1987 Aston Martin V8

Convertible Coupe
Chassis number: SCFCV81C9HTL15512

The Aston Martin V8 Grand Touring car was an exclusive luxury sports car that is often considered the last of the traditional, hand-built Aston Martins. The Aston Martin V8 was in production over a 17-year period and was continually improved upon, receiving regular refinements and modifications. Power was from the Tadek Marek-designed four-cam V8 engine. In June of 1978, a Volante was added to the line followed by a Weber-Marelli electronic fuel injection system in 1984. The Volante range was distinguished by their flatter bonnet and smooth power curve.

Between 1978 and 1989, just 849 examples of the V8 Volante were built, of which 568 were configured in left-hand-drive for export.

This V8 Volante example is finished in Royal Cherry with tan upholstery with oxblood piping. It is fitted with a five-speed manual gearbox and 4-wheel Girling ventilated disc brakes. Nearly 90% of the US market V8 Volantes were given an automatic gearbox, making the manual a rare option.

The first owner was from Eureka, California who used the car sparingly, accruing fewer than 3,800 miles over a period of 10 years. In 2000, the car passed to another Northern California owner and benefitted from minimal use. More recently, the car went into the care of a collector in Palm Springs, California, who continued to preserve this low-mileage example. Currently, the car has less than 7,000 miles. It has its correct Blaupunkt radio, Connolly hides, walnut veneers and Wilton wool carpets.

In 2012, the car was offered for sale at Gooding & Company's Pebble Beach, California auction. The car was estimated to sell for $140,000 - $180,000 and offered without reserve. As bidding came to a close, the car had been sold for the sum of $103,400, inclusive of buyer's premium.

by Dan Vaughan

Convertible Coupe
Chassis number: SCFCV81C7HTL15556
Engine number: V/585/5556/LFA

Aston Martin announced the Vantage Volante, the final variant of the V8 model line, on October 8th of 1986. It was inspired by a design made from the Brunei Royal Family, and given a deep front spoiler, wide flared wheel arches, and extended side skirts. Additional hood latches and a stiffer suspension were added to cope with the expected high speeds from the uprated engine. 16-inch Ronal wheels with 255/55 VR16 Goodyear Eagle tires were placed at all four corners. The Vantage Volante was offered with a three-speed automatic gearbox, which was a first for the model, and proved to be popular over the expensive ZF manual gearbox.

United States federal regulations did not allow for the high-compression V580X engine, so Aston Martin fitted the vehicles with a lower compression V585 engine, equipped with Weber electronic fuel injection. The only distinguishable feature was a flatter bonnet and federally required rubber bumpers.

This particular example was built in April of 1987. It is a U.S. specification V8 Vantage Volante and first delivered new in 1988 through Aston Martin Lagonda of Beverly Hills to a movie industry executive. Unable to decide on the color he preferred, he also took delivery of a red version of the same model. The car remained with him for three years and during that time, acquired fewer than 9,000 miles. Rolls-Royce of Beverly Hills arranged the sale to the second owner, a Dallas socialite. After 24 years of ownership, and with fewer than 25,000 miles on the odometer, it was acquired by the current owner. Since then, the U.S. bumpers have been replaced to European-style bumper blades.

The car has received mechanical work and detailing with invoices totaling over $65,000.

by Dan Vaughan

Production of the Aston Martin V8 lasted from 1969 through 1989 with 4,021 examples built. They served as a replacement for the outgoing DB6 model and since the engine was not ready by the time of its introduction, the company released the DBS with the straight-six Vantage engine from the DB6. The Tadek Marek-designed V8 was ready two years later, and Aston Martin introduced the DBS V8. After the demise of the straight-six Vantage in 1973, the DBS V8 became the Aston Martin V8.

In January of 1986, at the New York International Auto Show, Aston Martin introduced the Series 5 with fuel injection. Since the Weber/Marelli system was more compact and required less space than the previous carburetors, the hood bulge was virtually eliminated. By the time production came to a close in 1989, a total of 405 Series 5 cars had been built.

