that there are a great many steps to go. But the sight of asphalt disappearing under that long bonnet, even in its rough state, will absolutely be worth it.
With a car like this, the question is always: To restore or not to restore? Do you keep all that hard-won original patina, sixty-three-year-old leather and wool, and dull chrome, and concentrate on the mechanicals, or disassemble it and spend years returning it to its original glory? If not for the primer paint on the right front corner, I would lean heavily in favor of preserving the patina. But as it sits? Maybe a restoration is the way to go.
1961 Ferrari 250 GT Cabriolet Pinin Farina – $1,295,000
Engine/drivetrain: 3.0-liter overhead cam V12, five-speed manual, RWD
Location: Newport Beach, CA
Odometer reading: 40,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives great
Like Aston, Ferrari got its start on the race track. And Enzo Ferrari famously only grudgingly sold cars to the public to fund his racing addiction. The upshot of this is that, especially in the early pre-Fiat days, Ferrari road cars were not much more than race cars with windshield wipers and turn signals. By the time this 250 GT Series II was built, a few more comfort and convenience touches had crept in, but it still uses the same screaming three-liter V12 engine as Ferrari race cars at the time, and beautiful styling by storied designer and coachbuilder Pininfarina.
The Ferrari “Colombo” V12 looks tiny in the engine bay; V12 engines typically use a 60-degree angle between cylinder banks instead of the 90 degrees commonly seen in V8 engines. This is a lean and mean engine anyway; it’s all aluminum and weighs about half as much as contemporary competing engines. This one runs flawlessly, according to the seller, and a video in the sale listing confirms that.
This car is being sold mid-restoration, and it sounds like it has been in that state for some time. Mechanically, it’s ready to go, and the interior is mostly done, but the bodywork is in primer gray, and a lot of it is still disassembled. The original color was called Nocciola, Italian for “hazelnut,” a lovely metallic gold/beige – a nice change from the sea of red Ferraris typically seen. Honestly, I’ve never been a fan of red cars anyway.
It includes a removable hardtop, if for some reason you don’t want to feel the wind in your hair and listen to that glorious V12 exhaust note echoing off the hillsides. A soft top is also included, among the boxes and boxes of parts that come with this car. What I don’t see in the photos is the rear window for the hardtop – but I’m sure any competent auto glass company has one in stock. Right?
Okay, sure; neither you nor I nor most mere mortals will ever get within drooling distance of cars like these, even in this condition. Rarity alone makes such an encounter unlikely; the Aston is one of 349, and the Ferrari one of about 200. Most of us will have to get our British and Italian sports car fixes from MGs and Triumphs and Fiats and Alfas. But what’s cool about those cars is that while the power and exclusivity are not there, the feel and the heritage is the same. But for today, let’s imagine that you do have the opportunity to acquire one of these fine classic projects. Which one will it be?
(Image credits: Hemmings sellers)
Realistically, if I had the money I would go with Option C, which is a new F350 Tremor and a paid off house.
I voted for the Ferrari, though. I have no idea what one of these is worth. I also have no idea what it would cost to get it in nice, running condition. But I think it is nicer to look at than the Aston, and I like that it is a convertible.
Although, part of me wants to buy the Aston and turn it into a diesel-powered rat rod. Or maybe graft the body of the Aston onto the frame of a monster truck. I could be James Bond’s redneck cousin Bubba. I figure it would cost around $15,000 to redneckify this machine appropriately. That would be a great use of $340,000, right?
As amazing as the Bond Aston is, gotta go with the Ferrari. It will never be worth less than it is right now. Ever.
You’re telling me a British car starts and runs after sitting for 50 years?
-checks today’s date-
I don’t believe you.
It’s March 32th? What’s to not believe?
Oh no you don’t. You guys fooled me with that whole February 29th gag last month. I’m not falling for it again.
next thing they’ll say “it has no oil leaks”
The Ferrari is in better condition, and the steering wheel is on the correct side.
Yeah, but it’s 4x the price. For the million dollar difference in price, you could have a concours-ready DB4 and still afford to convert it to LHD.
“This one has no machine guns or ejector seat; sorry.”
Plenty of room for a touchscreen map with stalker tracking functionality though.
The oil spray was a design feature in many British cars of the day and thus functions flawlessly but the off button was considerably extra so it is not included.
A tough choice. The Aston’s Goodwood Green isn’t exactly original anyway – it was repainted from Caribbean Pearl blue just after its original sale. But the list of spare parts in the ad includes “period under-dash air-conditioning components” (presumably 1969-ish, as that’s when it was imported to Florida), so I’d want to know if the original console that must have been removed for the air conditioner is around, and right-hand drive will be a bit inconvenient at the Wendy’s drive-thru, and I’d like to know why the Aston hasn’t been on the road since the year after it came to the US.
