Elegant: ’58 Lancia Aurelia B24S Convertible
If Princess Grace (Kelly) came back to life as a car, I think it would be this Lancia. A sad analogy since she died in a car crash but it does work here. The Lancia Aurelia Convertible, although small and unpretentious, is one of the most elegant and well-engineered cars of the period. When the Aurelia B20 Coupe was unveiled it was the most superbly engineered car ever. In fact, the B20, was third in the 1951 Mille Miglia and another was second in the 1952 event, splitting two Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing Coupes. Later that year, the Aurelia finished 1-2-3 in the Targa Florio, a remarkable achievement for a production car. Pinin Farina styled a sleek two-seater version of the B20 and called it Spider America. Although the seller refers to this as a Spyder America, it is in fact a B24S Convertible. It is easy to tell them apart by the windscreen. The Spider is low and Spidery and the Convertible is taller and has vent windows. Now auction prices for these rare convertibles is getting close to $300 thousand bucks. If it were a Spider, it would be worth more than double. Way more. We remember when we thought $60 grand was a lot of money for one. Not that they aren’t worth it. Lancia built only 521 convertibles so rarity is in this car’s favor. We love the color combination and it looks ready for the field at Pebble Beach. Click here for the listing.