From the 70's-anyone had any experience with one? I'm slightly smitten...
+1. Great cars, good engine, beautiful craftsmen-ship. Non-Vantage Volante is very high on my bucket-list. Negative: At low speeds they drive like a bag of bolts. Early Bosch fuel injection cars can be a pain to get running right. Parts are expensive. Get a manual trans example for full satisfaction.
Phil, You might want to take a trip out to Autosport Designs in Huntington Station, NY. They are probably the largest vintage Aston Martin dealer in the country.
Just wondering if there was anyone on here who could talk about ownership experience-even better, if someone has a 5 speed coupe they'd like to sell me...
While I have not owned one, I have had some seat time in a number of coupes and have always walked away very impressed. The Coupes feel especially solid and very quick. A British muscle car, if there ever was one.
Owned a 77 US Spec model (Low compression) about 20 years ago 11712 LCA was the VIN as I recall. I had recently sold my 365 C/4 and the Aston (which had about 12,000 miles on it found me!) I really liked the car, I used it as a quasi daily driver, about 10K a year for several years. Pros: Great seating position coupled with excellent steering. Strong motor (mine was on Webers) that was very easy to mantain (at least compared to a C/4) Parts was not a problem (remember this was late 80's - mid 90's) and much less than Ferrari bits. I bought pieces directly from the UK - Straton's provided me great service. You could seat 4 people easily, drove from Seattle to Sun Valley (about 600 miles) with four adults The Boot was excellent Superb construction / craftsmanship Unusual, not every gold chained prat has one. A/C was good, at least compared to a F-car. Cons: Heavy fuel consumption Auto stiffled performance Mine had a leak in the RH foot well I never discovered Heavy around town I got tired of the 007 comments I always wanted to try a true Vantage but never had the chance. I have driven V-8's with the ZF gearbox, it is a rather agricultural unit. I think I would prefer a later Torqueflite with the lock-up torque converter. Though I love how 400's look as well as the motor, in many respects I thought the Aston was a superior vehicle (and I was working for a Ferrari dealership at that time!). I am told rust is a very large issue, it never was for me however. Cheers!
They're pretty well-built cars, I don't have to talk you into one. The biggest drawback is that more people than you will imagine will think it's a Mustang.
Rust CAN be a problem: examine sills carefully. Remember, these are alloy-bodied cars on a sheet-steel frame/platform. The methods of combining these safely in a construction then weren't as advanced as they are today.
Just wondering about reliability, etc....(and also trying to find a nice one!) if you've worked on them, are they expensive to maintain, or once set up, pretty easy going?
This is great! Thank you...now I just have to find a nice one...when did they start using the torqueflite box?
+1. Do not ever buy a DBS, DBS V8 or V8 type Aston Martin without checking the sills or allowing for the very expensive remedial work in the purchase price.
I've got one - a '77 auto. More than any other car I can think of, it's important to buy a good one. Little issues can mount up and they are not DIY-friendly (having also had a 400i I can say that the only things that are easier to do on the Aston are finding and paying for the parts). I cannot imagine anything more infuriating than trying to do a full restoration on one. Spend the extra money and cry only once - I learned that the hard way. Other than that, my experiences pretty much echo the other comments here. They have a comfy, elegant, well-designed interior, and the car manages to be a balance of exotic, muscle, and luxury that appeals to almost everyone. Fuel consumption is truly appalling (I have to fudge the rounding a bit to get to double digits). Low-speed harshness is a valid criticism; they bounce and rattle and are very heavy to drive at anything less than 40 MPH or so. Something like 90% of V8's are automatic - Aston paid around 150 pounds for each Torqueflite and 1500 for each ZF 5-speed, but they didn't charge extra so it was obviously in their best interest to push the auto. Manual conversions are common, if expensive, so if you find a great automatic at a good price that's something you might consider.
Thanks-this is very helpful! I'm wondering if it lowers the potential value of the car to do a manual conversion...I understand it costs about 15k...
If you would want to convert with the correct ZF-box you're looking at big figures. A lot of Maserati QP III's are broken up just for their gearboxes. Mind that the final drive is also different in ratio. You could consider a manual conversion with another box, IMO anything is more valuable than a torqueflite , and there are some really good boxes out there.
