Aston Martin V8 Vantage X-Pack - 1988
Chassis n° SCFCV81V8JTL12611
Bonhams
Les Grandes Marques du Monde à Paris
The Grand Palais Éphémère
Place Joffre
Parijs - Paris
Frankrijk - France
February 2023
Estimated : € 200.000 - 300.000
Sold for € 391.000
"People who buy the Vantage will do so in the first place for its performance, and they will not be disappointed. The figures speak for themselves. But they should take extra heart because it is one of the easiest true high performance cars to drive well: and it has been given brakes to match. In comfort too, it has much to offer, and there is a great deal of what is best in the British tradition of designing and building sports cars in its making." - Autocar.
The performance figures Autocar referred to were a 0-60mph time of 5.4 seconds and an estimated top speed of 170mph, figures comparable with those achievable by a Ferrari Daytona or Lamborghini Miura.
With the introduction of the Vantage in 1977, Aston Martin's V8 was thrust back into the supercar league. Its superior performance aside, the Vantage was readily distinguishable from the standard product by virtue of its blocked-off bonnet scoop, blanked air intake, front chin spoiler and lip on the boot lid.
ZF five-speed manual transmission was standard equipment, though a handful of Vantages were built with the Torqueflite automatic gearbox. With either transmission performance was shattering, the Vantage's 0-100mph time of 12.7 seconds making it the world's fastest accelerating production car at that time. For those with a yen for even greater performance, there was the factory's optional 'X-Pack' engine (like this example's) which, depending on the state of tune, had up to 432bhp available.
As the Vantage's mechanical specification progressed so did the coachwork, with wheel arches flaring to accommodate wider rims, increasing the overall width by 2", and 16"-diameter wheels being introduced. Unlike the V8 saloon, which reverted to fuel injection in 1986, the V8 Vantage kept its 48IDF Weber carburettors to the end of production in December 1989, by which time 361 cars had been built.
Copy documents on file reveal that this particular Vantage was built to West German specification and delivered via Merz & Pabst. The car was finished in Salisbury Blue with grey leather interior; unusually, the specified dark blue piping was applied to the front seats and armrests only, the rest of the piping being grey. Other 'extras' consisted of dash top roll and steering wheel in dark blue, rear valance in body colour and a Blaupunkt Bremen radio cassette player. The Vantage subsequently moved to the UK where it was first registered on 1st August 1998 as 'E149 BKM'.
The current vendor purchased the Aston from The Old Racing Car Company of Richmond-on-Thames, UK on 28th June 2008, since when it has been kept in storage. Re-commissioning will be required before the car returns to the road.
Aston Martin V8 Vantage X-Pack - 1988
Chassis n° SCFCV81V8JTL12611
Bonhams
Les Grandes Marques du Monde à Paris
The Grand Palais Éphémère
Place Joffre
Parijs - Paris
Frankrijk - France
February 2023
Estimated : € 200.000 - 300.000
Sold for € 391.000
"People who buy the Vantage will do so in the first place for its performance, and they will not be disappointed. The figures speak for themselves. But they should take extra heart because it is one of the easiest true high performance cars to drive well: and it has been given brakes to match. In comfort too, it has much to offer, and there is a great deal of what is best in the British tradition of designing and building sports cars in its making." - Autocar.
The performance figures Autocar referred to were a 0-60mph time of 5.4 seconds and an estimated top speed of 170mph, figures comparable with those achievable by a Ferrari Daytona or Lamborghini Miura.
With the introduction of the Vantage in 1977, Aston Martin's V8 was thrust back into the supercar league. Its superior performance aside, the Vantage was readily distinguishable from the standard product by virtue of its blocked-off bonnet scoop, blanked air intake, front chin spoiler and lip on the boot lid.
ZF five-speed manual transmission was standard equipment, though a handful of Vantages were built with the Torqueflite automatic gearbox. With either transmission performance was shattering, the Vantage's 0-100mph time of 12.7 seconds making it the world's fastest accelerating production car at that time. For those with a yen for even greater performance, there was the factory's optional 'X-Pack' engine (like this example's) which, depending on the state of tune, had up to 432bhp available.
As the Vantage's mechanical specification progressed so did the coachwork, with wheel arches flaring to accommodate wider rims, increasing the overall width by 2", and 16"-diameter wheels being introduced. Unlike the V8 saloon, which reverted to fuel injection in 1986, the V8 Vantage kept its 48IDF Weber carburettors to the end of production in December 1989, by which time 361 cars had been built.
Copy documents on file reveal that this particular Vantage was built to West German specification and delivered via Merz & Pabst. The car was finished in Salisbury Blue with grey leather interior; unusually, the specified dark blue piping was applied to the front seats and armrests only, the rest of the piping being grey. Other 'extras' consisted of dash top roll and steering wheel in dark blue, rear valance in body colour and a Blaupunkt Bremen radio cassette player. The Vantage subsequently moved to the UK where it was first registered on 1st August 1998 as 'E149 BKM'.
The current vendor purchased the Aston from The Old Racing Car Company of Richmond-on-Thames, UK on 28th June 2008, since when it has been kept in storage. Re-commissioning will be required before the car returns to the road.