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For my money – and perhaps yours too – there are two cars above all others that encapsulate the enduring magic of Aston Martin. The first, it hardly needs saying, is the one associated with a certain not-so-secret agent. The second is the car you see here, the original, immortal V8 Vantage. The impression it made on a whole generation back in the 1970s and ’80s was profound. For here was a car that could outrun a Porsche Turbo or Lamborghini Countach, and it was as British as a slab of prime roast beef with a dollop of Colman’s on the side. That it was born out of adversity makes its story all the more compelling.
Aston Martin had first kicked around the idea of a Vantage version of its V8 saloon as far back as 1969, just after the DBS V8 was introduced. A prototype was built with what was virtually a race-spec engine and reportedly hit 170mph in testing, but the financial climate was distinctly unfavourable, and then in 1971 David Brown sold the company and the idea was quietly shelved.
What followed were some of Aston Martin’s darkest days, culminating in the closure of the Newport Pagnell factory for the best part of a year. When it reopened in 1975, Aston badly needed something special to get itself noticed again. The management seized on William Towns’ audacious Lagonda wedge, but getting it into production would be fraught with problems. Meanwhile a small team of engineers resurrected the idea of a go-faster Aston. And so the V8 Vantage was born
The Vantage name had been around since the ’50s but usually to denote a tuned engine. Now, for the first time, Vantage would be a stand-alone model. Not only would the engine be given a power boost, but tyres, brakes, suspension, and even the aerodynamics would all receive attention. That small team, led by chief engineer Mike Loasby, achieved a minor miracle with seriously limited resources but an awful lot of know-how.
The first step, of course, was wringing more power from the 5.3-litre V8 engine, which was back on Weber carburettors after mixed fortunes with Bosch mechanical fuel injection. For the Vantage, a quartet of twin-choke Weber IDF carburettors with 48mm throats rather than the standard car's 42mm instruments were chosen. There would also be bigger inlet valves, revised camshafts, freer-breathing intake trunking and a re-routed, bigger-bore (and rather naughtier-sounding) exhaust.
As Loasby later recalled of the Vantage’s inception: ‘We’d improved the standard V8, then we thought it would be fun to do a faster version. So we did a sporty tune and increased the horsepower to about 380-390bhp. (In production form, the generally quoted figure is 375bhp at 6000rpm, a very useful uplift on the regular V8’s 320bhp or so.),
‘We also spent a lot of time developing the exhaust to make a nice noise. I personally don’t like V8s all that much, but we managed to get the Vantage sounding somewhere between a V8 and a V12. I remember one night coming out of Earls Court, following a Ferrari, and the noise echoed beautifully through the streets there…’
As development continued, the first prototype went racing at the 1976 Silverstone meeting of the Aston Martin Owners’ Club with Loasby at the wheel. At this point it looked standard, so its extra pace – helped by a few suspension tweaks – caused much interest.
But those standard looks were about to be transformed. In a rare event for Aston at the time, the team was granted time in the wind tunnel at the MIRA (Motor Industry Research Association) test facility, sessions to be shared with dealer Robin Hamilton, who was preparing his own souped-up V8 for a Le Mans entry.
What they found was that drag could be reduced by 10 per cent by faring-in the headlights and blanking off not just the grille but also the large air-scoop on the bonnet. This was achieved with no detriment to either engine cooling or getting air to the Webers, while a deep front air-dam and bootlid spoiler reduced lift. That grille blank also allowed the nose to gain a neat pair of Cibié driving lights, deemed essential for the sort of speeds of which the Vantage would be capable.
Mike Loasby again: ‘In the wind tunnel we got the drag right down, and now the car felt like a railway engine with the front right down over that spoiler. It would easily exceed 160mph – it was quite a fast car in its day! We had a lot of cars coming back with accident damage in the early days because people just didn’t realise how fast they were going.’
