Reliable as ever, the Classic Driver Market has been overflowing with tasty collector cars this week. Here are the five that we simply couldn’t resist.
Gentleman’s express
We’re going to go out on a limb and say the Brooklands might just be the best car Bentley ever built. It’s longer than most four door saloons, yet it’s a coupe, and it has enough torque to rearrange the continents, yet it can quietly hustle you wherever you need to go in supreme comfort. Then there’s the looks, which of course are subjective, unless you’re talking about a Brooklands in Verdant Green with an utterly gorgeous Magnolia leather interior such as this. There’s simply no denying the primal appeal of the Brooklands’ square-jawed good looks and the 530 horsepower V12. They say bigger is better, and the 1050 Nm Brooklands is big in every sense of the word.
VIEW CAR
1950s fantasy
Lancia’s models from the 1980s and 1990s tend to enjoy more time in the spotlight, but they had to get their good genetics from somewhere, and this 1957 Lancia Aurelia is the granddaddy of them all. One of only 25 UK-market right-hand-drive examples, this Aurelia represents a very rare opportunity to enjoy one of Lancia’s most handsome grand tourers in the UK — or any other right hand drive country — without needing to carry one of those extendable claw toys in your glovebox. Having recently undergone a major service by the experts at Thornley Kelham, this matching-numbers Aurelia would make for the perfect weekend cruiser.
VIEW CAR
Divine inspiration
Perhaps it was the sheer genius of Honda’s engineers, perhaps it was the influence of the legendary Ayrton Senna, or maybe it was just divine inspiration, but when the NSX launched in 1990, it blew everything else out of the water. It’s no surprise, then, that today these cars have garnered quite the following among discerning enthusiasts, with values climbing accordingly. This Formula Red Acura-badged NSX from 1992 seems to be as pristine as you could possibly find, showing just 10,746 miles on the odometer. As an early example, it wears the original and pure bodywork designed by Masahito Nakano, which looks even better today than it did in 1992, especially with those all-important pop-up headlights. If you want pure driving nirvana, this VTEC-equipped manual NSX is the way.
VIEW CAR
Holden my beer
We don’t know what the Aussies were drinking when they designed the bodykit for this 1988 Holden Commodore VL Group A SS, but it definitely wasn’t Fosters. Either way, we want some, because this saloon is exactly as outrageous as we like them. Only 750 of these wild Holdens were ever built by Walkinshaw HSV, with 500 necessary to compete at Bathurst, and the remaining 250 built to satisfy the raging demand for these homologation specials. Being one of the first 500, this Panorama Silver example with her period correct Grey Velour Tweed cabin is all the more desirable to collectors, especially as it has only covered 35,761 miles. Powered by a 5.0-litre V8 connected to a five-speed manual, this might just be the best thing to come out of Australia.
VIEW CAR
A Ferrari for four
Every time we see a Ferrari Dino 308 GT4, we fall a little bit more in love with them. In 2023, its ultra-clean design and crisp lines stand in stark contrast to the current crop of malformed crossovers, and those extra rear seats mean it could feasibly serve as your only car (provided your intended rear passengers are either very short or lacking in the limb department). This example from 1976 has recently been fully refreshed, including a respray in its original and attractive blue paint. With a 255 horsepower V8 under the bonnet and a lovely blue alcantara and cream interior inside, we wouldn’t mind covering many, many miles in this manual prancing horse.
VIEW CAR