Thursday 8th October 2015

The Ogle Aston Martin: Under the Hammer

Three exotic wrecks from the 70s to be auctioned off after decades hidden away

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My inner space hopper is bouncing wildly, my taste buds are a-tingle with the memory of orange Spangles and my nostrils are flaring wider than a pair of Bay City Rollers bell-bottoms.

In short, a long-lost part of my brain is relapsing back to the 1970s. I can feel myself back on my old Raleigh Chopper - almost literally, since the iconic '70s bicycle was the creation of the same man as the car in this story's headline: Tom Karen of Ogle Design.

In the glory days

Sorry if I seem over-emotional here, but as a child of the 1970s, the re-emergence of such a beast as the Ogle Aston Martin DBS V8'Sotheby Special' is something special indeed.

Up for sale at the H&H auction at Imperial War Museum, Duxford on October 14, this is the original 1971 show car (Ogle went on to build two more).

It's been hidden away for the last 40 years. It may now look totally mullered, but the bodywork is glassfibre so it hasn't rusted, and the steel tube-supported glasshouse looks complete.

Check out the rear light clusters which house (or should house) no fewer than 22 lights. The indicators flow outwards (rather like the current Audi A8) and the harder the driver brakes, the more brake lights come on.

They're not bullet holes, they're for lights

Ogle's bright green interior seems sadly partially stripped, but the oh-so-1971 green corduroy rear seat is still there. Being the 1970s, nothing could be straightforward so, naturally, this was a single, sideways-facing seat.

It's got a nice spec, too: a prototype fuel-injected 5,340cc V8 and ZF five-speed manual gearbox. For a car as shagged and incomplete as this, you might think the estimate of £100,000- £120,000 is outrageous, but once restored it could easily be worth double that.

Wrecked
Speaking of wrecked 1970s Astons, how about this 1973 Aston Martin V8 worksdevelopment car and model launch car? It's described as "historically important" because it's Newport Pagnell's carb-fed V8 Series 3 development car that was also its 1973 press demo car. At some stage it's acquired a later Vantage-style front spoiler.

Yep, definitely of the 70s...

You've got to love the period Lonsdale Yellow paint scheme, and you also get the 'XCT 9' number plate with the car.

This V8 is clearly in need of lots of restoration work. That ain't going to be cheap, but the auction estimate of £25,000-£35,000 seems fair given that a good Series 3 V8 can fetch around £80K these days.

Be avenged
For the headiest mid-1970s vibe, though, look no further than wreck number three at the H&H sale - nothing less than John Steed's wide-body Jag XJ-C V12 from the TV series, The New Avengers. Come on!

One for the committed Avengers fan!

It's based on a pre-production XJ-C, fitted with a massive Broadspeed wide body kit and Carlos Fandango-style wheels especially for the TV series.

The original metallic green paint and beige leather interior remain intact, but the whole car is in dire need of restoration, since it's been stored away for over 20 years and has suffered damage by vandals.

The odometer reads 4,920 miles but that's unwarranted. It is, frankly, a hideous brute and so naff that it's gone over the edge into extreme coolness. It could be yours for £10,000-£12,000, reckons the auction house.

[sidesauce]

I'm a 70s child too but to all of these I have to say "hell no".