ENGLISH CHARM

hi,ppl.i was in london during the bombings(my hse is approximately 500yrd away from euston station!) and was there to to inspect 2 cars;the bentley conti gt for my father and my very own '99 diablo roadster VT.the dealerships were within walking distance of each other,so i was pleased to go for the typical english evening stroll.
passing by some shops,a leviathan of a car passed me by...one with what the italians call "provo" plates attached to it.the beast?it was the Aston Martin Vantage!
strangely attractive,brutal beyond comparison and with a soundtrack to die for,the 2002 AMV8 Vantage made on-lookers point toward it in sheer delite and excitement.
for awhile,the v8 vantage was the most powerful car in production.5.3l v8 supercharged engine endowed it with either 557bhp or 605bhp,the latter figure dubbed the works prepared v600 vantage.
debuting in 1993,the first iteration of this car produced a fabulous 485bhp from 6.3l.in 1995,aston prepared a 557bhp behemoth with it's supercharged
5.3l v8.
the 557bhp vantage did 0-62 in 4.4sec,1-100 in 10sec and Vmax'd at 192mph.the v600 eclipsed this figures easily;0-62 in 3.8sec,0-100 in 9sec and
easily reached 204mph in 5th.
all this performance while being cossetted in true english luxury.the aston vanquish S is probably it's successor,but today's only equivalent of the
unbelievable vantage is probably the bentley conti gt.barely.
i could go on and on,but i'll post the pictures of MY vantage within 3 1/2 weeks...yes,english charm won me over at the end.i begrudgingly cancelled the diablo roadster and bought the vantage instead!
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ive always liked the early vantages, they were twin supercharged werent they? Congrats on the new ride and drive her hard..

 

I remember when my friends dad had the convertible of that in mint condition.... the power of that car is quite nice.

 

I've always loved that car. Its a truly awesome, awesome car. Good luck with it!

 

guys,thanks loads for the positive feedback! one more thing i forgot to include
was basic reliability...the vantage has some unburstable mechanicles;this was indeed a factor in my purchase of this beast!
one thing i miss about late-80's to mid-90's cars is the fact that not EVERYTHING was computerized;today's high performance cars(from europe)
are somewhat fragile in comparison!
performance cars like the corvette c3-c5,original viper,late-60's musclecars
as well as 80's jap sports coupes have always had easy to work on mechanicals.
the aston is;with proper care,virtually as bomb-proof as a late-80's porsche or even a 964.
and ryan,ALL vantages(virage based) were twin supercharged.they were based
on the already mega 6.3 conversion;which produced anywhere between 470-500bhp as well as introduced the flared arches and (badly needed) suspension and chassis mods.
I cant wait to go cross-continental on this beauty...will keep u guys updated!

 

we need pictures!

 

the following are 2 cars i considered,a 1990 virage 6.3l 500bhp and the eventual purchase;the 1998-99 v600.will post better pics when they ship it over to my place.
darn i'm excited!!!!!
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hey guys!
latest news regarding my vantage purchase;it's now being geared for
50 deg. celsius daily(fingers crossed) usage,and as a result net horsepower
has reached 617bhp.
so 18 days and counting til delivery!
my overtly wealthy "friends" had better watch out,i believe no ferrari bar the
enzo will live with this leviathan in a straight line!
the car is also to be re-sprayed le mans green,have the "engine start" button
replaced with the crystal item from the db9 and le mans v600-style front
wings.

 

Always loved the look of those old Astons, looks like a great purchase, and should be a sick sleeper with all that power and tasteful, understated appearance! I'll look forward to some pics when you receive the final product!

 

hehhehh...so am i,jason.
sleeper?this car is the size of a merc cl-class and actually draws more attention
than a ferrari 360 due to it's rarity,size and sound.
performance,despite it's 600+bhp will only read:-
0-62mph 4.0sec,0-100mph 9.9sec and Vmax 195mph.
a ferrari 575 would propably eat me alive around corners!
luckily most supercar owners in malaysia drive around 100km/h!
do wish me luck,as there are no OFFICIAL workshops/dealers of astons
over here(malaysia)!
did u know that u could get a fantastic aston for bargain prices?
a solid 1995-1998 db7 aston martin could be had for about $70k?

 

Well - I guess sleeper would be more appropriate for around here since I would guess that 99.9% of the general population wouldn't know what it was...over here the DB-7 has dipped even more than that - last I was working with them, there were coupes available in the 45k range, I'm assuming since the V12 Vantage has dropped more in that time, that there might even be some cars with a few miles in the upper 30's but I wouldn't bet the farm on it. Sure a 575 might eat you up around corners, but heck, it's still a phenomenal car with great history, and a touch of class that many will miss due in large part to the rarity of them - not sure about Malaysia but here I can honestly say I've never seen an older Vantage of any flavor in person, and I've been around exotics for quite some time. Someday I hope...

 

Congrats on the purchase - be sure to post some pics when it gets to Malaysia.