Wednesday 21st March 2012

Spotted: Aston Martin V8 Vantage

Perhaps not the greatest or fastest of Astons, but it looks so good it's hard not to be tempted

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Hard to quite believe that the V8 Vantage is now seven years old - it's a testament to a brilliant styling exercise that the car still looks so clean and fresh. For many, the baby Aston remains a better looking car than the new 991 and, given how important looks are to most people in the market for a slinky coupe, that still makes it one of the 911's strongest rivals.

The Vantage never quite matched the 997 in any key dynamic area - that it got so close and is so beautiful made it a runaway sales success in 2005/2006. Seems like a long time ago now, doesn't it - easy credit everywhere.

I stumbled across a key part of the Vantage's development history a few years back, in the form of a 997 Carrera being offered for sale.

It was the car Aston had bought for R&D purposes. Presumably they gave it some death, drew as much data as possible from it and then unscrewed every nut and bolt to see what it was all about. I know this last bit to be true because the car came up for sale in bits.

Anyways, prices of early Vantages have certainly firmed-up over the past 18 months. For a while in 2008 the 4.7 Volante was the fastest-depreciating vehicle in Glass's Guide, but as is often the case the fall went too far, very few newer cars were being registered and prices began to rise. Good, early 4.3-litre coupes were low-20s in the trade two years ago, they're about the same now.

I never quite gelled with the way the Vantage drove - it was quite lazy in direction changes, but the steering was quite fast. Then there was the fact that M3s could have you in a straight line, which was unfortunate because with that fuse removed it sounded like Thrust SSC. A little too much flatulence and too little actual muscle.

But every time I see one (like this black V8 Vantage coupe) I think it looks terrific.

There are very few genuine 360-degree cars: machines that sparkle however you view them, but this is one of them. For that reason alone I've often wanted to own one. They still look great value and of course Aston's limited resources mean that there's no replacement planned any time soon, so there's an element of future-proofing going on here that should keep prices of cars like this pretty solid.

For the same money as an over-specced Golf GTI, it's an absolute steal.

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ASTON MARTIN V8 VANTAGE
Engine: 4,280cc V8
Transmission: 6-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 380hp@7,300rpm
Torque (lb ft): 302@5,000rpm
MPG: 18.8mpg 
CO2: 358g/km
First registered: 2005
Recorded mileage: 58,000
Price new: £83,000
Yours for: £29,950

Have a lookee at the other Aston Martin V8 Vantages for sale in the PH classifieds

[spice]

Transmission: 5-speed manual, four-wheel drive

[Jag-D]

It's a shame they just weren't that fast as they've achingly beautiful and sound amazing!

If I had the pennies, I would certainly buy one and have it breathed on a little bit

[Motorrad]

30 grand?

What's the reliability of these like...........I can see another option on the horizon.

[JohnGoodridge]

So tempting, so much more special than a 911 IMHO, but running costs?

[mrclav]

I can't think of many cars as recent as this that would give one that "sense of occasion" quite as much as this - Maserati 3200/4200 maybe? That seems like an awful lot of metal for the money...

[Wills2]

They're not slow and have more enough pace to keep up with a 911 and an e92 M3 not sure why journalists keep saying this as it's not my experience.

[goron59]

4WD, really? Didn't know that.

[PascalBuyens]

Aston... an itch to scratch some day (maybe soon...)

[BarryGibb]

Wills2 said:

They're not slow and have more enough pace to keep up with a 911 and an e92 M3 not sure why journalists keep saying this as it's not my experience.

Which engine, the 4.3?

[phil1987]

A lot of car and a lot of prestige for not a lot of money, but running costs would scare the crap out of me... If I have one by the time I'm 30, I'll be a very happy guy!

[SpunkyM]

I test drove a 4.3 coming out of my E46 M3, I can confirm they don't feel as quick - power to weight is the problem. The 4.7 is much better apparantly but they still go for big money. That said, the 4.3 is ripe for supercharging and you can have a gorgeous motor that goes as well as it looks for under £35k.

[PhilboSE]

Wills2 said:

They're not slow and have more enough pace to keep up with a 911 and an e92 M3 not sure why journalists keep saying this as it's not my experience.

They're not slow, agreed.

Can a 2005 Vantage have the pace to keep up with a 911? In my experience, no (assuming we're talking about the 911 S, which is the natural competitor to the Vantage.

One of the biggest differences between the 911 and the Vantage is at the pumps - the Aston seems to turn petrol into noise whereas the 911 translates it into "go". Where you can get 22mpg out of the 911 in spirited driving, the Aston will give 12-15mpg.

[vinnie83]

Wills2 said:

They're not slow and have more enough pace to keep up with a 911 and an e92 M3 not sure why journalists keep saying this as it's not my experience.

Not the V8, maybe the v12!

[garypotter]

Great looking car that will get noticed where ever you go, 911's have flooded the market and look the same so do not have the same visual impact, as previously mentioned not the fastest aston but it will keep up with the flow of traffic no problems.

my only doubt would be the running/repair costs, I have heard of some crazy costs, a client of mine had to have a new windscreen motor - ouch - proper pants down jobby...

[Riggers]

spice said:

Transmission: 5-speed manual, four-wheel drive

Very rare car, I'll have you know....

...sorry. Cut-and-paste moronicism during the upload process there. Blame me not Monkey...

[sjc]

That brief review is a very fair summing up. The 4.3 was one of the most underwhelming cars I've driven, all noise and no go,not particularly good iinterior quality, and not sharp enough handling wise.In fact the whole car felt like a bit of a fraud.The 4.7 is far, far superior car, and hopefully they might fall into budget very soon.
Either way,as the review quite rightly says, whatever your thoughts are, you simply can't stop looking at the things on the road.

[Krikkit]

See one of these every day on the way home from work - it doesn't have the fuse pulled but still makes good noise. Achingly beautiful thing, even better than the DB9 to my eyes.

[Ex Boy Racer]

I loved them from the moment they came out. When the time came to replace my RS4 i went and test drove one. Really really wanted to want it, but it just wasn't that inspiring to drive. I was gutted.
It's the age old choice - do you take the gorgeous girl who is boring in the sack or the dirty one who doesn't look quite as hot?? I stuck with the RS4.

[El Shafto]

Looks stunning. Better than most of Aston's current range. But the points raised about running costs are a genuine concern. A friend of mine had one for a while from new and sold it pretty quickly after a £2,500 basic service bill :S

[PaulB81]

I have always thought this one of the prettiest cars out there and long dreamed about owning one. I drove one on one of those experience days and was dissapointed. Im not a million miles away from behing able to afford one of the 4.3s but it just didnt have much go or charcter to it. I really really wanted to love it as well. In a weird way I still kind of want one but for the money there are a lot of 'better' cars.