C&SC’S LUST-WORTHY CLASSICS PART 1

MY FAVORITE CAR MAGAZINE, THE BRIT CLASSIC & SPORTS CARS, has assembled “29 Sexy Cars for the Masses,” a selection of “lust-worthy classic cars that didn’t cost the Earth when new and went on to enjoy strong sales into the bargain.” 

Here are tidbits gleaned from this C&SC article, together with comments about those cars encouraging personal lust and previous appearances here at SimanaitisSays. In chronological order: 

Volkswagen Karmann Ghia. C&SC writes, “You don’t get more mass market than the Volkswagen Beetle, yet VW found a way to bring some eye candy to its range with the Karmann Ghia in 1955. Using the same floorpan as the standard Beetle, Karmann was tasked with creating a sleek coupé and did it brilliantly.”

1955 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia. This and following images from C&SC. 

 The talented artist Bill Dobson did the side view drawings—little gems of automotive art—for Road & Track road tests. 

Bill Dobson, 1935–2011, was a world-recognized authority on many classic marques, including Bentleys.

He was also known for driving a Karmann Ghia—one powered by a Porsche engine.

 Citroën DS. “In a world of upright saloons,” C&SC recounts, “the swoopy DS was entirely different to look at and it was just as radical under the skin, with its front-wheel drive and hydropneumatic suspension. At its unveiling at the Paris motor show, Citroën took 12,000 orders for the DS in the first day and never looked back, selling a total of 1,455,746 up to the model’s end in 1975.”

1956 Citroën DS.

It’s hard to work into ordinary conversation, but I do it here: I once drove a Parisian taxicab. Chatting up the driver, I asked my usual “C’est un diesel, n’est pas?” Not all Parisian taxis were diesel, but following a “Oui,” I’d ask “Est-ce que vous aimez les diesels?” If a “non,” I’d ask, “Pourquoi pas?” 

But on our airport trip in this particular Citroën, its driver was a real player. He eased the car to the curb and said, “Eh bien, vous conduisez maintenant!”

Image from “Driving a Parisian Taxicab.”

The driver laughed, slid over into the passenger side and planted his cap on my head. Well, what else could I do? I drove the rest of the way to the airport, amid much laughter and more fractured French/English camaraderie.

Austin-Healey Sprite. C&SC observed, “A bit of cold-hearted cost-cutting that axed pop-up headlights for the Austin-Healey Sprite ended up being the making of this car and gifted it the ‘Frogeye’ nickname, or ‘Bugeye’ in the US.” 

1958 Austin-Healey Sprite Mk. I.

Indeed, pal Kim Reynolds’ Sprite is a similar hue, shown in a familiar locale.

Image from “There Were Sprites In Our Garages  Part 2.”  

We’ll continue with other C&SC favorites—and mine as well—in Part 2 tomorrow. ds

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2025