"The revenge of the coupe: a meditation by Max Bontempi "

Aston Martin, Jaguar and AC Coupe are the target of the most discerning collectors in 2014.

Some recent circumstances made me reflect on the great importance that the "coupe" has played in the history and in the future of the sports car connoisseurs market, because of quite a lot of strong and tangible signals.

Probably more by accident than for a matter-of-fact trend, I had the chance to deliver to some valued customers a few rare cars such as an Aston Martin DB2, a Cisitalia 202 SC, a Bristol 400 and a smart Fiat 1100 S; this put me in a position to better appreciate the uniqueness of the design of the coupe built between the forties and the fifties, as they’re most unusual than similar sports cars and convertibles of the same type and era.

If we add the current Auctions results, following the rising prices of Ferrari and Porsche, quite all the sports brands have made a pretty significant increase in all their closed models, so it is easy to think that my reflection on the coupe has sense and it is more strengthened by the large participation of GT cars to the latest sports events like the 1000 Miglia retrospective in 2014.

Also in this field, in fact, we have witnessed the presence of very fine cars that we used to see only in the "roadster" or "sports" version, without considering the possibility of assessing the quality of their closed style; just a few important appreciable examples are the Jaguar XK 120, the Siata Daina and AC Aceca Bristol, or, why not, the “millionaire” Mercedes 300 SL and the popular Porsche 356.

For quite a few years I thought it was easier to sell sports cars, roadsters and barchettas, which would immediately aroused strong emotions in potential buyers who in everyday life drive comfortable and air-conditioned saloons; I forgot, and maybe this is the revenge of the coupe, that, for the same sportsmanship, a coupe is certainly more comfortable than a similar convertible version.

In addition, there are whole generations of coupes built in small series that have triumphed in the Mille Miglia, Le Mans and the Targa Florio and, for this reason, are considered safe investments and high growth potential icons; among these, please, pay more attention now to some cars such as the Lancia Aurelia B20 GT, the Giulietta Sprint Veloce series I, the Frazer Nash LM Coupe, the Fiat Otto Vu, or the Jaguar XK 140 C, all built in a few hundred examples and therefore more and more collectible and appreciable.