To help keep rubber on tarmac there were new Koni telescopic dampers all round (no more archaic lever-arms at the back), a rear track widened with spacers, progressive Aeon bump-stops, and springs lowered and stiffened by the removal of a coil. The front anti-roll bar was stiffened too, the steering’s castor angle was increased, and the front brake discs became vented, while the tyres were switched to fatter Pirelli CN12s, 255/60 VR15s front and rear.
This thrilling new Aston Martin was launched in February 1977 and proved an instant hit with the public and motoring media alike. Motor recorded 168mph and acknowledged there was probably more to come, while a 0-60mph time of 5.2sec put the Aston in the very top flight of high-performance cars. Acceleration in the higher gears was even more impressive, 50-70mph in top taking just 6.3sec (almost a second quicker than the contemporary Porsche Turbo). ‘Quite simply the Aston Martin Vantage is the fastest standard production car that Motor has tested in its 78-year existence,’ the magazine reported.
Autocar meanwhile recorded a 0-60mph time of 5.4 seconds, while top speed was estimated at 170mph. The truth was, most test tracks weren’t big enough to verify the Vantage’s maximum. A few years later, Aston was invited by Road & Track magazine to take part in its World’s Fastest Cars top speed shootout at the famous VW test track at Ehra-Lessien. Also present were a 911 Turbo, Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer, Lamborghini Countach and others. Former F1 world champion Phil Hill did the runs, the big Aston hitting a remarkable 176mph and easily eclipsing most of the opposition.
This was properly rapid for the period, and while the Vantage’s immense weight (close to two tons fuelled) and prodigious thirst (low-teens, even single figures on a spirited run) were acknowledged, road-testers of the day loved it. Here was a British car more than capable of taking on Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche. Britain did indeed have its first supercar.
A young Nicholas Mee joined Aston Martin Sales in 1976, just as the V8 Vantage was entering the final stages of development. He was in the thick of it when the new model went on sale the following year, and he’s spent the last 40-odd years buying and selling these wonderful cars. So there’s no-one better to recall the impact the model made when it was launched all those years ago – and no-one better to guide today’s potential owners through the current market.
Nick’s first exposure to the car came while it was still in prototype form. ‘I remember driving a V8 that was actually a Vantage but without the body addenda. It was up in Wales. It was an engineering car and it was fantastic,’ he smiles. ‘I remember it was on the Pirelli CN12s, which were great.’
The drive wasn’t without drama though. ‘At one point I floored it up this hill and went over the crest and lifted off and had the throttle stick open,’ he laughs. Teething problems…
‘The first time I saw a car with the full body kit was up at the factory. It was registered UMJ 71R (though for publicity shots it wore the usual press car plate, AM V8) and painted Tankard Grey. It was a bit of a development hack but it had the front bib and the blanked-off grille and the bolted-on rear spoiler. It was a bloody quick car actually.
‘And then we got our Sloane Street demonstrator, which was gold and had the registration RYK 1R, and we christened it The Rustler because it didn’t seem to have that much power! The early engines were individually built, and some were certainly better than others!
‘A good one was a very rapid motor car. A few years later, I was driving a Vantage back from Monaco on the autoroute and caught up with a Countach, and for 30 or 40 miles we were absolutely on it – and he couldn’t stay with me.’
The aerodynamic changes definitely worked. ‘They worked in moving traffic out of the way!’ chuckles Nick. ‘More seriously, on the motorway, passing high-sided vehicles at speed, in a standard V8 you’d really have to correct it. And though you didn’t know it, the front was lifting up at speed. Get into a Vantage and you could pass trucks with a 30mph speed difference and it was arrow-straight.’
So was it a sales success, and what effect did it have on the perception of Aston Martin? ‘What it did was attract a different buyer: people like Walter Wolf, the racer and F1 team owner, and Gordon Procter, the advertising guy with a thing for fast cars. He took delivery of his at Brands Hatch.
