At $19,950, can this 1967 Hino Contessa make you feel like car show royalty?

With its Italian styling, racing heritage and almost complete obscurity, today’s Nice Price or No Dice Hino Contessa will be a hit at any Car and Coffee or JDM car show. Let’s see if showing off can be justifiably expensive.

Don Schlitz (no relation to Bear) died last April. A singer and songwriter, Schlitz is perhaps best known for writing the song “The Gambler” in 1976. Covered by several artists, the song became a number one hit in the country in 1978 when it was released as the first single from Kenny Rogers’ album of the same name. The Gambler tells the story of two men meeting on a train, and over a last sip of whiskey and a cigarette, advise one another that “You’ve got to know when to hold ’em, and know when to fold ’em.”

I’m here to advise you that buying any used car is a gamble, especially when it’s a complicated German journey away from the warm embrace of its warranty. We faced the same dilemma last Friday, when we looked at the 2007 Mercedes-Benz S 550 Salon. Although it was clean and no mischief was suspected, there is always the possibility of something—anything—expensive going wrong on the road. Luckily, our big Benz’s $8,400 asking price made that prospect worth a gamble, at least given the comments on the car and the 72% ‘Nice Price’ win we enjoyed.

Okay, now let’s be a little funny. Today, we’re taking a look at one 1967 Hino Contessa 1300 CoupeA car with roots in France, Italy and America, and a trunk firmly rooted in Japan.

Hino Motors is named after the town where it was founded, just outside Tokyo. While its history dates back to the early 20s^th century, the Hino name did not appear until 1942, when the company made half-tracks and trucks for Japan’s military. The Contessa we are considering is one of a small series of cars produced by Hino in the 1960s, after financial difficulties led Toyota to take a majority stake in the company. Today, Hino still exists, manufacturing medium-duty trucks and hybrid buses.

The Contessa was launched in 1961 in sedan, two-door, and coupe bodystyles. Hino had a business partnership with the French automaker Renault, resulting in the first Contessa being engineered after that company’s 4CV model. In 1964, Hino significantly modified the Contessa with styling by Italy’s Giovanni Michelotti. It was still a rear-engine design, with the water-cooled four-cylinder hanging behind the rear axle line, and the radiator right behind. The standard engine was a 1,251cc four-cylinder with a single carburetor, producing 54 horsepower. Adding a second carb increased output to 64 horses.

While Hino’s auto-building exploits were short-lived, they included plans to sell the Contessa in the U.S. Eventually, Hino worked with race driver and automotive engineer Pete Brock to give the car some real experience on a race track. Brock competed in Contessa racing as part of his Brock Racing Enterprises (BRE) team and won the inaugural Los Angeles Times Grand Prix held at Riverside Raceway in 1966. Later, Brock designed it hino samuraiA sleek, purpose-built racer for the company. The end of auto production disrupted both plans to enter the US market and on-track heroics here in the States.

This Contessa isn’t built for track exploits, but it does see some hot-rodding. The engine appears to be equipped with a pair of Weber DCOEs, or their Japanese equivalents. It also has red ignition leads, which probably includes some ponies. Other mods include removing the front and rear bumpers and fitting a set of gold-coloured Basketweave alloy wheels. There are some minor imperfections in the bodywork, but nothing too serious.

In the four-seat cabin, everything looks well protected and quite fun. There are no carpets in the car, and the shifter has been replaced with a long lever and knob, which is a detriment to the car. On the plus side, there are extra gauges in the wood dash, and there’s someone’s signature on the glovebox door right next to a piece of tape with a crudely drawn guide for the four-speed stick’s shift patterns. Naturally, being a JDM car, it is right-hand drive.

According to the seller, this is one of two Contessa made in America, and I had the pleasure of seeing this car at the Art Center Car Show celebrating Pete Brock several years ago. The other Contessa-ah in the US (see what I did there?) is owned by car collector extraordinaire Myron Vernis.

Our car comes with a clean title and an odometer reading of 35,000, which I believe is in kilometers. The seller says this Contessa is “the perfect car for this year’s Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, where this year’s theme is ‘Icons of Japanese Motorsports.’

There’s a lot to see, and admittedly it’s a much more esoteric car than what’s normally used around here. That being said, I thought you all might want to check it out, and if you don’t know about its existence or its creator, you’d appreciate the brief, if incomplete, history lesson.

Now we come to the interactive part of the assignment. The asking price for this Contessa is $19,950, and now I need to hear from you whether or not it’s worth the asking, and also what you think about the car in the comments. Is this Hino a hero at $19,950? Or is it too much to ask to remain shrouded in obscurity?

You decide!

Los Angeles, California, CraigslistOr go here if the ad disappears.

Help me with good price or no dice. Contact me at robemslie@gmail.com and send a fixed price tip. Remember to include your commenter handle.