What interior is this?

[hashluck]

I am pretty sure that the interior shown in this ad is not the interior of the Vantage advertised.

http://used.astonmartin.com/en-GB/Search/Details~9...

For a start it is a SS or Auto and car is listed as a manual. Also I think it has B+O and car is listed as having AM Premium.

I am most intrigued though by the lovely alloy switches for the seat controls. Is this the interior of a DB9? Has anyone tried fitting those seat controls to a Vantage? It is the most disappointing bit of the Vantage interior.

Poor show on the listing as well for such a basic error, but nothing new there I suppose

[Little Donkey]

Looks like a Rapide to me.

[V8LM]

Yes, this one - https://used.astonmartin.com/en-GB/Search/Details~...

[speech]

hashluck said:

I am most intrigued though by the lovely alloy switches for the seat controls. Is this the interior of a DB9? Has anyone tried fitting those seat controls to a Vantage? It is the most disappointing bit of the Vantage interior.

I have been thinking about that too. It must be possible to get the Rapide seat controls and swap them with the originals... or worst case (look away now George) use an aluminium wrap. Does anyone know if the seat controls can just be pulled off (ooo-err!) like the stereo controls? I don't want to try and snap something!

[jonby]

speech said:

hashluck said:

I am most intrigued though by the lovely alloy switches for the seat controls. Is this the interior of a DB9? Has anyone tried fitting those seat controls to a Vantage? It is the most disappointing bit of the Vantage interior.

I have been thinking about that too. It must be possible to get the Rapide seat controls and swap them with the originals... or worst case (look away now George) use an aluminium wrap. Does anyone know if the seat controls can just be pulled off (ooo-err!) like the stereo controls? I don't want to try and snap something!

Historically, DB9, Vantage, DBS all had the same black plastic controls

Rapide has always had the silver ones (it is a Rapide in the photos) and IIRC they were introduced on Rapide first then shortly after on DB9 & DBS, all c. 2010

Vantage has never had them.

There have been two solutions mooted. The first is doing a swap, at dealer level, Works level, Q level, home level, BR level, etc. Factory/works/Q all claim it can't be done. I and a few other really pushed for it when having our cars built and were repeatedly told it cant be done. To my knowledge, it's only ever been done on one car

It's not fair for me to say who that is, but they are an occasional frequenter of this forum. From memory and to an extent reading between the lines, they had it agreed when speccing their new car that silver buttons would be fitted, then the car arrived with normal buttons, then they complained/pushed/insisted and silver buttons were fitted. I suspect AML felt in a hole legally and therefore had to fit them but possibly at great inconvenience/loss. Whatever the reason, that was before Zag and yet even Zag only has the black plastic buttons which I think tells you all you need to know about the ability and/or desire of the factory to fit silver buttons to Vantage

The second option as you suggest is replacing the buttons. I believe someone (Tony possibly ?) was looking at having new machined buttons made for the 2 principle controls (i.e. not the smaller memory buttons) to be slipped on in replacement of the existing ones. I don't think anything concrete ever came of those 'investigations'

Edited by jonby on Wednesday 23 July 10:04

[hashluck]

Thanks jonby, excellent info

The slip-on replacements sound like the way to go and I for one would be interested in a group buy scenario

[SFO]

it is surprising that the alloy controls have not made it to the Vantage .. would really freshen the interior and possibly encourage existing owners to buy a new Vantage

[George29]

speech said:

I have been thinking about that too. It must be possible to get the Rapide seat controls and swap them with the originals... or worst case (look away now George) use an aluminium wrap. Does anyone know if the seat controls can just be pulled off (ooo-err!) like the stereo controls? I don't want to try and snap something!

I was going to look at machining some aluminium seat controls, but when I tried getting the buttons off it felt like it was going to break if I did so gave up on it.

Aluminium wrap is surely just tin foil? Why would you do that? Also the surface of the plastic isn't perfectly smooth so I doubt it would look any good.