Aston Martin Vantage V600 Le Mans | Spotted
Built to celebrate Aston's 1959 victory at Le Mans, the special edition V600 was always something special...
It seems odd to me that the Aston Martin Virage didn't hit the ground running. On its release in 1989, it delivered the classic wedge shape with just enough grace and aggression thrown in for good measure - yet just 411 found homes. Its good looks are another from the Heffernan-Greenly school of design, which also penned the Continental R I happened to single out last week, and it's a design that, if anything, has grown better with age.
Perhaps the reason for its tardy sales was a certain lack of mechanical sophistication. The de Dion and Watts linkage rear suspension was far more muscle car than supercar, and then there was the parts-bin raiding, which was very inclusive to say the least. Rather than just concentrate on one manufacturer, like today's Aston tie-up with Mercedes, the Virage grabbed everything it could from everywhere: it had Audi 100 headlights, a Vauxhall Carlton steering column and stalks, a Jaguar XJ40 climate control panel and seat switches, while select other switches and the heater vents were bagged from the Ford Granada.
But when the Virage became the Vantage in 1993, none of that seemed to matter anymore. A skilfully executed redesign by Marek Reichman enhanced the visuals and even though you still opened the doors using Jaguar XJS door handles, you no longer cared. It became all about that engine, with those two Eaton superchargers and the colossal power and torque they added. The 5.3-litre V8 produced 550hp in standard Vantage form, which already made it the most powerful production car at the time - although if you asked Aston Martin's Work Service to fiddle with it some more, they would upgrade it to V600 spec.
The V600 meant an additional £40k-odd added on to the already considerable price tag of the Vantage, which was the product of many hours of hand-built labour at Newport Pagnell. It had to be part-deconstructed to fit the numerous the V600 additions, though, which included AP brakes and better cooling to manage its huge potential. The engine produced a beautifully aligned 600hp and 600 lb ft of torque, both of which conspired to generate a top speed of 200mph. These were bewildering numbers back in the day.
This Le Mans is an even more special example of the breed. It was built to celebrate Aston Martin's 1959 victory at the Circuit de la Sarthe but also, sadly, to culminate the Vantage production after a run that went to 280 examples. Of that number, the Le Mans cars were limited to just 40 in total, of which this car is number 17. That makes it a very rare example of a very rare Aston.
And as we all know, that means it's going to be expensive. Half-a-mill expensive when you can pick up regular Vantages for near enough a fifth of that. According to the listing, it comes to its new owner in mint condition, with a full history - right up to a recent service by Aston specialists R.S. Williams. It even has a book from the factory signed by Roy Salvadori and Carroll Shelby, who drove the works effort to victory in 1959. It's a piece of history and a mighty thing.
SPECIFICATION | ASTON MARTIN VANTAGE V600 LE MANS
Engine: 5,341cc, V8, twin supercharged
Transmission: 6-speed manual (often swapped to 5-speed quick shift), rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 600 @ 6,200rpm
Torque (lb ft): 600 @ 4,400rpm
CO2: N/A
MPG: N/A
Recorded mileage: 2,000
Year registered: 2000
Price new: £233,000
Yours for: £495,000
Have always loved these, proper brute of a thing.
In 96, the V8 Coupe was launched, which is essentially a Vantage without the supercharged engine, and the V8 Volante in 97. At this time the Vantage was renamed V8 Vantage.
Tragic that they put those nostrils on it later on, this was a car that never needed special editions.
The 'most powerful production car - In The World' was from Clarkson when he filmed the sequence for Top Gear in the summer of 92. At the time, it wasn't in production. It did have 550 lb ft of torque, which is more than the F1.
Different vent style on the bonnet. This had plain mesh whereas the production cars had a grille over mesh.
Lack of 'Vantage' badge on the side vent (this photo was taken in the summer of 92 and they changed various things, including the bonnet vent, before launch in October)
No heating elements in the glass in front of the headlights. The headlights were changed from these square units (as used on the Alfa Romeo SZ) to round projector lamps during production.
Different mesh below the bumper.
No headrests.
(There is also the lack of a recess in the sill cover as this car didn't have any jacking points, but this is in shadow in the photo)
The wing mirrors and door handles were changed (From Citroen to Jaguar and Vauxhall to Ford) during production.
ETA: It was originally for sale as an auto with the manual box to be provided alongside.
The 5 speed conversation in the V600 is actually the same 6 speed ZF box with sixth blanked off and a longer diff added. This reduced the 0 - 60 time for the V600 to 3.9 seconds, mainly because the car can do 62 mph in first gear.
The very first cars were 3.77, which were a handful to say the least
It got monstered by an Esprit V8 on Clarkson's vid. No way does it do 0-100 in 10.1s
The original blueprint engine in the prototype, which was quoted at 550, made over 600 (612 IIRC).
It's my only shot of getting one!
Virage is a great car and fantastic value if looked after. There is very little shared between the Virage and the Vantage though.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff