Sinanation

I mentioned my interest in classic cars in previous posts. Today I add another beauty to my list of undeniable classics: the 1960 MG MGA.

Produced between 1955 and 1962, the MGA had 4 updates and was a great success story in exports for the British Motor Company. My favorite version is the MGA 1600 with a 78 bhp and a 900 kg weight. I have done some digging on the internet to find used ones on sale and as usual the best prices pop up in the American Market at USD 27K. Here is the link to my most favorite MGA (obviously with lots of mileage). Too bad it is almost a dream to bring it over to Turkey with the current customs rates.

I don’t know if you heard, but Aston Martin came out with a brand new model. The century old legendary sports car maker popped out the Cygnet out of Vanquish’s air filters (you’ll know what I am talking about once you see the photo below).

This car is a stab on the back for all the Aston Martin fans including me. First, it looks like a DB9 forced into a Smart or a Fiat 500. Don’t get me wrong, I am also a Fiat 500 fan, but I hate to see the sports car of my dreams molded into a funky compact battery ball. Second, Cygnet’s engine resembles nothing of a true Aston Martin. 0 to 100 km in 11.5 seconds? 97 boiler horsepower (BHP)? I beg you do not call this an Aston Martin. I’d hate to see you say so and pull your brand new Cygnet out of the parking lot.

It is too bad that a brand so purified in luxury, edginess, craftsmanship and speed had to dive into the “fuel-efficient, commute-friendly, completely unisex” car category. Yes the fuel prices are in record levels. Yes the cities are over-crowded, over-built and over-consumed. Yet the amount of wealth on this abused Earth of ours is quadrupled every year. The rich gets richer and the nouveau riche has more money to spend on anything that will win them a temporary title. This means that today’s world has an even greater appetite for the roaring, swooping, unforgiving, vicious and angry Aston Martin. So why why the cuddly Cygnet? I was shocked and disappointed when Porsche came out with the Cayman and the Panamera. I still have difficulty embracing the “we are a sports car brand that welcomes the off-road and family” frame and I don’t think I will ever be able to warm up to Cygnet.

Why are we in this era where everyone wants to be a part of everything? Why can’t we just do what we are good at? The burger shop comes out with healthy salad menus. The sports car brand designs sunglasses and comes out with lumpish family cars. The telecom company decides to do a little bit of residential construction. Yes we all want to cash in, but can’t we at least do it in a gentlemanly manner?

As interested as I am in today’s classic cars, I am inclined to take a guess at the classics of the future. I have a few models in mind and wanted to share them with you. We all know the Aston Martins, Ferraris, Bugattis, Maseratis, Bentleys and the Rolls Royces will always be in the list, but there are a few models that never cease to surprise us with a win in the title of classics. Who knows my guess might just be a reality in half a century. Remember that I rely only on the looks and disregard the driving, safety and comfort in the list below.

BMW Z1

The original of the Z (from Zukunft meaning the future in German) line, Z1 was produced between 1989 and 1991. Only 8,000 were produced although BMW is said to initially received orders above 30,000 when it first introduced the car to public at the Frankfurt auto show. The Z1 is famous for its doors that drop down into the door slid.

BMW Z8

Produced between 2000 and 2003, Z8 sprout out of a concept car drawing designed to celebrate the famous 507. Approx. 5,700 were produced and sold for USD 128K each. The Z8 was chosen to be used in the Bond movies featuring Pierce Brosnan.

BMW 850

The 8 series came out around the same time with the Z1 in 1989 and stayed in production until 1999. It was designed to compete with Mercedes-Benz’s CL-class. Approx. 30,600 were produced.

1987 Lotus Esprit

The British Lotus produced the Esprit between 1976 and 2004. Approx. 10,700 were built. The version I refer to is the most attractive redesign in my opinion. It was also featured in the famous movie, Pretty Woman.

1996 Jaguar XK8

The XK was relaunched by Jaguar just when the company was taken over by Ford Motor Company. It was released to replace the XJS.

Dodge Viper

Viper was produced by Chrysler’s Dodge between 1992 and 2010.

1996 Porsche 911

No matter how many redesigns Porsche comes out with for its legendary Carrera, the best version after the 500 Spyder will always be the 1996 911 for me. In my opinion it is the only recent design that truly appreciates the legendary round headlights of the original Porches. It also has the best rims ever designed by the famous sports car company.