The 1987 Aston Martin V8 bodystyles included a fastback coupe, a convertible coupe, and a coupe built by Zagato. The Vantage specification was also available, which increased horsepower to over 400 horsepower. The base dual-overhead-camshaft V8 displaced 325.9 cubic-inches and delivered around 310 horsepower. The engine was a ZF five-speed manual unit or a three-speed TorqueFlite automatic. The body was constructed from aluminum with steel floor and inner panels resting on a platform frame. Pricing in the U.S. began at around $127,000 and rose to nearly $168,000 for the Convertible Coupe with the Vantage specification.

by Dan Vaughan

Coupe by Zagato
Chassis number: SCFCV81Z8HTL20043
Engine number: V/580/0043/X

The Aston Martin V8 Vantage Zagato made its introduction in 1986 at the Geneva Motor Show. It was given lightweight construction and the unique double-bubble roofline for which the Milanese coachbuilder is known. Later in the year, Sheikh Abdul al Thani of the Qatari royal family put in an order for one. The resulting vehicle was chassis number 20043, ordered in Middle Eastern left-hand-drive with manual five-speed specification. It was completed in September of 1987 and was never exported. It remained in the United Kingdom and in mid-1989, it was involved in a road accident in Spain. The car was sent back to Aston Martin Lagonda's service department where it was rebuilt, with no expenses spared.

After working with the insurance company, a decision was made to build a new car using the existing chassis number. The original X-Pack–specification engine was fully rebuilt and fitted to the new chassis, which was then sent to Milan, where a completely new body was fabricated by Zagato. Several of the end-of-production Zagato V8 Volante features were incorporated into the new 20043, including a more luxurious interior with ebony-finish trim, Alcantara headliner, and a locking center console, and a more-modern rear bumper.

The completed car was finished in Litchfield Black over Parchment leather. It was delivered in July of 1991 and was the last V8 Vantage Zagato to leave the factory. With the mileage reset, it currently shows 4,200 km on the odometer.

The car then entered an Aston Martin collection where it remained until 2017, when it was acquired by the current caretaker. The car then received a full recommissioning, which included the fitting of four new Michelin Pilot Sports tires riding on factory-supplied late V8 Vantage Ronal-style wheels. After the work was completed, the car was shown in 2018 at the Quail and was featured in the Zagato Centenary class at the 2019 Greenwich Concours d'Elegance.

by Dan Vaughan

FastBack Coupe
Chassis number: SCFCV81V5JTR12583

The Aston Martin V8 Vantage 'Oscar India' was introduced in 1978 and came with a closed-bonnet scoop, large front air dam, and blanked-off front grille. The interior was updated with leather and wood. Over the years, Aston Martin continued to raise the bar even further, culminating with the 'X-Pack' introduced at the 1986 British International Motor Show. It was fitted with the modified V580X engine previously seen in the V8 Zagato. The engine had four dual-barrel Weber carburetors, high-compression Cosworth pistons, and larger valves and intake manifold helping to achieve 430 horsepower from its 5.3 liters. In this guise, the Aston Martin V8 Vantage achieved true supercar status with a 200 mph top speed.

This particular example is the 48th X-Pack built and one of 137 X-Pack coupes ever produced. It was built in late 1987, in preparation for display at the Scottish Motor Show. It was given some features which were later seen on the 1988 models, including Ronal 16-inch wheels. It was delivered to Murray Motor Company in Scotland in March 1988, and by the late 2000s it had acquired 73,000 miles on its odometer. It was purchased by Bramley Motor Cars, who undertook an extensive restoration by top UK Aston specialists. The work included a full glass-out, bare-metal repaint in period-correct Rolls-Royce Royal Blue by Spray Tec Restorations, followed by a rebuild of the gearbox and rear axle. The interior was re-trimmed in Brown Wilton carpet and Bitter Chocolate Autolux leather piped with Light Grey. The engine was sent to the factory service department, Aston Martin Works, where a full rebuild to 6.3-liter specification was performed for a total cost in excess of £70,000. A new AC compressor was fitted along wide an upgraded braking system, Z Core radiator, and stainless exhaust system.

by Dan Vaughan

The Aston Martin V8 was produced from 1969 through 1990 and was, of course, powered by an eight-cylinder engine. For many years eager customers had been pleading with Aston Martin to produce an eight-cylinder car. Expected to be completed by 1967, the engine took a few more years of development before being ready. In the meantime, Aston Martin introduced the DBS which borrowed its Vantage six-cylinder engine from the DB6.

In the 1987 film 'The Living Daylights', famous British Secret Agent James Bond could be seen on the big screen driving around in his V8 Vantage Volante. A few years earlier Roger Moore had driven a DBS V8 in the movie 'The Persuaders.' His car was built to resemble the V8 version but actually powered by a six-cylinder engine.

