Aston Martin DB7 GT | Spotted
2019 marks 25 years since the DB7 first arrived; why not mark the occasion with the best of the bunch?
Much like Lotus with Elise, it's difficult to imagine a modern Aston Martin without the DB7. Similarly beleaguered in the 1990s, both Aston and Lotus were saved by beautiful, desirable, exciting sports cars. Of course, DB7 and Elise went about their business in very different ways, but each worked just the ticket for their respective brands: the cars were what their makers needed, at exactly the right time.
It won't have escaped anyone's attention, either, that that was a jolly long time ago, the Elise having been launched in 1996 and the DB7 a couple of years earlier. So yes, the car you see is here is, fundamentally, a 25-year-old design; older than that, really, given that initial sketches will have been drawn years before launch. Quite some stylistic achievement, the DB7.
Initially launched with a supercharged (yet lethargic) straight-six, the DB7 really came into its own as the Vantage of 1999; powered by the 5.9-litre V12 that came to define a generation of Aston Martins, it broadened the car's scope as both a GT and a sports car. In addition, while the Vantage styling upgrades may, to some, have robbed the 7 of its original design purity, many others will have seen it evolved into a purposeful, assertive, handsome Aston Martin.
That went one step further still with the GT, as seen here in what's believed to be a very rare Pentland Green shade. A run-out special for the DB7 ahead of the DB9's arrival (its successor then did similarly before the DB11 came), the GT took all that was good about the Vantage and made it better still. There was a little more power from the V12 (upped to 440hp), extra dynamism from lighter wheels, reprofiled aerodynamics, uprated suspension and bigger brakes, plus unique trim inside and out to mark it out as something a bit special. 'The car the DB7 always should have been' has been spoken about the GT enough to have become trite, but it's difficult to avoid given how relatively minor the changes were and how emphatic the end result was.
DB7 GTs are rare cars, particularly with the desirable manual gearbox as fitted to this one. The advert states that only 85 right-hand drive GTs were produced, which is backed up by HowManyLeft - just 51 were taxed on UK roads last year (along with 37 GTA automatics).
Why the scarcity? It's hard to be certain, though the DB9's imminent arrival back then will surely have played a part, the promise of entirely new architecture inside and out, more power and a fresh design direction presumably enough to convert many prospective buyers. The GT could well have looked like yesterday's news - having been on sale for a decade, it sort of was - and little more desirable than the Vantage that had been available for a few years already.
All valid points at the time, and all which actually serve to make the GT look more attractive than ever 15 years or so after its launch, because it's such a rarity. This immaculate car, with a little over 30,000 miles recorded since 2004, as well as just the one owner who always had it serviced at Aston Edinburgh or Aston Works, is £50,000. More than it once was, sure, as the DB7 has slowly but surely appreciated. But that still makes it comparable in price to the (more common) Vantage on which it improved, and one of the more affordable ways into a manual V12. The DB9 manual is an interesting alternative, though the GT counters with its best-of-the-breed status. It could well be rarer, too. And might it be said a little prettier, too?
So, there you are; the best Aston Martin that everyone has forgotten about. Sufficiently modern to be usable (well, you'd have to hope) but also old enough to be classically appealing, the GT is a mighty tempting proposition DB7 a decade and a half after going on sale. Let's face it, too: manual, V12 Aston Martins that look this good aren't going to become less desirable with time. Now might be the time to move...
SPECIFICATION - ASTON MARTIN DB7 GT
Engine: 5,935cc, V12
Transmission: 6-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 440@6,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 410@5,000rpm
MPG: 14
CO2: 476g/km
First registered: 2004
Recorded mileage: 32,000
Price new: £104,500
Yours for: £49,950
I had just started driving, and my dad had a good year running the family business and ordered a new one having owned a secondhand supercharged I6 model up to then.
I remember going to Newport Pagnell to agree the specification, which of course is a massive part of the experience. I still have a bit of pink leather given to me on the tour, which some Saudi had specced an old Vantage in.
We then got invited back to see the car being built (Bloxham?) and it was incredible seeing the technicians crane this huge V12 engine and gearbox in what looked like an impossibly tight gap! Even then, being young, it started to filter through with how much labour went into these cars; it was easy to see where the money goes.
My dad took his chances on going for a manual. He test drove one and said it was quite stiff, but it just so happened that his one was spot on. I imagine if it is still out there, it must be one of very few manual cars.
When the car - 'V12 BAB' arrived, I had been driving for 6 months in my little 1.2 Clio when my dad announced one Sunday that we were going for a drive - in the Aston!
I was incredibly nervous in this thing, with that huge bonnet in front of me, being responsible for this unfathomably expensive object. I recall pulling away from a junction in Sidcup and my dad said "You just pulled away in 3rd!" The thing had so much torque I hadn't noticed at all.
Of course, I can't really tell you how it drove as I was simply relieved to survive the journey without kerbing a wheel, or worse . After all, being 17, I wasn't insured to drive it!
My dad had the car a couple of years, and he never complained about the humble XJS origins. I imagine in reality it was far evolved, and people - for whatever reason - just enjoy being negative about it. Anyway, dad drove it like he stole it much of the time, often coming into work saying he had achieved a new Personal Best on the journey there. Back then, 420bhp monstered anything else it encountered.
I remember vividly being the passenger seat when he had a tussle with a then new estoril blue E36 M3 and came out victorious as we dragged up the old A20 away from Brands Hatch. I remember the M3 owner lowering his window - also with his son in the passenger seat - saying "That's it! I'm getting one of those next!" That was my first taste of enthusiasts just having fun with each other.
As an impressionable 17 year old, I loved the looks and comments the car received, and it's burble around town (back then, you could specify how loud you wanted the exhaust at the factory - my father chose the loudest, obviously) cemented my love for all things car related.
I can't remember the exact figure, but he told me he ran the car on the company. It was a ridiculous amount, as you can imagine with the tax on a 6.0 V12. I think it was something like £5,000 a month - I think I was on £11,000 a year on an apprentice salary at the time! Each weekend, I would clean its wheels and check the tyre pressures, in desperate hope someone walking past the driveway may think this 17 year old owned a new Aston Martin V12 Vantage. Always been an optimist...
The only thing I’ve never liked with the DB7, of any flavour, was that all of the ones I’ve seen had interiors that just didn’t quite match my expectations of what an AM should be. They all looked like slightly up-market TVR Cerberas, with creased/dirty leather and a build quality more akin to a Lada.
Admittedly they were probably very much ‘used’ examples that had got to the bottom of the depreciation curve and where owners couldn’t or wouldn’t justify spending on them.
But if this one is as good as it sounds or looks I’d forgive any foibles and tuck it up in my garage. Post-EuroMillions win of course...
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