T87’s Singles Collection, Autumn 2025 Edition – Part 3: Foreign Cars (Italian, Swedish & American)

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– Posted on January 7, 2026

A pair of Ferrari 308s parked by the side of the road in Tokyo.

Benvenuti a tutti (and not exclusively frutti) as we look some free-range cavalino rampante and other Italian stallions, before closing this edition with the Detroit iron. We’re going to kick things off with the Ferrari herd, as they were quite numerous – there was a bit of a 308 get-together, you see…

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This yellow one was pretty damn close to perfect, really. But there were many others.

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White, grey or black were also available. Strangely, that last one really didn’t work for me. I usually like black cars, but the 308 calls for something less mundane.

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This one is odd because it’s (possibly) a Japanese market car, or at least it’s been in the country for at least 30 years, but it has US-style big bumpers. Maybe it was imported from the US by some Army bigwig and sold locally.

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Red is a bit cliché, but it does work well on these cars.

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Burgundy looks a lot better. Best of the bunch?

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There were a few 2nd generation Dinos among the 308/328s – pretty much the same car, albeit with a slightly longer wheelbase and a completely different Bertone body.

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This particular one is a 308 GT4, but most of the ones I’ve seen in this country are the far less common 208 GT4. Those were made especially for Italy with a 2-litre engine, but it appears the Japanese market had a thing for those as well.

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The first generation Dino is far sexier, of course. Superb in every way and from every angle.

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The new big front-engined Ferrari is the 12Cilindri. I hadn’t seen one in the metal until a couple months ago and I have to say it’s a much more interesting design than most 21st Century Ferraris. A dab of Daytona on the front end for nostalgia’s sake, but otherwise it’s all new. Well done, caballeros.

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The Lambo of the trimester was going to be a screaming scarlet SV Diablo. But then, on the last weekend in December…

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…I encountered this red and gold Miura. I think that takes the crown.

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A lot of Maseratis to report, but we’ll start with the newer stuff, like this white 4200GT.

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If the Maserati MC20 was too tame for your taste, the GT2 Stradale is now available with added lightness, better aerodynamics and 621hp to make it move even faster.

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Not exactly my cup of espresso, but I suppose the world can always use one more toy for extremely wealthy individuals to play with.

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Maserati Ghiblis (the ones from the ’90s) are the bane of my CC existence. They’re rare, thank Goodness, but I still bump into them more often than odds say I should. Case in point…

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…not one but two of those brutishly bastardized Biturbos saw fit to cross my path in this last quarter of 2025. The mind boggles, the plot thickens, the blood boils.

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The one redeeming model of the De Tomaso era was the Quattroporte III. What we have here is the Royale (with cheese) version, which was essentially a QPIII with extra gingerbread. Only 51 of these awesome V8-powered land yachts were made in 1986-90.

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I believe it is now officially mandated that a Lancia Delta Integrale must be present in every single one of these posts. Admirably period-perfect upholstery on this one.

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I was a bit too far from this Thema to be able to tell if it’s one of the famous Ferrari-powered 8.32 variants, but it sure looks the part.

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They love their Alfas here, so there are always plenty to go around. Sometimes, you can even score a twofer.

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Well, when I stated that “They love their Alfas here,” that can be a good thing and a bad thing. Leaving your 156 out in the elements for 25 years is not going to have a positive outcome for its precious Alfa rosso paintwork. Or even the Biscione on the back.

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Not a fan of the no-bumpers look in general and on Giulietta Spiders in particular, but that central headlight mitigates that quite a bit.

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Can’t beat the classic of classics, the legendary Bertone belle that is the Alfa 105 GTV. Outstanding colour on this one, too.

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They don’t come more picture-perfect than this. And I see a lot of these about.

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This 2-litre model is about a decade younger. The remarkable thing is that even a couple of facelifts, changing fashions and a host of new regulations failed to make a significant impact on this car’s outward appearance. Had it gone on for another five years, things probably would have been different. Sometimes, it’s all about knowing when to call it quits.

