Project Car Hell, Anglomasochism Edition: Aston Martin DB5 or Jensen FF?

Welcome to Project Car Hell, where you choose your eternity by selecting the project that's the coolest... and the most hellish! We had a minor upset yesterday, with longshot Germany defeating PCH Superpower Britain in the Jaguar Versus BMW Choose Your Eternity poll. That's not quite the headline news that, say, Detroit beating France would be, but we still need to give Her Majesty's cars a chance to prove they can still dish out pain and pleasure in very large- yet always mixed- helpings. That's the reason we're going with a couple of fine British super coupes suggested by tipster (and PCH T-shirt winner P161911

I've never seen a James Bond movie- yes, that's right, I'm probably the only person in the world who can say that- but that doesn't mean I didn't have the James Bond Corgi DB5 as a kid. In any case, the DB5 would be an ungodly cool machine on its own merits- just look at it! OK, now keep that mental image of a nice shiny DB5 fresh in your mind when you look at this '65 Aston Martin DB5, which is so incredible that no price can be placed on it! It's been sitting for 35 years, which might mean that all the devilment has been leached out of the Lucas Electrics- hey, stranger things have never happened- and the mileage is sitting at a paltry 65,000 miles. It looks like raccoons with access to unlimited corn liquor have been living in it for a while, the drivetrain is likely completely garbooned, and we are certain suspect that rust is a major issue, but don't let that deter you from your DB5 dreams!

The DB5 is quite a car, but it's so obvious. If When you got it working, you'd just look like some guy or gal who wanted to drive a movie car, and where's the fun there? But how about the Jensen FF? Ah, now you're talking serious agony automotive innovation! Four-wheel-drive and antilock brakes on a production car... in 1966! Those latecomers at Audi are still smarting over their relatively tardy arrival to the AWD party, you can be sure of that! That's why you'll feel so proud when you take delivery of your new Jensen FF (scroll down to Chassis Number 119/140), straight from the UK. A veteran Jensen Owner's Club member had the car for a while, but "became concerned about the extent of rusting, and realising the work required would be far beyond his capabilities, sold the car." Does that scare you? Not us! You'll be so busy trying to get that dodgy ahead-of-its-time ABS system working that you won't have time to dwell on the fact that the car consists entirely of has a bit of rust. The car was running "very well" until 2004, so you figure it should fire right up and disintegrate roll.
