Expert Buyer

Aston Martin DBS & V8

Goodbye discreet curves, hello square-jawed aesthetics and God-almighty performance. When the DBS first received its overdue V8 engine in 1969 it briefly became the fastest production car in the world. Compared with its 1980s siblings, these earlier cars are now a relative bargain; you can pick up a good one for around £100,000. Not so with the later V8s.

Values have hustled mightily across the board in the last couple of years, advises Stuart Channon of Aston Martin specialist Richard Stewart Williams. ‘Even cars that were once robbed of their engines then left to rot are now very popular indeed,’ he says.

So all derivatives are popular and none are exactly plentiful. Topping the price hierarchy of non-limited run models is the fabulously rapid Series 3 V8 Vantage ‘ X-Pack’. ‘The Vantage Volante’s extravagant wheel arches and flared sills alienated some buyers, and even today customers prefer the slightly more subtle looks of the Coupé,’ says Stuart.

The Prince of Wales started the trend by speccing his own subtler version; similar ‘PoW’ commissions followed and today these 27 cars exceed half a million pounds.

Shabby examples are few, projects rarer still – but the number of SORN’d cars is still gradually rising, especially for the DBS V8, and you’ll find in the classifieds a few examples of long-dormant cars recently brought back to life and sold as halfdecent runners.

But beware – there’s no such thing as a budget Aston. With so much investment at stake (and it really is an investment) get a second opinion. Says Stuart: ‘I would always recommend buyers to instruct a specialist to inspect a vehicle before buying. Too many times have we seen a customer go for a car notably cheaper than others, only to discover the reason for this when it’s too late!’