‘Rowan Atkinson had a V8 first, then a Vantage. Another customer was the Duke of Westminster… It attracted these high flyers. Because this was a genuine supercar.’
‘These cars are amongst our favourite Aston Martins,’ says Chris Green, Service and Aftercare manager at Nicholas Mee & Co. ‘With regular maintenance, the V8 Vantage has proven to be as reliable as it is highly desirable.
‘Of course, as with any classic of this era, things do have the potential to go wrong and condition needs to be carefully appraised. The simple fact is, any V8 Vantage is going to be at least 35 years old, and in the case of the older examples, 45-plus.’
So what do you need to be aware of if you’re considering a potential purchase? Unsurprisingly, it’s the body and underlying structure that should be the primary focus of attention. The Vantage uses the classic Aston method of hand-formed aluminium alloy outer panels over a steel superstructure, and both can be affected by corrosion, though it’s beneath the skin that the main problem areas lie.
‘The most important thing to check is the chassis,’ says Chris. ‘The sills in particular are a weak spot and if they need repairs you may have to cut away the bottoms of the wings, so there’s a lot of work – and then you’re into paint too. It can be a £20,000 plus VAT exercise and a number of months in the workshop, so you can see the need to have these areas carefully checked, particularly if buying from a non-specialist or from an auction.
‘Happily, cosmetic refurbishment is highly do-able. Our V8 Volante refurbishment case study explains the process in more detail. Budget circa £25,000 plus VAT for a complete interior re-trim and circa £25,000 plus VAT for a glass-out, bare-metal repaint. Of course, if body repairs are required, that budget will potentially grow.’
Mechanically, in terms of the major components – the all-alloy V8 engine and five-speed ZF gearbox – the good news is that failures are very rare. ‘Mechanically, they’re really very strong if properly maintained, so the most important thing is evidence of regular servicing,’ says Chris.
When the cars were new, servicing intervals were every 5000 miles, with manual adjustment of the timing chains required every 10,000 miles. Most Vantages today do tiny mileages, but any reputable specialist will advise an annual service and checkover, not least to nip any developing issues in the bud and prevent larger bills further down the road.
Should an engine require a rebuild, costs will range from £25,000-£50,000 plus VAT dependant on requirements and build specification, for a gearbox rebuild £8,000-£10,000 plus VAT again dependant on requirements. But don’t be deterred by higher mileage if the car has been well maintained. Both the engine and gearbox can and do run to 100,000-plus miles if maintained correctly.
Almost all V8 Vantages were fitted with the ZF five-speed manual gearbox. Only a handful of cars were fitted with an auto by the factory, so if the Vantage you’re looking at has an automatic ’box, chances are it’s not a Vantage at all but a regular V8 dressed up to look like one.
And what about the rest of the running gear? ‘The brakes tend to wear lightly during normal usage,’ says Chris. ‘One fault we do see from time to time is failure of the servos, which is a £2000.00 fix for both servos to be removed and overhauled.
‘As with any vehicle, suspension parts are subject to wear and tear or ageing. We say owners should budget for a refresh typically every two to three years, dependant on usage and storage conditions: wishbone bushes, brake reaction bushes and king-pin joints being the main areas of focus.
‘Electrical gremlins can appear, but thankfully these are mostly a result of poor or corroded electrical connections. Obviously, electrical parts will need replacing from time to time, and some are now obsolete. However, we have a large network of expert sub-contractors, so the overhaul of window motors, gauges and wiper motors, to name but a few, is straightforward.’
For all of these reasons, if you’re buying outside the well-established Aston Martin specialist network, a pre-purchase inspection is highly recommended. ‘We are able to carry this out for circa £600 plus VAT,’ says Chris, ‘and it will not only provide peace of mind but could potentially avoid unanticipated expense.’
Servicing costs start from £1,100 for a standard annual service, with the option to choose more in-depth work where additional fluids, filters and parts are either renewed or dismantled for inspection. A 5,000-mile service currently costs £1,600 and a major 10,000-mile service is £2,600, all these prices being inclusive of VAT.