I’d also like to know why the Ferrari sat in a hangar in Van Nuys for 33 years with a partially-complete restoration, but its history is very well documented and both the list of participants in its 1990 restoration and the list of spares included are impressive.
My first two cars (both 1968 models without air conditioning) were convertibles, as all good weekend cars should be, and matching that original color will set it apart from every other Ferrari on the block. Given what others have said about the pricing, I’d have to talk them down some – maybe hit the dealer at the end of the month – but Ferrari’s a go.
Let me get into character as a man with a top hat, monocle, and a bank account that has never had less than 6 figures in it.
The smart money says buy that DB4 and restore it. Patina shmatina, I don’t want to look like one of the poors. Replace all of the consumables and pony up for a better-than-factory paint job. As for the interior, I think I would leave it as is. It makes the car more authentic.
I voted Aston because I feel like there are better Ferrari examples for 1.25.
Me too. A 550 Maranello is ideal and significantly less. The 330 GTC is a better car at roughly the same price. These are my two favorite Ferraris, 250 GTO notwithstanding.
It’s just internet money, screw it, I’ll take the Ferrari and go tour Chicago.
“Honestly, I’ve never been a fan of red cars anyway.”
Philistine.
Not only have I never had anything but red cars, but my Ferraris wouldn’t be. Unless they were early 1950s when that red was really a maroon.
Same. I don’t know why the reds moved from that classy dark vein red to kindergarten primary arterial red.
A quick internet search tells me the Ferrari is drastically overpriced. I didn’t take the time to verify if the values were up to date but it looks like you could get one that’s already beautiful and assembled for far less.
These cabriolets are a bit crude and not very pretty. Their short-lived predecessor was magnificent, and yields prices multiple of this.
Who needs A/C when you can have no roof? I’d rather have no roof and the steering wheel on the correct side of the car.
“You put that steering wheel back where it belongs!” – Judge Smails
Besides, the engine will probably overheat before you do anyway.
I have a feeling I know who is selling the Aston, which means I’d a) look it over very carefully, b) try to cheap them down a good ways and c) look for another DB4.
The Ferrari is tempting, to say the least. I’ve driven one, and loved it. But one could have a fully, quality restoration of the Aston and still come out with a smaller hole in the wallet, and they are a blast to drive as well. If I had stupid money to throw around, I’d go for both.
Besides, everybody has a Ferrari!
The seller is exactly who you’re thinking.
Okay you fooled us.
Seriously though, I’d love to see Derek Bieri go after that Aston. If anyone can make a dead car go it’s him. He may, however, get confused about the “drinker’s side”.
Both.
BOTH!!!!!
GimmeGimmeGimmeGimmeGimmeGimmeGimme!!!!!!
I seriously cannot decide. I’d get the AM running and road worthy and drive it into the ground. Same with the Ferrari.
Now pay attention 007… something about the scruffy Aston just speaks to me. I wish it weren’t partly in primer because it wears the patina well. Maybe color match the chalky, faded green? Clean it and run the snot out of it.
Let’s think about that. 3000cc from 12 cylinders gives us 250cc per cylinder. The displacement is represented by pi times the radius (i.e. half the bore) squared times the height (i.e. the piston stroke), or pi*r^2*h.
If (for purposes of discussion) we assume equal bore and stroke, then h=2r and the equation becomes pi*r^2*2r=250, or pi*r^3*2=250.
Dividing both sides by two gives us pi*r^3=125.
Dividing both sides by pi gives us r^3=39.79.
The cube root of 39.79 is 3.41, so that is our radius in centimeters.
The bore is 2X the radius, so the Ferrari pistons would be about 6.83cm in diameter, or approximately 2.69 inches. Nice.
And if we consider that the two sets of headers feed into stubby mufflers (resonators?) that exit directly below the seats, the Ferrari must sound amazing.
Like a synchronised pair of old motorcycles.
If I made a 3.0 litre engine using the cylinder geometry from my bike it would be a 30 cylinder engine making 450bhp.
There is a lot of MGB going on on that Ferrari.
But I’d hate to have people think I’m cos-playing as Bond all the time.
So Ferrari and a couple of MG badges please.
Lean into it with the Aston. Only wear a grey worsted wool suit while driving.
Nobody does it better.
I’m English and currently in England. Pretending to be Bond would be beyond embarrassing.
