RE: Aston Martin Vantage V600 Le Mans | Spotted

[V8LM]

florian said:

However, I would really be interested from an owner how these beasts actually drive. I have heard the De-Dion rear suspension can be quite a handful ...

I spend most of my time driving Miss Daisy so can't really comment on their handling and dynamics compared to a sports car. A sports car they are not. My Le Mans had a different clutch cylinder fitted and so is far less tiresome to change gear. It isn't easy to change gear quickly, but in a GT one doesn't need to. You could also drive everywhere in 2nd or 3rd if you wished. 30 mph in 2nd is 2000 rpm, 70 mph in 3rd is 3,500 rpm. Brakes are OK, but the car weighs 2 tons.

The ride is normally excellent, although now we have the problem of tyres: Those made specially for the car (Goodyear) are no longer available (last batch was 2006 I think). The only other manufacturer of the size is Pirelli (for the Bentley Continental). These are in short supply, and don't handle (or look, which is important for me) as nice. The wheels are also an issue. These are magnesium and hollow spoked so the air goes from the tyre all the way to the hub, effectively increasing the tyre profile. If mistreated, or after time, they can crack and/or become porous, and then leak.

The interior is a lovely place to be. The Recaro seats are wonderful. Mine has an old school audio system (Soundstream Ref amps, Dynaudio and Focal speakers, JL Sub, with Alpine MiniDisc Nav head unit).

The sound of the car alone is just glorious.

These are a GT car, designed for the run down to the South of France, where it isn't raining. In the wet one needs to be careful as the superchargers have vacuum-operated bypass valves to decrease fuel consumption when not under acceleration (if that is an issue) and close when the throttle is opened. There is a fraction of a second delay, therefore, between putting your foot on the accelerator and the superchargers 'banging' in. On a bend, in the wet, this is not great.

The cars also have a habit of twisting their half shafts. I've known several break. Mine managed to throw its diff pinion gear through the casing:





Compared to the Le Mans, my Vantage is much harder and rawer. 'Bag of nails' sometimes comes to mind. This is because it is the prototype and was never meant to be driven. It has the standard clutch, which is hard work. It has wooden floors and no sound proofing, only carpets. Ever since I saw it on that Top Gear video being pushed out of the engineering shed at Tickford Street it has been my dream car. And I'm so fortunate to have it.

[V8LM]

gary71 said:

This old black thing? Not matte, just rarely washed.

I’ve probably posted this before somewhere, but this is the same car in the less glamorous location of outside my Mums house in the frost. My carefully positioned sister is covering the red thermocouple wiring running down the wing.
I’ve still got one of the wheels from this car in my garage.

It was a hacked up beast of an old Virage with the new rear suspension and of course the superchargers, but with still with Virage rear lights etc.

DP2055/4. This has the bonnet style from the clay model that went all the way to the front. This was changed when launched and for the production cars with the front separate from the bonnet (easier to produce I think). This car had an extended boot at one point, and was crash tested.

www.astonmartins.com

Edited by V8LM on Friday 26th November 22:39

[V8LM]

gary71 said:

Agreed. I did the crash testing

You b*****d.

[V8LM]

sean ie3 said:

I do like this car in profile and from the rear, from the front it looks similar to the Allegro prototype I've just seen on James May's cars, and just one thing MPG must be available and the size of the fuel tank is a number I'd like to know, having to stop every hour to fuel does not scream luxury to me.

Motorway cruising is 13.5 mpg and with a 105 litre tank (although never run it low enough to get anywhere near that in) would be around 300 miles.

[V8LM]

This might appeal more to some - Number 35 doesn't have the nostrils:

[V8LM]

Arranguez said:

V8LM, you seem to have a vast Vantage library. Which are some of your favourites?

That's like asking to choose your favourite child. I have photos of most. There is one elusive Le Mans - 70255 (no. 18) - that I am yet to track.

Favourite Vantage has to be the prototype - DP2055/2. This was the first car built as a Vantage and was the motor show launch car in 1992. My dream poster car ever since Clarkson's Top Gear feature. First few production cars were also special.



Nicest photo of a Vantage was this press photo:



Yours (almost) at https://www.nicholasmee.co.uk/car-sales/12149299-a...

Brutish car was the V600 Driving Dynamics launch car (the V600 mods were done for the Brunei cars). This car set the 0-60 time:



Soft spot for this too of course:

Edited by V8LM on Sunday 28th November 23:08

[V8LM]

SimonK2486 said:

V8 LM - Do you know if DP2055/2 was one of the two cars that Newport Pagnell had doing runs for their open day of the factory in the late 90's? There was a green car and a dark blue one that they were raffling prizes to have rides in. I was only about 10 at the time, and didn't win a prize but some very nice bloke let me sit in the back for his run (as I could fit!). That memory sticks in my mind to this day. Both were driven rather swiftly around Buckinghamshires roads, with a seemingly blind eye turned my Mr Plod!

Might have been as it was back there between May and September 1997. The factory ran a green production press car for a while.

ETA: This is a video of the AMOC open day at NP in 1997 https://vimeo.com/52407273. They were giving rides in the V8 Coupe (reg AM V8) and the Vantage (reg P977 RVS) was a press car at the time (featured in a German car magazine):



Also - https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Edited by V8LM on Monday 29th November 17:36

[V8LM]

selondonman said:

i think the le mans needs to be in a darker colour .. it is designed as a menacing car so these shade of green doesn't work and confuses the message

a darker green blue or black suits it more

this is a db7 / db9 colour

The original green on the Le Mans prototype is Almond green to reflect the DBR1 race car of 1959. All of the Le Mans were originally going to be this colour (changed to Aston Martin Racing Green) but half were ordered in other colours, including five black. My Le Mans is a DB7 Vantage colour, but far from dark - Skye Silver.

selondonman said:

is it true you have to remove the supercharges just to change the spark plugs ?

Yes.

selondonman said:

wooden floors ?

The floor pan changed during development so DP2055/2 ended up with a wooden floor on top of two wooden beams.



Other than for a Morgan there aren't many cases where line items on an invoice include:

Labour To cut out & fit both front floor wooden pieces
1 Part Birch Faced Plywood
1 Part Ash Wood

[V8LM]

thegreenhell said:

Air-cooled 911s also have wooden floorboards.

So they do. Thank you. Just looked on the web and they look like works of art ready to be hung on the wall.

[V8LM]

Agent57 said:

James Bond had a Silver Birch DB5.....: