My Aston Martin DB7 Vantage is worthless but I love it...
Discussion
Hello folks,
I have some story to tell about DB7 and me... A lot of years ago, my grandma sent me from France some specs of pics about supercars because she knew how I was inexplicably loving cars, already. among the pictures, there was a yellow Aston Martin Db7 i6 volante :
And I felt in love...
I was living in Tunisia these days, until 2007, when I went to France to study.
I began buying cars for cheap. The first one was 30€... Years passed and I bought more and more cars in need of TLC.
There came the time to watch for Aston Martin for sale. I found an i6, blue, auto, right hand drive, for quite cheap. I bought it, but it broke down during the journey back. Broken rear differential. I was far from home and decided to cancel the buy and have a refund.
3 years later, I found another Db7, but close to my location. It was a Vantage. It wasn't a runner since the engine was supposedly out of order. I went to see it. Discovered a partly dismantled car. Decided to buy it anyways. 3 years of work, time to time after...
I enjoy this car more than any other. I know that a lot of cars I got were "better", but hey... This is an AM, with a v12, and a manual gearbox.
I did a video of the complete process to have this car drivable and reliable. If you are tempted, here it is :
I have some story to tell about DB7 and me... A lot of years ago, my grandma sent me from France some specs of pics about supercars because she knew how I was inexplicably loving cars, already. among the pictures, there was a yellow Aston Martin Db7 i6 volante :
And I felt in love...
I was living in Tunisia these days, until 2007, when I went to France to study.
I began buying cars for cheap. The first one was 30€... Years passed and I bought more and more cars in need of TLC.
There came the time to watch for Aston Martin for sale. I found an i6, blue, auto, right hand drive, for quite cheap. I bought it, but it broke down during the journey back. Broken rear differential. I was far from home and decided to cancel the buy and have a refund.
3 years later, I found another Db7, but close to my location. It was a Vantage. It wasn't a runner since the engine was supposedly out of order. I went to see it. Discovered a partly dismantled car. Decided to buy it anyways. 3 years of work, time to time after...
I enjoy this car more than any other. I know that a lot of cars I got were "better", but hey... This is an AM, with a v12, and a manual gearbox.
I did a video of the complete process to have this car drivable and reliable. If you are tempted, here it is :
Edited by Stalje on Tuesday 15th June 08:21
Thank you, all !
phumy, I'm quite always barefoot when out of winter, risky but hey, we only live once, and I feel in holiday this way
Sadly my grandma passed away the summer before I bought the Aston. But she let me a gift bank account which helped me buying the Aston
williamp it's quite busy under the bonnet, notably on the front where you find the radiator, pipes & co... So, quite difficult to work in this area without removing the cooling system which is quite a pain. The drivetrain is quite simple to work on. I you are familiar with old jags (xjs, xj40, x300...) you won't be lost ! A huge amount of parts can be found in the Ford catalog, but it needs a lot of search.
phumy, I'm quite always barefoot when out of winter, risky but hey, we only live once, and I feel in holiday this way
Sadly my grandma passed away the summer before I bought the Aston. But she let me a gift bank account which helped me buying the Aston
williamp it's quite busy under the bonnet, notably on the front where you find the radiator, pipes & co... So, quite difficult to work in this area without removing the cooling system which is quite a pain. The drivetrain is quite simple to work on. I you are familiar with old jags (xjs, xj40, x300...) you won't be lost ! A huge amount of parts can be found in the Ford catalog, but it needs a lot of search.
Stick Legs said:
Very well done, huge respect for even attempting this project given the cost of some of the parts.
It's a shame there aren't subtitles for the talk at the end, my French is okay but not up to keeping up with that, can you give an quick run-down please.
Très bien fait, un immense respect pour avoir même tenté ce projet étant donné le coût de certaines des pièces.
C'est dommage qu'il n'y ait pas de sous-titres pour le discours à la fin, mon français n'est pas à la hauteur, pouvez-vous me donner un bref aperçu s'il vous plaît.
for sure, I'll take some time to do the subs It's a shame there aren't subtitles for the talk at the end, my French is okay but not up to keeping up with that, can you give an quick run-down please.
Très bien fait, un immense respect pour avoir même tenté ce projet étant donné le coût de certaines des pièces.
C'est dommage qu'il n'y ait pas de sous-titres pour le discours à la fin, mon français n'est pas à la hauteur, pouvez-vous me donner un bref aperçu s'il vous plaît.
I'll let you know@Graze01 thank you!
Stick Legs said:
Very well done, huge respect for even attempting this project given the cost of some of the parts.
It's a shame there aren't subtitles for the talk at the end, my French is okay but not up to keeping up with that, can you give an quick run-down please.
Très bien fait, un immense respect pour avoir même tenté ce projet étant donné le coût de certaines des pièces.
C'est dommage qu'il n'y ait pas de sous-titres pour le discours à la fin, mon français n'est pas à la hauteur, pouvez-vous me donner un bref aperçu s'il vous plaît.
subs are done ; )It's a shame there aren't subtitles for the talk at the end, my French is okay but not up to keeping up with that, can you give an quick run-down please.
Très bien fait, un immense respect pour avoir même tenté ce projet étant donné le coût de certaines des pièces.
C'est dommage qu'il n'y ait pas de sous-titres pour le discours à la fin, mon français n'est pas à la hauteur, pouvez-vous me donner un bref aperçu s'il vous plaît.
Really moved by your replies thank you very much!
Look at this pair of twin. A friend of mine has another Vantage with manual gearbox, same exterior color but different leather :
It's funny how it seems that every drive in this car ends to be magical...
thank you very much!Look at this pair of twin. A friend of mine has another Vantage with manual gearbox, same exterior color but different leather :
It's funny how it seems that every drive in this car ends to be magical...
Edited by Stalje on Thursday 17th June 09:17
Thank you everybody !
Yes, driving this car is always special to me and I really have the feeling to deserve every second spent sit on the driver seat
Overall it's no so hard to work on it especially when you are motivated by the passion we have for the car.
I read that I'm no the only one that felt in love with it's design. yes the Db9 seems to be more achieved, it's an "improved" version of the db7 which is a project with "little" money to happen. I'm a huge fan of the front face of the db7, but I confess that I'd rather have the boot of the db9 and it's general proportions that are closer to perfection. But hey... Would I exchange it? Not sure.
Yes, driving this car is always special to me and I really have the feeling to deserve every second spent sit on the driver seat
Overall it's no so hard to work on it especially when you are motivated by the passion we have for the car.
I read that I'm no the only one that felt in love with it's design. yes the Db9 seems to be more achieved, it's an "improved" version of the db7 which is a project with "little" money to happen. I'm a huge fan of the front face of the db7, but I confess that I'd rather have the boot of the db9 and it's general proportions that are closer to perfection. But hey... Would I exchange it? Not sure.
The Vanquish ! It's strange how I can love the db7 and find it's litte daughter quite wrong... It's like Ian took the db7 design and found every way to evolve them... A litte wrong 
I can understand that opinions vary on this subject of course, there may be people who find the Vanquish way nicer than the db7
I can understand that opinions vary on this subject of course, there may be people who find the Vanquish way nicer than the db7
Thank you very much mates ! The car doesn't worth very much due to the lack of history and the "high" mileage (141 000km) but for me it is a very important car. It even became important for my wife that couldn't let me sell it if I had to
Footage of her before her first drive (quite cahotic, the manual vantage is quite difficult to tame) :
Footage of her before her first drive (quite cahotic, the manual vantage is quite difficult to tame) :
BiggaJ said:
This ^^^^^
The car is not worthless, it will have much more worth to you and your wife for all the hard work and dedication you have put into this project. It's a keeper!
Thank you! I'm now waiting to have a lift installed at home (the good question is...Where?) to continue the restoration (next step : bushings, rods & co...)The car is not worthless, it will have much more worth to you and your wife for all the hard work and dedication you have put into this project. It's a keeper!
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