I think it’s probably the other way around, BMC designers being influenced by Pininfarina, but yeah, there are a lot of similarities. Though Pininfarina must have liked the overall MGB shape enough to keep most of it when they designed the MGB GT.
agree. that rear 3/4 view has a lot of MGB going on
I vote… for a classic Honda Civic hatchback.
Air conditioning is over-rated. The first two cars I owned, it didn’t even work!
Hey, me too!
I should have also clarified that I obtained my first car in 2008, at least my first car that was drivable and not a project.
First car in 1992, it had non operable factory air. Same with it’s replacement in 1994. First working AC was in 1996, car #3.
Depends on where you live. Spend a few spring to fall months in Phoenix or Vegas and get back to us
I spent multiple South Texas summers without AC in my car or apartment.
Sorry, I hadn’t realized you were a lizard 😉
It got hot enough to kill my bedbug infestation off in 2011. That was nice.
I prefer fire…
I must admit, there’s a level of satisfaction with that which you won’t obtain with any other method.
Try poison. Its quite satisfying.
Poison usually doesn’t work on bedbugs from my experience.
Have you tried Zyklon B? Its basically hydrogen cyanide which kills just about anything.
I can’t say I’ve tried that, but commercial pest killers I’ve hired used pyrethroids, which do not kill 100% of the infestation, allowing it to repopulate in a matter of weeks.
Letting the inside of the apartment reach 130F on a hot summer day, THAT did the trick. They were gone after that.
I wonder how well putting infected items into plastic bags and gassing them with lawn mower exhaust would work. Exhaust is hot and carbon monoxide is quite deadly too.
I finally have a car that has A/C and even last fall it started taking a while to cool down. Before that I never had A/C that worked out of about 8 shitboxes over about 20 years. I never even cared to fix it since I would work outside all day in the TX heat of 100 degrees doing lawn care and then drive home (I was already hot & sweaty!) Also, for years it was 20 minutes home and was a straight shot on the highway w/ the windows open…I still do that when it’s not hot
I would drive the Aston just the way it is just to piss off people. Restoration with a rusty patina paint job is still a fad, right? But I would add pink fuzzy dice on the rearview mirror.
No argument here
I love old Astons, so I went with the DB4. Honestly, though, I wouldn’t buy either of these cars, partly because of cost, and partly because they don’t fit with the type of project cars I like – I want something I can modify without having to worry about tanking the value. Having to strictly adhere to what the factory would do just isn’t my cup of tea, though I certainly don’t begrudge anyone who does enjoy it.
I would rather build a multi car garage than own either of these. For the Aston’s price give me a new Lexus GX (70k), a Prius Prime for daily duty (40k), and the best 911 I can find with the rest. For the Ferrari’s price give me a Rolls Royce Spectre (500k), a Cayenne Turbo GT (200k), a Ferrari 812 GTS (500k), and a manual 718 Cayman GTS.
My lawn. Get off it.
I had the same thought. I was like you know I could buy 2 cars (one for work and one for play), pay off my debt and still have enough for a down payment on a house for the price of the Aston Martin.
There’s crazy Internet money and there’s insanity. Both of these models are worth plenty, but I’m skeptical of these particular specimens. The Aston in particular is a tired looking DB4 (not the famous DB5) and seems like it should be much less, but I’m not in the know. The Ferrari is fine, but you should want more in a Ferrari. I’m actually going to abstain from this one. You could buy some nice classics for less than they’re asking for the Aston Martin.
Agreed. I will never be in a position to spend this much on a car, but if I was I absolutely wouldn’t choose either of these.
Off your lawn? That’s not an old man rant with all that new junk (as opposed to this old junk), that’s a younguns one!
Yeah, agreed. I voted Ferrari since it was fun to vote for a million+ dollar car on Showdown and I lean towards that brand (outside of the stereotypes) in the dream world only because I want a Testarossa…but yeah, in the real world it’s amazing how many cars you can buy with that amount. I daydream about all of them all the time! (Don’t we all?)
Of course I’d be one of those like Stephen Walter Gossin and try to save as many cars as I could and would be happy with my own junkyard- a field full of hundreds of classics to fix up. Also quite a few of specific cars from the 80’s/90’s
(Just noticed I don’t like anything from this century! Ha ha well, this is is outside of daily drivers w/ more features/safety but when I get these will make them daily’s)
First noted Aston Martin in Hitchcock’s The Birds, and admired the early stuff ever since. Easy choice for me
I voted Aston. The Ferrari has a V12 and all, but the Aston is just SO much prettier.
But then again, I voted truck on Friday. No regerts.