Mercedes-Benz SL

Like their celebrity ancestor, any newer version of the SL class is qualified to be a classic. The rarest one of all (after the legendary SL300) seems to be the 1999 SL73 AMG. Only 85 of those were produced between 1995 and 2001 with a top speed of 298 km/hr.

You should save time and care for these beautiful legendary cars only after overdriving today’s engineering wonders. These babies are my favorites among all the classic cars of today:

BMW 507

This amazing model of BMW was a great success in design (that would later be used in the Z3s, Z4s and Z8s) but a big catastrophe in the company’s financial strenght. Initially this sleek speedster was designed to compete with the uber-successful Mercedes-Benz 300SL in the American Market. Its looks were as good as the Mercedes and its price would be a little lower, creating the best grounds for good sales. The exquisite 507 was introduced to the Americans for the fist time in the summer of 1955 in the Waldorf-Astoria of New York. The car attracted numerous famous buyers such as Elvis Presley and Ursula Andress. Yet its projected USD 5,000 price tag was later increased to USD 10,500 as a result of massive production costs. Weak sales pushed BMW almost into bankruptcy. 252 507s were produced and only 202 are known to survive today. The famous car company survived the turmoil only with a capital infusion from a private investor. Today the  507s fetch nearly USD 1m in auctions.

Mercedes SL300

The SL300 hit the car market at the 1954 New York Auto show with its unique gull-wing doors as the fastest street car ever built at the time. 300 stood for its 3 cylinder engine and the SL stood for Sport Leicht (Sport Light). It was a technologically advanced beauty of art and engineering. Only 3,258 SL300s were built to this day. Nowadays SL300s fetch approx. USD 1.3m at auctions. It is the car that is known to make Mercedes what it is today in the American Market.

Ferrari 250 California Spyder

One of Ferrari’s most beautiful cars. The Ferrari 250s were built between early 1950s and 1960s. This version of 250 was designed to be exported to the U.S., thus was given the name “California Spyder”. Only a little more than 45 California Spyders were built. In 2007 one was sold in Florida for USD 4.5m.

Porsche 550 Spyder

Built by Porsche in 1950s. It was designed as a racing car and thus was manufactured really close to the ground. Porsche 550 Spyder is also know as the car in which the famous actor James Dean died.

Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic

Unlike its famous younger brother Veyron, Type 57 was designed by Jean Bugatti himself, who died in one while test driving the car. Only two exist today and one is owned by Ralph Lauren. The other one belonged to the world-famous American Neurologist and avid car collector, Dr. Peter D. Williamson who passed away in 2008. His Bugatti was sold for a record of USD 30m at a classic car auction held in California on 8 May 2010. The record was previously held by a 1957 black one-seater Ferrari Testa Rossa sold for USD 12m in 2009.

Jaguar XK-E

XK-E was manufactured by Jaguar between 1961 and 1974. When it was first released Enzo Ferrari described it as “the most beautiful car ever made”.

1955 Chrysler Falcon

This two-seater concept car was designed by Chrysler in 1955 to compete with Corvette and Thunderbird. Only one was produced and it was eventually bought by a private investor. Falcon is Chrysler’s first model with exhaust pipes on the side.

James Bond’s Aston Martin DB5 from the Sean Connery times sold in London for USD 4m last week.

The car previously belonged to the American billionaire Jerry Lee, who bought the car from the Aston Martin factory for USD 12K in 1969 and looked after it like it was his baby. Not only is the car a legendary Aston, but it is also the only surviving model of the two used in the 007 movies. The other one is believed to be stolen and destroyed. This unique masterpiece comes with all the fancy gadgets Bond used to save the world and impress the ladies. Is anyone good friends with the anonymous new owner?

Given that I am a big Aston Martin fan, I had to write about One-77 at some point before its expected delivery in October 2009. Like many of its ancestors One-77 has a handcrafted aluminum body with a V12 engine.

What makes this vicious new model so special is that its top speed is expected to be over 320 km with a jump to 100 km in 3.5 seconds. Aston Martin will produce only 77 of this amazing car. The price is estimated to be above USD 1m. Who can dare take something this precious into traffic!