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Relax, take a seat and gawk at will, folks. It’s Montréal time.

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When I wrote one of these up a couple years ago, I dubbed it Gandini’s masterpiece. Not Alfa Romeo’s though, as it’s allegedly far from their best car. But appearance-wise, it remains pretty compelling, in my view.

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Not unlike the Ferrari 308s above or the Lotus Europas we saw yesterday, for some reason the Fiat flavour of the season was the X1/9.

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As a (relatively) cheap and cheerful ‘70s sports car, it succeeded where the likes of the Matra Bagheera, the Porsche 914 or the Triumph TR7 failed. Well over 100,000 units were made from 1972 to 1982, plus another 30k (badged as Bertone) until 1989.

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Third time’s the charm – or maybe the unicorn? According to what I’ve been able to gather online, the Abarth X1/9 was cancelled after a couple of prototypes were made and tested. So this is likely an enthusiast’s re-creation.

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The curiously-shaped air intake was used on the prototype(s), but those were destined to be raced, not sold for street use. I’m guessing having that huge protrusion would have caused Fiat a few homologation issues if the plan had gone forward.

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Last Italian vehicle in this edition of the T87 Singles Collection will be this fine 1969-71 Moto Guzzi V7 Special.

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I’ll just drop this pic here – it’s crazy what photographic possibilities a well-polished car and a bright November morning can provide. Onwards with the show!

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The sole Swedish representative was this scrumptious Saab cabriolet. Ah well, better luck next time. Let’s close on the US steel.

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Same day, same time, same place, almost exactly the same C3 Vette.

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It may look like there’s always a crowd of classic cars on this street, but this is only true between around 8-9am on Sundays (and some public holidays). From 10am onward, the herd thins out and there are usually very few interesting cars around by 11am, when this photo was taken.

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Oof! That Monte-Carlo sure changed since 1979. Or rather, it’s in the process of changing a whole lot.

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Another KITT lookalike Trans Am prowling the streets. Full self-driving, I’m sure. Take that, Tesla.

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Turning a Chrysler 300 into a 3,000,000,000, eh? I’m not sure about the quality of the conversion though: that roof looks like it’s sagging slightly. Or is that an illusion?

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Aha! Finally found a classic Mopar worthy of the name. Looks like a ’46 Plymouth coupe, if I’m not mistaken. Here’s hoping I catch it out in the open air someday in 2026.

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Like the Fiat X1/9s, the Lotus Europas, the Porsche 911s and the Ferrari 308s, there was a plague of Mustangs upon the metropolis during the fall. It rained cats and dogs and pony cars.

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I like early Mustangs in general, but the 1965-66 Fastback is the cream of the crop, in my opinion.

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That rear three-quarter angle is near perfection.

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Only the 1966 Shelby had those extra little plexiglass windows, right? They must have been put in this non-Cobra GT sometime in the past 60 years. I used to think those were a great addition, but I’ve come back round to preferring the louvres instead.

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I believe this one is wearing Ford’s “Meadowlark Yellow” – one of about 23,000 Mustangs to do so in 1968. It was a somewhat overcast day and the extreme yellow of the surrounding foliage makes the car look off-white.

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The shifter looks a little lost without a console. That’s it for the Mustang herd. And we’re getting close to the end for the entire post, too.

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I did catch this mildly customized 1956 Ford F-Series pickup. I always thought the utter bog-standard design of the bumpers on these makes it look like an afterthought. “Oops, we have to put something there. No time to do anything fancy, just stick any old piece of metal and it’ll do.”

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We’ll end things on something a little exotic, for once: an Indian Chief, probably a 1940-42 model. Four-stroke V2 side-valve engine, 1200cc, 40hp and three speeds to get to where you’re going. If only the rider were as photogenic…

 

That’s it for the T87 Singles Collection; next edition (maybe) in April 2026.

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