Can I get your thoughts on this AM please

I had a 1975 V8 in the mid-1980s. Car had a pleasant rumble exhaust sound. Got about 6 mpg, new Avon tires needed every 5,000 miles. Car was heavy and felt large, was not nimble on the road. Elegant feel for the leather inside, less so for the switches. US cars pretty commonly have the auto transmission. One manual tranny car I tried kept popping out of gear during the test drive.

There are several cars in the US for sale, see Autotrader Classic. I would be spooked about a car which has not been driven in more than a decade unless the price was clearly enough below market to cover uncertainties in what is needed to bring it up to comfortable running condition and value point. As static art, a different perspective, but the asking price is well above what other static examples are asking.

 

I have one of these in my garage. Almost as fast as the later V8 Vantage but you need an expert to set the fuel injection up correctly. Well sorted and looked after they are great cars, one that has been sitting since 2010 will need a good going over before it's fit to use.

 

Much more original than the loast one you sowed us. I don't like the sound of " a purple tint", but in fairness it doesn't sho in the photos. I wonder what it's like in the metal.

Echoing comments above:

• There is a reason why AM reverted to carburettors for the series 3.
• Sitting for 10 years is not going to have done it any good.
• "Car was heavy and felt large, was not nimble on the road." reminds me of how I felt the first time I drove one. My DD at that time was a TVR 3000M, so the contrast was stark.

The only other thing I would add is to question that mileage. Most early owners drove their cars a lot, especially those who specced a manual, so a total of less than 10,000 miles in 38 years seems scarely credible.

In the last photo, I assume that is just a mark on the floor, not a pool of fluid . . . !!

 

Would you consider a drophead? This one is a LHD manual car and available from a dealer whom I know (I bought my Corniche from them. And sold it back to them two years later for 30% more) and is reasonably trustworthy (in so far as one can say that about any secondhand car dealer). This is FI too, but the later Weber / Marelli version fitted towards the end of production (series 5). Although very low mileage, it has already been through the re-commissioning process, so there should (hopefully) not be too much immediate expenditure needed.

https://www.ddclassics.com/used/cars/aston-martin/v8/volante-efi-112

I can get a price for you if you are interested. But it is not likely to be cheap.

 

To follow up on a couple of comments added by others:

Yes, the fuel injection setup was finicky enough that Aston Martin would send a technician to the home address of an owner in Los Angeles to set up for the morning startup.

Mileage correctness has some possible ways to check. In addition to looking at wear on the foot peddles rubber and carpets (providing they have not been replaced), my 1975 V8 had a second odometer. There was a mileage counter in the engine bay, which if my memory is correct, recorded a click every 25,000 miles for catalytic converter purposes.

 

Did you ever explore this car further? That paint color may well be "Mendip Blue". My 2003 DB7VV is that color and it certainly has a "purplish glow" to it in certain lighting conditions...but it's primarily a dark blue appearance...

 

Some of these FI cars were converted to Webers. You could do the same...

 

No sir. If I buy anything new, it will be a 330...

 

A friend of mine has the last carbureted Aston ever made.

 

Be interested to know which car that is, should have been built in 1990 if it's the last.

 

Yes. It's like an 89 or 90. I don't quite remember but that sounds about right.