Stunner in Silver Green
Porsche might offer an ever-growing palette of colours for your new 911, Cayenne or Macan. Even so, the brand has never quite reached the flamboyant elegance and wild mix of shades, patterns and materials it released in the 1970s. And if there is one car that represented the anything-goes philosophy of the decade, it must be the Porsche 930, simply known as the ‘Turbo’. This matching-numbers 1977 three-litre Porsche 911 Turbo was painted in the alluring shade of “Silbergrün Diamantmetallic” that suits the muscular shape of the car exceptionally well – and is now offered for sale with Motorlegenden.
Monteverdi's Monteverdi
The history of Peter Monteverdi and his manifold Swiss brand has excited us since we first visited the (now closed) Monteverdi Museum in Basel some years ago. After all, the charismatic entrepreneur had up a portfolio of sports cars, saloons, convertibles and even luxury SUVs that outshone Ferrari, Lamborghini and Aston Martin in the 1960s and 1970s. Naturally, the cars are exceptionally rare – and the most desirable car of them all might be the Frua-bodied Monteverdi High Speed 375/4 chassis number one that belonged to Peter Monteverdi himself (which we explored in a full feature a while ago). The stunning silver limousine is now for sale with Andy Wuest.
Testaracer
If we had to pick a Ferrari from the last 40 years to convert into a racer, the Testarossa would not have been our first choice; too heavy, and certainly not the most agile and well-balanced car ever built in Maranello. Still, the owner of this 1984 RHD Ferrari Testarossa clearly felt the urge to put the wedge through its paces on the track. So, he modified the engine and fitted a Penske suspensions and brakes, air jacks, a new race exhaust system below 110 dbs, a new FIA fuel tank, a Sparco steering wheel and bucket race seat, a race harness and BBS race wheels. Campaigned successfully in the late 1990s and eligible for the AMOC GT Series, Formula GT and Formula Libre, this might be the meanest Testarossa we have seen in a while. It is now for sale with Mugello Cars.
Junior Z
Designed by the great Ercole Spada for Zagato with almost brutalist style and used by Yves Saint Laurent in his period advertising, the Alfa Romeo Junior Z could be one of the most saught-after collector cars of the late 1960s and early 1970s. But the classic car scene is as conservative as it is romantic and edgy, unobliging, avant-garde aesthetics aren't quite as appreciated as they are in the world of design, fashion and architecture. Still, if we had to pick one car from the Classic Driver Market that might cause a hype when promoted by the right people, it’s the Alfa Romeo Junior Z. This 1973 coupé with the bigger (and rarer) 1.6 litre engine is currently for sale with Garage Italya in Japan – and we cannot imagine a cooler car to drive around Daikanyama with period Firenze plates on a Saturday afternoon.
Beige over Blue
When Paul Bracq reinvented the Mercedes-Benz SL in 1963, he not only rejunvenated the brand by a decade, but he also gifted the German sportscar with a certain je-ne-sais-quoi: a mix of French elegance and timeless flair. This might be the reason why the Pagoda wears unusual shades and colours so well. Just imagine driving this 1964 Mercedes-Benz 230 SL painted in subtle beige over a dark blue leather interior (featuring ornamental wood and a white steering wheel) around Paris on a sunny autumn day in the Sixties, while Françoise Hardy is chanting “L'amour d'un Garçon” on the Becker Grand Prix radio – and you know what perfection is!
