[Philo1962]

Death traps. Plane's didn't get pretty until World War 2, and even then the prettiest (and best) Gallic bird, the Dewoitine D.520 was ugly compared to the Spitfire.

I'm partial to the Reggiane 2005.

[rmlew]

I'm partial to the Reggiane 2005.
It is a beauty. Of course, there is a reason I didn't know of it until I googled it; only 48 were produced.
Italian fighters were beautiful and maneuverable, but until the introduction of German engines and 20mm cannon, they were horrid pieces of art. They are like Alfa Romeo cars, pretty to look at, suffer from performance problems of some kind, and are difficult to maintain. In other words, they are art over function. The Spitfire XIV was not.