Vulgar Aston Martin question
Discussion
As I recall new Astons in the 60s were the preserve of the very well off, then in the 70s they went upmarket to the downright rich, then since Ford took over they've moved down to the merely well off or even just comfortably off.
Is my recollection right? And how upmarket were they back on the 50s or even pre war?
Is my recollection right? And how upmarket were they back on the 50s or even pre war?
POORCARDEALER said:
Not exactly.
In the late 70 early 80s they were quite low value, a friend of mine had a V8 and a Db6, neither of which was more than £5 or 6 grand.
They were much less mainstream than now for sure.
Yep. My old man sold his V8 Vantage in the mid 80's for not very much. Next door bought his DB6 (which he still owns along with a mint 512 BBi also bought cheaply) for 18k.In the late 70 early 80s they were quite low value, a friend of mine had a V8 and a Db6, neither of which was more than £5 or 6 grand.
They were much less mainstream than now for sure.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
LaurasOtherHalf said:
POORCARDEALER said:
Not exactly.
In the late 70 early 80s they were quite low value, a friend of mine had a V8 and a Db6, neither of which was more than £5 or 6 grand.
They were much less mainstream than now for sure.
What did 5 or 6 grand get you in the late 70's?In the late 70 early 80s they were quite low value, a friend of mine had a V8 and a Db6, neither of which was more than £5 or 6 grand.
They were much less mainstream than now for sure.
Much more than that in terms of property though.
To rephrase the original question.
Nowadays people on good salaries can aspire to a new Aston. In the eighties you generally needed to be an owner or partner of a very lucrative business to get a new one. They were certainly far above Porsche 911 levels, though I appreciate Porsches have gone upmarket since.
Who could aspire to an Aston in the DB4 days?
Speckled Jim had it right. In 1979 I bought my 5 bedroom detached for £31,000. It is now I guess around £500,000. Now look at the adverts here; a DB4 for the price of the semi I sold and a DB4 Zagato was less than my house! But seriously, who would ever have thought a car was a better investment than a house 35 years ago?
lowdrag said:
Speckled Jim had it right. In 1979 I bought my 5 bedroom detached for £31,000. It is now I guess around £500,000. Now look at the adverts here; a DB4 for the price of the semi I sold and a DB4 Zagato was less than my house! But seriously, who would ever have thought a car was a better investment than a house 35 years ago?
OMG...Db5 at £8500, thats £450K today, so done 400% better than property!
Dr Jekyll said:
As I recall new Astons in the 60s were the preserve of the very well off, then in the 70s they went upmarket to the downright rich, then since Ford took over they've moved down to the merely well off or even just comfortably off.
Is my recollection right? And how upmarket were they back on the 50s or even pre war?
Or, look at it another way: over the period you have described, debt went from being a social stigma/anathema to an essential lifestyle tool for the purveyor of the 'gay disco' lifestyle. Is my recollection right? And how upmarket were they back on the 50s or even pre war?
Salary items repackaged for the wage earner.
POORCARDEALER said:
Willhire89 said:
In 1975 my father bought a DB4 out of Exchange and Mart from a dealer in Lincoln for £900 - he used it as his DD for the next few years until he got a Mk1 Cavalier as a company car...
£900 !!!
Same with E types back then.
Not a bad deal - dealer wanted £950 and it was agreed at £900 cash!£900 !!!
Same with E types back then.
Family relief when sorted because he had been looking for one for absolutely ages and had looked at quite a few - it was however not really a patch on the 3.8 Mk2 it replaced. I never got to drive it and after the Cavalier turned up he did a straight swap for a 1930 1 1/2 International which Campbell drove at Brooklands which he still has...
drmark said:
Test drove one today - a Rapide - and if you think 172k (the rrp of that one's spec) is down market and aimed at the comfortably well off rather than the rich then I need to work harder. That is one expensive car!
Ah, but just 36 small payments and it's all yours. The near £200k tag is irrelevant. 
drmark said:
Test drove one today - a Rapide - and if you think 172k (the rrp of that one's spec) is down market and aimed at the comfortably well off rather than the rich then I need to work harder. That is one expensive car!
I was thinking of the Vantage and to a lesser extent the DB9.
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