1995 Aston Martin V8 Vantage V550 - Tom P. - Autosport Designs Road Test

--Pentland Green with Saddle Brown leather interior, Beige carpeting and Wood trim. 27,000 KM's/16,000 miles from new, 6-speed manual, Bespoke audio system, Extremely rare. A whole four years was to pass between the introduction of the Virage and the high performance Vantage. The Vantage was quite a bit different throughout, only the roof and the doors were carried over from the Virage and its original styling by John Heffernan. It was Ken Greenley together with Project Manager, Mike Booth who improved on the original and thus the 1990's version of the V8 Vantage production. Changes to the Virage based body may be extensive, but that's nothing compared to the engine. The original 5.3 liter V8 now housed twin superchargers and thus the engine now produced 550bhp and 550 lb.ft of torque. This power plant was at the time, the most powerful production power-plant in the world. The braking system utilized massive 362 mm diameter ventilated discs with four piston AP Racing calipers, the largest brakes fitted to any road car and certainly enough stopping power for this 550bhp Aston. The power propelled the V8 Vantage to 0-60 mph in 4.6 seconds with an official AML's top speed of 186 mph, although a figure of almost 200mph was recorded in testing. In its day, it was the fastest Aston Martin road car ever. This interior was sumptuous but functional as always as befitting any Aston Martin motorcar. By February 1998, production had topped the 200 mark during five years of production, and when production ended, a mere 239 'standard' examples had been produced (1/3rd of which were LHD) making this an exceptionally rare and exclusive Aston. Once production of the V8 Vantage ended in late 2000, the days of hand-built, coach-built Astons were truly over for good. This Aston Martin is a bespoke vehicle handcrafted during the '90s. In Aston Martin collector ownership from new, this exceptionally rare V8 Vantage V550 has seen exceptional care and is ready for immediate enjoyment. Recent servicing and fitment of sport exhaust It is complete with books, tools, car cover, battery tender, road hazard kit, jack, factory build sheet and its extensive service record file. Price On Request