Nayf
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I’m ambivalent about it, really. Is it slightly sad I’m unlikely to ever afford an Alfa SZ? Of course it is - the days of £25k minters only five years ago are long gone. But it was always going to, given it’s provenance. And if I really wanted one I should have bit the bullet and taken out a loan.Of course you do have a different angle and a very good reason to support this activity of course
Of course, life’s not as simple as that, but no one has a divine right to their dream car. That’s why I struck for my GTA when I did - it wasn’t the perfect example but it was the best I could afford, and though its owner history is enigmatic, the very last owner is a high up In AROC and an Alfa dealer principal, and invested heavily. Honestly, can I really afford to run it as I’d ideally like to? Not really - I concentrate on the mechanicals. But I knew that if I didn’t strike when I did, it’s likely I’d never be able to afford one. Cars similar condition to mine are already nudging £10k. Minters £15k+.
If the Euromillions email turns up tomorrow, would I buy the SZ at £50k+ - yes because I want the car. A Shamal is slower and arguably worse built than a 3200, yet up to seven times the price; perhaps more; I’d still have the square one. Not everything is about making profit - if it was, nothing would get restored other than Ferraris and Astons. Would I if I was a self-made businessman? Probably.
Rising prices mean more cars are saved - a good thing, no? Is it really preferable to see Interesting cars rot away on (well meaning, if not well funded) people’s drives rather than be restored?
You were wondering why a 325i E30 was worth £40k; it is simple supply and demand. What makes the E30 particularly hot has nothing to do with journalistic hype; it actually happened away from that and has only caught on in print relatively recently.
- Straight six, naturally aspirated
- Manual gearbox
- Sharp, angular styling
- RWD
- A bit of a hairy chested thing to drive
- Cult of BMW
- Straight six 80s Beemers were always relatively exclusive back in the day; BMWs might be everywhere now but back then they were truly expensive, prestige cars
- And they’re even rarer now, thanks to rust, crashing, the cheap RWD BMW phase where they were modified to death. Truly beautiful low mileage examples can be counted in the dozens.
You can see similar love for the 190E, and in Italy the Alfa 75. Arguably the Saab 900 too, though perhaps to a lesser degree. My top tip would be to start collecting straight six E36s. Just lob #E36 into Instagram and you’ll see why.
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