Youngtimer: youthful phenomenon or the future of collecting? Ivan Scelsa in the new book “Tutto Youngtimer – The classics of tomorrow” (Giorgio Nada Editore, 24.90 euros, 255 pages) answers this question with a volume that arrives at the right time.
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While the “real” vintage cars (pre-1980s) remain increasingly expensive and unattainable, cars born between the mid-80s and early 2000s are finally coming out of the shadows. Tutto Youngtimer is the first great Italian atlas dedicated precisely to these “classics of tomorrow”.
The idea of the project
The book collects over 120 models (Italian, German, French, Japanese…) and dedicates a complete sheet to each: stylistic history, technical evolution, top versions and, when present, the sporting past. The iconographic apparatus is generous: more than 400 images, mostly unpublished, documenting not only the “series” cars but also concepts, prototypes and bodywork details. Of course, there are some oddities, like the Matiz which will never really be a collector’s item, or the Maserati MC12 (costs millions and is already a very valuable collector’s item), but flipping through the pages is a continuous pleasure. It goes from the BMW 3 Series E36 (with its endless sedan, coupe, cabrio and Touring variants) to the Fiat Barchetta, with its design sketches and photos of the first prototypes, up to the Alfa Romeo 147, told precisely both in the “normal” version and in the very rare Black Line, Collezione and GTA.
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The book in detail
Each sheet is accompanied by a synthetic “identity card” (years of production, body types, engines, drive) which also makes the volume a practical consultation tool.
The tone is just right: passionate but never rhetorical, technical without being boring. Scelsa then explains why certain lines (the front of the 147, the Cx of the E36, the proportions of the Barchetta) have resisted time better than many contemporaries now forgotten. VB
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