Here's another question-would it be a mistake to buy a right hand drive v8 in the states, from a resale perspective?
I don't think so, if you pay the right price. In fact, if it's a recent import from Britain, I'd venture to say there's a better chance of the car having been knowledgeably maintained. As for the manual conversion, Steel Wings offers a kit using a Tremec 5-speed that costs around $10k if you do it yourself. I don't believe it requires a change of axle ratio. Such a car would probably end up being worth more than an auto, but less than an original manual. I don't think it would cover its own cost, but it opens up the market a bit since there are never many out there. Flaviaman, my car is about a week older than yours - 11707.
Have any of the 3 speed 727s been converted to the newer A518 4 speeds? This done on old Mopar muscle cars.
I always wanted a 1970's V8 as the shape and design are a true classic , they have been described as a civilised Daytona by Paul Frere. I bought a 1979 Aston V8s , the final iteration of the car pre the introduction of the Oscar India series. The previous owner had the car worked on by Aston Martin heritage specialist Richard Williams , Richard ran the Aston Martin Nimrod team at Le MANS during the 80's so he knows all there is to know about fine turning a V8. The car is old English Pewter with dark green leather. The engine has been bored and stroked out to 7 Litre by Richard so now produces over 520 bhp with 550 lb ft of torque. The engine has never missed a beat, the cooling system is amazing with the car always maintaining a steady temperature . I think these old Aston Martin V8' s are a little unloved as they made so many , 980 Series 3 cars . They have not been looked after either as the resale values don't justify spending huge amounts of money on them , hopefully this will change in the future . You should go ahead buy one as you won't de disappointed.
I drove a v8 yesterday, and then a vantage-the vantage was fantastic! It's not to say I didn't like the v8, but the vantage had such balls...of course, a left hand drive vantage is too expensive for me, but I was wondering what (if any) kind of performance upgrades you can do for relatively cheap-I know about suspension/brakes, but is there anything other than reboring the engine that makes a v8 a little more aggressive?
I have owned my 1983 Vantage for over 7 years and could not be parted from it I adore it a true Iron fist in a velvet glove she ooozes charm and is properly brutal mores sports Bentley in character the interior is a pleasure to sit in and the AC is super cool the styling is for me on a par with the best of the era Performance wise she drives very differently to Italian sports you use the torque and there is absolutley no need to use top end revs the gearchange is smooth if a bit slow in operation but she will keep up with alot of modern stuff no doubt a few BHP have escaped over 30 years but she feels like she has at least 350 left I drove an Auto and did not like it and agree with comments re Fi cars needing a good set up The Chassis : yes you need to get this bit right properly inspect sills and suspension mounts and outriggers they can rust heavily if not treated well particularly UK cars sadly it rains here guys if they need chassis work its not complicated just like anything else cut out the old weld in the new. Parts are readily available as are ignition upgrades which replace the old Opus systems and make a vast difference engines are supremely robust as is the gearbox but use the right oils dont put modern thin stuff in a good 20w50 or 15w50 semi synth works well carb setup is also key just as it is with any big beastie running 4 big Webbers but once done they stay in tune valve clearances are not difficult but worth paying an Aston guy to do Brakes are really very good for the era twice as good as Countach and the steering is very precise ,suspension travel provides a smooth comfortable ride but the pay off being a bit of roll if your pressing on but this is tweakable by bigger front ARB Buy a good one you will not regret it and they will follow DB5/6 and yes people do compliment you on your Mustang
This all sounds great, but does any of your enthusiasm translate to the lowly v8? I drove a vantage the other day, and loved it, but it's sadly put of my price range...
Hi there i would not describe any of the Aston V8 5340cc as lowly as same car just Vantage has performance enhancements. the standard V8 drives really well and the 1985 onward mk 5's Are a delight to drive as the Fi and gearbox got some really good revisions. whichever you choose you will fall in love with probably the last true uncomplicated Brit Bruiser the later 550 Virage Vantage are a real challenge to drive swiftly and make progress and under bonnet are a real techno fest combination of Ford engine management
