I thought we’d try a slightly different format for this week’s Prime Find column, since variety is the spice and all that, and it gives us a chance to look beyond our usual – admittedly self-imposed – budget restrictions, so this week, we’re going to have three classics to check out on the following basis; Save, Spend, Splurge, and since these are my categories, I’ll keep the limits of each one to myself, for now at least, though it won’t be too hard for our intelligent readers to work them out.
For our first crack at this, all three cars come from the H and H auction taking place next week, on Wednesday June 22nd at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, where the Reliant GT coupé we featured a couple of weeks ago is also one of the lots on offer.
I would imagine that when the word “Save” is used, it doesn’t usually apply to the acquisition of a Mercedes-Benz, but it does here. For such a high-end marque, there are a surprising number of the Stuttgart company’s classics that are well within the average classic enthusiast’s budget – not least my own C123 – and this fine 1958 190 Ponton is another.
The name Ponton came from the pontoon-inspired styling which moved car design on from the exposed individual headlamps, separate front wings and running bards of pre-war cars by integrating these elements into a more cohesive, smoother – though some would argue, more boring – style.
The first of the Ponton range was introduced in 1953 with the W120, marketed as the 180, Mercedes’ first unibody car, powered by a 1.8-litre four cylinder engine putting out a modest 51bhp in petrol mode – a diesel was also available, and these models became very popular as taxis. Today the styling would be classed as an utterly conventional three-box but was modern for its day, as well as being lighter and more flexible.
The 190 was pretty much the 180, but with a – you guessed it – 1.9-litre engine that it shared with the beautiful 190SL. It put out an additional 20 bhp, enough to propel it to a top speed of almost 90mph, although performance was not its main raison d’être. The Ponton series was a major success for the company, with 585,430 produced between 1953 and 1963, including the very handsome coupê and cabriolet variants.
Our” Save” Prime Find is one of 61,345 built, and has been with its current owner for 20 years. In that time it has been subject to an ongoing restoration that was completed six years ago. Part of the work included a repaint from its original black to Dunkelblau (literally, Dark Blue), and the project as whole required that as many original parts were kept as possible to avoid that over-restored look. Having said that, the headlining is a Rolls-Royce material and a number of non-period modifications though I think it’s fair to say that these were intended to make this 65-year old car easier to drive in modern traffic conditions, and they’re subtle.
This smart RHD Mercedes-Benz comes with a history file and some spares, including even a litre of the Dunkelblau paint. It’s not claimed to be perfect but looks perfectly acceptable as a classic to be used and upgraded along the way – the photographs we have borrowed from the auctioneer’s website show what appears to be a pretty sound car, and with an estimate range of £15,000 to £18,000, not expensive, at least in this condition. Pontons are not common in the UK and this example represents a relatively low-budget way to sit behind the three-pointed star. You can see the full lot entry here, with many ore photographs.
Moving up a level, how about this 1972 Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV? There’s not a line on these beautiful Bertone-designed coupés – apparently one of the first projects that Giorgetto Giugiaro penned for the company – that’s out of place or superfluous; I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like them.
The 2000 GTV is probably the ultimate expression of the 105/115 range – as it was internally known – that was introduced in 1963, and the delectable body shape clothed engines from 1.3-litres in the GT Junior up to 2.0-litres in the GTV. The initials GT stood for Gran Turismo in Italian, and GTV for Gran Turismo Veloce, and those names alone give a clue to the sporting intent of these small but rapid coupés.
Our “Spend” Prime Find is an example of the most powerful model in the range, the 2000 GTV. Equipped with an engine of 1962cc pushing out 130bhp, making this small car capable of reaching 120mph – both these numbers coincidentally similar to BMW’s 2002tii. The BMW was – and still is today, in my view, the Milan car’s most direct, though not only, alternative, with the choice based on an individual’s preference for the clichés of either Italian flair of German efficiency.
Over 256,000 Type 105/115’s were built over a fourteen year period, of which just under 37,500 were 2000 GTV’s, and about twenty remain on UK roads. These Alfa’s have been enduringly popular for good reason and I’ve frequently looked at them – they look gorgeous in yellow – and thought how great it would be to own one, but I fear I’m not hands on enough to be an Alfisti.
Our car is a 1972 2000 GTV, carrying a potential price tag of between £30,000 to £35,000 – the days of picking up decent examples of these for under £20,000 are long gone. It’s an older restoration that according to the auctioneers but still presents well, as the photographs show. It’s a RHD car, finished in red with black interior, and sits on Momo alloys that are believed to have covered about 61,000 miles, not a lot in fifty years.
It comes with a large history file and if it were yellow, I’d be sorely tempted…you can see the full lot entry, along with many more photographs, here.
Finally for this week, our “Splurge” Prime Find – H and H have several candidates for this spot, including a fabulous ’73 Maserati Bora and a lovely 1962 AC Ace, but in the end I’ve plumped for this superb 1938 Alvis 4.3 DHC – I saw one of these at the NEC recently and it looked marvellous, all sweeping wings, running boards, gleaming chrome and pre-war glamour.
According to the auctioneer’s lot entry, this Coventry-built car has had many thousands of pounds spent on it, including a full engine overhaul and interior refurb. The six-cylinder, 137bhp sports tourer was held in very high regard back in the day, with perhaps only Jaguar’s SS100 a direct alternative among UK manufacturers.
The coachwork was created by Messrs Abbey Coachworks of Acton, North London, and the car’s first owner took the car to New York, before it was returned to the first of four known subsequent UK owners. The car comes with a history file documenting many thousands of pounds worth of work done over recent years.
This Alvis is finished externally in a combination of silver and dark blue, with a grey hood and sits on black wires. The interior is typically English, with a fascia consisting of acres of wood and dials for just about every function of an engine, although some of them are less than well-placed for the driver to be able to read, and a black leather interior.
It’s a magnificent-looking car, and the idea of swanning around in it with the top down, rolling up at Royal Ascot for the races, or turning into the driveway of a country house hotel has enormous appeal – if only one could afford it. There’s a reason this Alvis is in our “Splurge” category – the estimate range is £120,000 to £140,000 – but if the photos are any guide, and there are many more accompanying the full lot entry here, it’s worth every penny.
With our Saturday instalment of Prime Find of the Week, we’re offering our services to the classic car community, by passing on our favourite classic car for sale from the week that passed. This top-tip might help a first-time-buyer to own his first classic, or it could even be the perfect motivation for a multiple-classic-car-owner to expand his garage with something different. We’ll let us be inspired by anything from a cheap project to a stunning concours exotic, and hope that you will do the same.
Just remember – Any Classic is Better than No Classic! We obviously invite our readers to help prospective buyers with your views and maybe even experiences of any given model we feature. Further to that, if you stumble across a classic which you feel we ought to feature as Prime Find of the Week, then please send us a link to primefindoftheweek@viaretro.co.uk