Automotive

1982 Lancia Orca – Source

Whether its seamless lines or seductive curves, a car’s style and beauty is usually judged upon its body shape, its interior features taking a back seat, so to speak.

Since our true connection and enjoyment comes from being behind the wheel of a car, staring into an aesthetically appealing dashboard only heightens the experience.

1984 Aston Martin Lagonda

Because cars all possess different characters, manufactured to suit all walks of life, finding that comfortable and familiar interface isn’t hard. The pipe, slipper and open fire lover will prefer acres of polished walnut and chrome whilst the geek or technophobe will opt for the dash equivalent of the iPod.

1981 Citroen Xenia concept – Source

The dash I find most attractive would no doubt see me into a ditch from staring at it and not paying attention to the road. It comes from a car I know I’ll never own, an Italian rally-bred monster with muscular box flares and gorgeous lines. It’s turbocharged and four-wheel-drive, all its power and tech crammed inside a small car built by a company renowned for its terrible build quality.

Guessed it yet?

Lancia Delta HF Integrale Evo

It’s that ultimate driver car and petrolhead’s fantasy, the Lancia Delta Integrale. Its looks and performance overpower any pragmatic cries of reliability, rust, and recovery vehicles. You’d drive one every now and again, each time a treat and as thrilling as the last.

Complimenting this design experimentation in sex and desire by feeding you information as you take control, comes a magnificent dashboard, one I simply adore. I think it’s down to my love of watches and dials and being able to see what’s going on under the bonnet.

Aesthetics is a highly subjective topic, but I think anyone can appreciate what is going on here.

So what’s your favourite dashboard? Are you a digital man or dial man?

Although it’s not uncommon to see 80s Ferraris, it’s usually the 308s or the 328s that make up most of the numbers. This 1985 Mondial Quattrovalvole jumped off the screen at me because you never see them, especially the Quattrovalvole in this trim, and for the year, it does look very similar to the F355 – maybe because it wears the 355’s wheels?

But why was I looking at Ferraris on eBay?

I wanted to see if I could find a genuinely solid and clean example for the price of a brand new Ford Focus ST (£26,000). It was starting to look fairly bleak with the usual undesirables such as the 400 and the bland version of the Mondial cropping up.

Like any cars, the mileage reflects the price, but with these ponies, an extra 20K on the clock will set you back more than a few grand. For my target price, the brilliant F355 is possible, although with high miles (above 50,000), as was the ugly and cumbersome 550 Maranello.

And the car pictured? £15,500. There are a few cosmetic problems to attend, but throw a few thousand at it and you are left with a rather handsome and exotic car. Although mileage isn’t listed, it states £30,000 has been spent, so I imagine the majority of this comes from servicing and an annual engine service (today’s price around £1000) plus a few clutches.

“Quattrovalvole” translates as “four valves” and this particular model of the Mondail received a new four valve head, and the combustion chamber design was based on the early eighties Formula 1 engine.

Once the body has been professionally finished, this Ferrari would make for a great weekend summer car. Imagine driving your own Ferrari to the song of its howling V8… and all in for around £20,000.