October 29 2008
Stylish investment: 1957 Lancia Aurelia B24S Convertible
Update 30/10: The red Spider at RMauctions sold for GBP181500. A bit below our expectations
With the credit crunch starting to bite left, right and center, more classic cars are coming onto the market. And the people with the money seem to be increasingly looking at blue chip classics as an investment alternative. Some pretty unique cars are changing hands at the moment. Two weeks ago, a 1955 Lancia Aurelia B24 Spider America sold for GBP247,500 at auction and quite amazingly today another 1954 B24 Spider America is going under the hammer at RM Auctions in Central London with an in our opinion very conservative estimate.
The Spider didn’t always have such a following though. When they first came out, they were too expensive and pretty uncomfortable. Only 240 were made. Lancia decided to restyle them a bit with a better driving position, more normal windscreen, door handles and straight bumpers. They called it the B24 Convertible. There are a few more of these, just over twice as many as the dramatic looking Spider. The Aurelia was also the first car in the world to have a V6 engine.
We saw this Convertible for sale at DTR Sports Cars in London. It has been restored in 2002 to a very high standard. It is painted that unique Lancia Blue. It features that gorgeous Pininfarina line from the doors on that was later on repeated on a couple of Ferraris. The front radiator is as striking “in the flesh” as it is in the pictures.
It is considerably less expensive than the Spider. Still not exactly a snip, but at nearly half the price, this car is seriously undervalued. It is for sale here in the UK for GBP150000.