‘Alternatively,’ says Chris, ‘we can individually tailor a maintenance programme for any vehicle should annual mileage be minimal, or if the service history is unknown, as can often be the case on recent purchases. Our team are always happy to discuss these options, providing the best advice to guide clients through the process.’
And what steps can be taken to preserve the all-important body and chassis? ‘Our advice is simple: regular inspections are key and if corrosion is found, act on it immediately. It can often be more cost-effective to deal with it in its early stages, before it spreads and the costs increase accordingly.
‘Overall, we suggest budgeting for circa £3,000 per year to keep a V8 Vantage on the road, and in a condition befitting Aston Martin’s – and Britain’s – first supercar.’
This is not the first time I’ve driven XYT 796T. The first time was way back in the summer of 1995 and it was a day to remember for a number of reasons.
At the time I was editor of a magazine called Superclassics, and for the Autumn 1995 issue we’d decided to bring together a V8 Vantage with its even fiercer sibling, the Vantage Zagato. For the feature itself, I would be driving the ‘regular’ Vantage, and the Zagato would be driven by a promising young writer (and occasional comedic performer) by the name of Rowan Atkinson. Wonder whatever happened to him…
It was a wonderful day spent with two utterly wonderful cars. The Zagato was the lighter, more exotic, more racer-ish of the two and brought back happy memories for Rowan of the Zagatos he’d owned (and raced) himself. Meanwhile I was completely taken with the blue 1979 ‘Oscar India’ saloon, whose beautiful condition was a credit to its then owner, Michael Drayton.
Now fast-forward almost 30 years, and a call from Nicholas Mee & Co to drive a V8 Vantage for this feature. When I realised it was none other than XYT 796T, I fairly bit their hand off!
Mr Mee himself has a special relationship with this car too. It has had just three owners in its entire life and Nick sold it on all three occasions. The first time was when he was director of Aston Martin Sales and he sat down with its original purchaser, one Maurice Solomons, to draw up the specification. This included a special paint colour, in fact a Ferrari colour, Blue Ribot. But what made XYT truly unique at the time was the dash, which was trimmed in the same magnolia hide as the rest of the cabin (Vantage dashes were traditionally black, later often wood veneer), with the top roll in Blue leather. It looked – and still looks – utterly sublime.
But then so does the whole car, which has clearly been loved by each of its owners in turn. After Mr Solomons had owned it for five years, Nick sold it again, this time to Michael Drayton, who would keep it for a remarkable 40 years. Right up until early 2024 in fact, when it would be purchased by its current owner, Harry Neben, again through Nicholas Mee. It's here today after undergoing some detail fettling. Unusually, it has never been restored, just nicely maintained by all three of its custodians. Which is always the best sort of car.
Slip inside that gorgeous, magnolia leather-lined cabin, into the wide, gently supportive driver’s seat and the view forward is one of the finest you’ll ever see, framed by period-thin A-pillars and dominated by the rising plateau of bonnet bulge – not so much design statement as topographical feature.
Turn the key and the warmed V8 catches instantly, settling to a delicious and very vocal burble – more of a snargle – that rises with a surprisingly free-revving bark when the throttle is blipped. Later, waiting at traffic lights in town, the amusingly throaty fusillade of crackles and pops has bystanders turning to see who or what is responsible. I blame the engineers at Works Service who deleted the back boxes for the Vantage all those years ago!
Peak torque of 380lb ft of torque arrives at 4000rpm, but while there’s plenty of muscle to work with, this is an engine that gives its best at higher revs. And once it’s into the business end of the rev-range the note evens out creamily, settling somewhere between V8 and V12, just as Mike Loasby and his team intended all those years ago.
And all the while I have to keep reminding myself that this engine has never been rebuilt in 45 years and 50,000-plus miles. It’s a credit both to the engineers at Newport Pagnell and its three owners.
