Barn finds
A one-of-120 Maserati Mistral Spyder pulled out of the parking space it’s occupied since 1983, a shocking Jaguar E-type and a Scottish island-find Rover P5
1967 Maserati Mistral Spyder
One of only 120 Maserati Mistral Spyders has been woken from a 34-year slumber in a storage unit outside Washington DC. A frustrating lack of detail about the car’s early history offers only tantalising snippets, as David Brynan, senior specialist with Santa Monica-based auctioneer Gooding & Company, explains.
‘As far as we can tell, the car was owned by an attorney in the DC area – a Mr Mahoney – who parked it in a public storage unit in 1983. The Spyder still has its registration sticker from that time.’
After this it appears never to have moved until its recent disinterment. Conditions either before or during the lay-up seem to have been less than ideal for preservation, leaving the car with split and torn interior trim and some body corrosion. A full mechanical rebuild seems inevitable too. The car is rendered still more unusual by being among the 37 Mistral Spyders ordered with the larger 4.0-litre engine that became available in the model the year this one was built, 1967.
The Mistral was the last straight-six Maserati, continuing an evolution from the 3500GT of 1957. The twin overhead-cam engine ran – or occasionally didn’t run – on Lucas mechanical fuel injection, causing quite a few cars to be converted to use carburettors. That this example retains its injection system, as well as most if not all of its other original features, is some consolation for a buyer embarking on a costly restoration. It was due to go for auction at Gooding & Co’s Amelia Island sale on March 10, as we went to press, estimated at $350k-$450k (£280k-£360k).
1962 Jaguar E-type fhc
It’s rare for an auction house to assess a restoration project as if it were a concours car, but when the subject scores a mere two points out of a possible 135 in its pre-sale catalogue description, it becomes particularly noteworthy for our Barn Finds
‘You’d think I’d learn after all these years, but it’s too rotten to save’ – Rover P5B barn-finder Rab Lewin
series. This E-type Series I coupé is a two-owner car, but it must have been suffering badly even before the second owner bought it in 1997 with a view to restoring it. It’s been off the road ever since – work never commenced – and now presents a major challenge.
Nonetheless, Harry Whale of Classic Car Auctions, who will be offering the car at the Practical Classics Classic Car & Restoration Show at the NEC on April 2, believes it’s special enough to find a buyer.
‘These very early Jaguar E-types are highly collectable these days. This example will be a serious project, but one that could be very worthwhile,’ he says.
The car was bought new in Birmingham in April, 1962 and was specified in Opalescent Dark Blue. The original bonnet seems to have been replaced with a red one, perhaps prompting the respray to white later in the car’s life. Other attempts to update the E-type appear to include recovered seats, a dash centre that should be aluminium but is now wood, and an aftermarket steering wheel. It will be interesting to see if the popularity of the earliest E-types can overcome such extensive corrosion and hit the £38k to £44k estimate. The chassis plate has been lost, but its number has been confirmed. The presence of a Jaguar Heritage certificate and a V5 could be key.
1973 Rover 3.5-litre Coupé
The purchase of a small Peugeot hatchback led to the discovery of a much larger and more exciting Rover in a wooden garage on the Isle of Arran. Rab Lewin heard from a friend on the island who’d been shown the Rover when he went to buy the runabout.
Lewin followed up and decided to buy the P5B, which had apparently been unused in more than 20 years. It was extracted from its damp surrounds and brought to Edinburgh for assessment by Lewin’s friends and colleagues, Lukasz Goralski and Andy Flowerdew. With clean spark plugs and fresh fluids, it started and ran quite happily, but after that the news was not so good. ‘It’s absolutely scunnered. Most things just break off. It left a trail of debris between Arran and Edinburgh,’ says Lewin. ‘You’d think I’d learn after all these years, but it’s too rotten to save.’
After considering breaking the car for spares, Lewin has come across another Rover, this time a P6B in Fife that’s part-restored but missing an engine, so the tale may have a happy ending after all.