2013 Aston Martin Vantage V12S
Discussion
Seeing as it went to the PH annual service yesterday, I figured it was about time a thread was started to cover my ownership.
Full history on background etc. coming soon but suffice to say it was a boyhood poster car that I never thought I'd have chance to own. Turns out dreams can come true.
Oh and before anyone suggests it, yes Clarkson and that clip had a hand, but so did Guy Martin... IYKYK
Anyway, the car in question
Full history on background etc. coming soon but suffice to say it was a boyhood poster car that I never thought I'd have chance to own. Turns out dreams can come true.
Oh and before anyone suggests it, yes Clarkson and that clip had a hand, but so did Guy Martin... IYKYK
Anyway, the car in question
Thanks both.
With regards to the surrounding of VWs, that was at a Cars & Coffee event at Type2 Detectives in Cambridgeshire. They kindly did the mechanicals/fit out on my brothers '65 split screen bus and have since opened up a coffee shop with regular meets. Worth a visit if you're ever passing.
With regards to plans for the Aston, read on...
So back to the beginning. I actually purchased it back in November last year. I was between jobs at the time but was due to start the next one couple of weeks later, given I had time on my hands I was doing the usual browsing of Car & Classic as you do it when afflicted and it happened to throw this one up. After double-checking myself a few times given it was in budget and looked to be a good spec with a few choice options, I called and arranged to see the car. Fortuitously I was travelling south that week to see the folks so a diversion the other way around the M25 was no real hardship
On arrival and my first sighting of the car was that it was thankfully undercover
I spent a good two hours going over things, which as to be expected wasn't completely perfect given it had covered just over 58,000 miles... oh yes, this thing has been used.
Bad points:
- Heavy condensation in both rear lamps
- Headlights looked like they'd been cleaned with a scotch pad
- A few minor stone chips on the front bumper
- Front splitter had a possible crack in the centre, but it was also fully covered over by a 'carbon effect' wrap, for protection or to hold it together, who knows.
- Tyres had reasonable tread but the rears were probably down to c4mm
- Mesh grill had a few rust spots/marks
- Lower 'start' section of the key insert had fallen out
- Only one key, thankfully it was the crystal one but it had had a life
- Engine bay was a little untidy/dusty
- Small crack on the waterfall dash behind the nav screen
- Door rubbers looked tired and cracked in a few places
- Front right alloy had a couple of minor curb marks
- Two of the brake bleed nipples were rusty and one on the rear offside had been sheared off completely
None of the above was hugely worrying in the grand scheme of things and of course gave me some haggling room.
The important bits from the research that I'd done to date were that the carbon ceramics looked to be in good condition, with plenty left on the pads too. Oil was clean and at the right level and there was minimal wear on the seats, the dash leather was also good and hadn't lifted anywhere. On starting and having been left to warm up there was no ticking or rattles and it ran smoothly.
So all in all nothing I saw was a deal breaker.
I had a good look through the paperwork too and that threw up some other interesting information, namely in the form of an Aston Works stamp as the first service entry (More on that in a bit). I didn't drive the car at the time due to time constraints and the horrendous weather but instead left a refundable deposit on the proviso I would drive the car first before completing the deal.
What followed was a week of research and test driving other Astons. It was also the weekend of the NEC Classic Car Show so I hunted down the various specialists and had a good chat with them which proved worthwhile. I also managed to find a couple of other cars relatively local that I could test drive, one was a v12 with a 6 speed manual, the other a V8 with sports shift II...
Confession time, I didn't like the manual, felt heavy and cumbersome and I just couldn't get on with it for some reason, that of course may have been the car given it was an early V12, and it might be that you'd get accustomed to it in time, however driven back-to-back the SS was interesting in a good way, perhaps novelty value, perhaps not. Given the 7 speed manual v12s were out of budget by some margin, those were my options if I wanted one. One thing was certain, the V12 engine sounded and felt incredible
Decision made, man maths justified and brave pills swallowed, a day and time was set to go and drive/possibly collect the car later that week with one eye on a weather window given it was now mid-November. One-way train tickets booked, funds arranged and it was then just a case of waiting. One good thing, although a cold and crisp start, true to the forecast the sun was shining and it was set to be a dry November day. Perfect.
With regards to the surrounding of VWs, that was at a Cars & Coffee event at Type2 Detectives in Cambridgeshire. They kindly did the mechanicals/fit out on my brothers '65 split screen bus and have since opened up a coffee shop with regular meets. Worth a visit if you're ever passing.
With regards to plans for the Aston, read on...
So back to the beginning. I actually purchased it back in November last year. I was between jobs at the time but was due to start the next one couple of weeks later, given I had time on my hands I was doing the usual browsing of Car & Classic as you do it when afflicted and it happened to throw this one up. After double-checking myself a few times given it was in budget and looked to be a good spec with a few choice options, I called and arranged to see the car. Fortuitously I was travelling south that week to see the folks so a diversion the other way around the M25 was no real hardship
On arrival and my first sighting of the car was that it was thankfully undercover
I spent a good two hours going over things, which as to be expected wasn't completely perfect given it had covered just over 58,000 miles... oh yes, this thing has been used.
Bad points:
- Heavy condensation in both rear lamps
- Headlights looked like they'd been cleaned with a scotch pad
- A few minor stone chips on the front bumper
- Front splitter had a possible crack in the centre, but it was also fully covered over by a 'carbon effect' wrap, for protection or to hold it together, who knows.
- Tyres had reasonable tread but the rears were probably down to c4mm
- Mesh grill had a few rust spots/marks
- Lower 'start' section of the key insert had fallen out
- Only one key, thankfully it was the crystal one but it had had a life
- Engine bay was a little untidy/dusty
- Small crack on the waterfall dash behind the nav screen
- Door rubbers looked tired and cracked in a few places
- Front right alloy had a couple of minor curb marks
- Two of the brake bleed nipples were rusty and one on the rear offside had been sheared off completely
None of the above was hugely worrying in the grand scheme of things and of course gave me some haggling room.
The important bits from the research that I'd done to date were that the carbon ceramics looked to be in good condition, with plenty left on the pads too. Oil was clean and at the right level and there was minimal wear on the seats, the dash leather was also good and hadn't lifted anywhere. On starting and having been left to warm up there was no ticking or rattles and it ran smoothly.
So all in all nothing I saw was a deal breaker.
I had a good look through the paperwork too and that threw up some other interesting information, namely in the form of an Aston Works stamp as the first service entry (More on that in a bit). I didn't drive the car at the time due to time constraints and the horrendous weather but instead left a refundable deposit on the proviso I would drive the car first before completing the deal.
What followed was a week of research and test driving other Astons. It was also the weekend of the NEC Classic Car Show so I hunted down the various specialists and had a good chat with them which proved worthwhile. I also managed to find a couple of other cars relatively local that I could test drive, one was a v12 with a 6 speed manual, the other a V8 with sports shift II...
Confession time, I didn't like the manual, felt heavy and cumbersome and I just couldn't get on with it for some reason, that of course may have been the car given it was an early V12, and it might be that you'd get accustomed to it in time, however driven back-to-back the SS was interesting in a good way, perhaps novelty value, perhaps not. Given the 7 speed manual v12s were out of budget by some margin, those were my options if I wanted one. One thing was certain, the V12 engine sounded and felt incredible
Decision made, man maths justified and brave pills swallowed, a day and time was set to go and drive/possibly collect the car later that week with one eye on a weather window given it was now mid-November. One-way train tickets booked, funds arranged and it was then just a case of waiting. One good thing, although a cold and crisp start, true to the forecast the sun was shining and it was set to be a dry November day. Perfect.
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