Hagerty: oddball Italian cars on the rise

I always loved my 124. Great car to drive. There can't be many Qvale's out there. I remember the car, but I would be surprised if there are more than a couple 100 in the US (uneducated guess).

 

I've always liked the Qvale. There's a couple locally that show up at euro and Italian car shows. Kinda weird looking but so am I.

The issue is that for the 30k or so they cost there's always something more interesting and easier to resell.

 

Pretty late in the game. Sign that the market has peaked?

 

This is our ex-Sebring 1967 Sport Zagato, early full alloy body... pretty fragile bodywork, definitely lived a less-than-pampered life, but as fun to drive as an Alfa.

I don't honestly think I've seen values increase much, but what do I know.
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You know more than Hagerty.

 

Funny you should post this link. I am on the Hagerty newsletter and this one appeared in my inbox on a Saturday morning in September. I scrolling through it and read the article on Qvale Mangusta and then watch a video on car on YouTube. I turn to my wife and said “I have to have this car”. She says “here we go - another sports car”. So my search began and there was only 1 for sale, but after speaking to owner I pass as I think it just needs to much to restore. Fortunately one on BAT doesn’t meet reserve and I find out it’s on consignment at West Coast Exotics by a local car collector who is ‘thinning the heard.” He has put some money into the car - it’s a restomod. Qvale in the last year of production start experimenting with SC and tremec 6 speed on some prototypes. I love rare, unique cars and ones that I’m not going to see coming the other way. I loved my Ferrari 360 gated manual Spider, love my 718 Spyder manual. I never saw another 360 on any of my drives and if any were at C and C they were F1. I’ve only seen 1 other 718 Spyder in the wild in my 5 yes ownership. Motortrend in August 1999 had the F360, the Mangusta, and the Maserati 3200GT. I thought it was cool that owned 2 of 3 and ensured my wife that I wouldn’t be buying the Maserati to complete the trifecta. It is such a cool car, fun to boot around in, gets crazy attention whether at a car show, C and C, the grocery store, traffic light, or a gas station. Cars chase you down to see what it is. The valets at the exclusive restaurants and hotels park it right out front and it always draws a crowd. My Ferrari had nothing on the this leather interior -hand crafted in Modena Italy - like a new soft tan Rawlings stitched baseball mitt. I mean just look at the Italian chefs who cooked this up - Gandini - a historic designer, Cassarini of Maserati, automotive guru DeTomaso, and Ferrari, Williams, Dallara F1 chassis designer Scalabroni. And a coupe targa and convertible with the coolest retractable top. That alone was worth the price of admission.
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