2000 Aston Martin DB7 Coupe

Aston Martin built forty exclusive supercharged versions of their V8 Vantage in honor of the 40th anniversary of the 1959 victory at Le Mans. The special edition model made its debut in 1999 at the Geneva Motor Show where it was unveiled next to the race-winning DBR1/2. The so-named Vantage Le Mans was more than just a 'paint and trim' special, but a fully enhanced and upgraded model. It was given a special front spoiler with larger cooling ducts to improve airflow and downforce. The fuel caps were redesigned to look life fuel valves and the side vents were reshaped. The interior featured perforated foot pedals, aluminum gear-lever knob, and brushed metal panels replacing the traditional wood veneers.

The Vantage Le Mans came with the V590 engine but Aston Matin offered customers the opportunity to upgrade to the uprated V600 specification. The 600 horsepower engine gave the car a top speed of 200 mph making it the most powerful Aston Martin road-car until the One-77 arrived.

Most of the Le Mans was upgraded post-delivery, however, this particular example is one of the few that was upgraded to V600 specification when new. It is the 38th of 40 examples built and one of 22 left-hand-drive examples.

This car was originally ordered by His Excellency Sheikh Abdelaziz bin Khalifa Al Thani, the eldest son of the eighth Emir of Qatar, the Le Mans was optioned in Aston Martin Racing Green with a special-order ex-Works interior in trim-to-sample Green and Magnolia, with Dark Green carpeting. The sheik ordered hand-stitched Al Thani royal family crests emblazoned on the rear seats, gearshift, and owner's manual. After being dispatched to the Qatar embassy in Paris in June 2000, the Le Mans was registered on Qatar plates in December of that year.

This Aston Martin remained in Paris where it received servicing by Auto Performance Paris, before being sold to a private museum in Japan in October 2008. At that time the Le Mans was recorded as having covered 16,800 kilometers. In 2017, this car arrived in the United States on Show or Display exemption. At the time it had covered just 18,485 km.

By Daniel Vaughan | May 2020