Evaluation: One of 166 Vantage Volante V8s ever made, this example was originally delivered in left-hand drive to Monaco in Suffolk Red paintwork. Five months later it was returned to the factory and was converted to right-hand drive and from automatic to a manual transmission. In 2012 the car received a 7.0-litre R S Williams engine, new sills, a respray to its present colour, and a full retrimming.
The paint finish is of very high quality and is holding up superbly with only one minor chip visible. The front grille trim is fading slightly. The wheels and tyres are perfectly fresh. The light tan leather is of the highest quality, simply incredible. The Wilton-type carpets follow suit. The throttle pedal is worn and is the only item on the car that shows genuine use.
Bottom Line: This car sold for £387,900 (about $500,000 at the time) at the Bonhams Aston Martin sale in 2017. It’s still a great-looking, rare, fast car and Aston prices aren’t exactly lower than they were four years ago. Why it attracted just a handful of quiet bids on the block at Goodwood isn’t clear. It was the last Aston martin of the auction, so maybe all the Aston fans had already left.