In 1969 the eight-cylinder engine was ready and successfully adapted to the DBS. The engine had been designed by Aston Martin's head engineer, Tadek Marek. The engine had made an appearance in the Lola T70 LeMans racer but was more of a learning and testing experience than a true success. The DBS was now available with either the six- or eight-cylinder engine, with the eight-cylinder version being the more popular. Over the years, the 5.3 liter V8 was fitted with either Bosch fuel injection or carburetors, double overhead camshafts, and was capable of producing around 300-315 horsepower. Zero-to-sixty took a mere 5.9 seconds with top speed being achieved at 160 mph.

The square grille, four headlights, and large front air dam were the traditional Aston Martin persona. Gone were the wire wheels.

By 1972 the DBS V8 became the Aston Martin V8; since the six-cylinder DBS was no longer offered. This left the V8 and the Vantage as Aston Martins's entire model line.

In 1972 Aston Martin offered the Series II which incorporated minor visual and mechanical changes. The front featured a mesh grille with twin quart headlights while under the hood the engine was given a little extra tuning. Production of the Series II continued until 1973 with just over 285 examples being produced. After the Series II came the Series III which incorporated four twin-choke Weber carburetors and a larger hood scoop. The 310 horsepower engine took the car from zero-to-sixty mph in 5.7 seconds, when equipped with the manual transmission. Soon strict emissions and government regulations sent the performance tumbling. A new exhaust and camshaft helped boost power a little but was still down by about ten horsepower.

The Series III continued production from 1973 through 1978 except for 1975 when production was temporarily halted. In total, over 965 examples were produced. Production ceased in 1975 due to financial difficulties. A take-over from a consortium in 1975 meant the company could continue producing vehicles. It was decided that instead of creating new models which often consume large amounts of capital, the company would focus its attention and abilities on fine-tuning the products already in production.

At the Birmingham International Motor Show in 1978, Aston Martin introduced the Series IV, also known as the 'Oscar India.' The hood scoop was replaced with a bulge, and a spoiler could now be found on the rear. On the interior could be found wood trim, not seen on an Aston Martin since the DB2/4 of the 1950's. Most were equipped with Chrysler's Torqueflite 3-speed automatic gearbox. Production continued from 1978 through 1985, with a total of 291 examples being produced.

1978 also saw the introduction of the V8 Volante which was a convertible. Though the United States had strict rules concerning safety and convertibles, many of the 650 Volantes produced during the 12-year period made their way State-side.

In 1985 a partnership was formed with the famous Italian coachbuilder Zagato to build a limited-edition Zagato-bodied version of the V8 Vantage. Sketches were shown to the public at the 1985 Geneva Motorshow with the production version making an appearance a year later. These cars were lighter and smaller with an estimated top speed of around 300 km/h. Though production was limited to only 50 examples, demand was much higher. Even before the cars were produced, the money had already been collected from buyers and the original sticker price had even seen escalation due to the popularity.

Planning always takes a back seat to reality. The car was estimated to have a top speed of 300 km/h but when testing began, the engine proved inadequate to meet the goal. The fuel injection system was replaced with Weber carburetors but this caused a new problem. The hood needed to be enlarged to house the cabs resulting in a design that was not aesthetically pleasing to many customers.

The 'double bubble' roof was Zagato's signature trademark. The aerodynamic body was shorter than its counterpart and weighed 10% less. Handling was considerably better as was the overall performance.

Since the Aston Martin V8 Vantage Zagato was produced in limited numbers many investors purchased the vehicles in hopes of turning a profit. Though the designs are very elegant, the true strength of the car was in its performance; sadly many have not been given the opportunity to prove their potential to their owners.

At the 1986 New York Auto Show, Aston Martin introduced their fuel-injected Series V. Since there were no bulky carburetors, there was no need for the bulge. Production continued until 1989 with around 61 examples being produced.

In 1998 a limited edition version of the Vantage was introduced and dubbed the V600. Outfitted with the 5.3 liter V8 and fitted with dual superchargers, the car was capable of producing an astonishing 600 horsepower. Some of the design cues were taken from the DBR1 LeMans racer that won the 1959 LeMans race. Production was low due to problems with emission regulations. Instead, Aston Martin introduced the V12 Vanquish in 2001.

During the production of the Aston Martin V8, it was hailed by many as Britain's 'super car'. It's eight-cylinder engine was a bold move for the small, low-production quantity Aston Martin firm. In the end, it was the right decision and one that carried the company for many years. Its performance was legendary and the design was elegant.

by Dan Vaughan