Aston Martin V8 Vantage
Mark Ward likes striking style, British pedigree and V8 power, so we arranged for him to spend a day behind the wheel of a 1985 Aston V8 Vantage. Will it prove a tailor-made fit?
Amystique hangs over the Aston Martin V8 Vantage, even now. Released in 1978 to cries of, ‘A true great’ and ‘Britain’s only supercar’, the substantial coupé makes a virtue of its extravagance but leaves drivers to guess at its most impressive figures. Newport Pagnell has never officially provided the UK market with horsepower or torque outputs for the mighty 5.3-litre V8. Today, Mark Ward, the current owner of four British bent-eights, is about to tear away the shroud and discover just how potent a quartet of 48mm Webers feels on the open road.
For Mark, it’s a dream come true. ‘I was a young man back in the early Eighties and Aston Martin was iconic, but the DB5 and other earlier models just felt like old cars to me then. In comparison, the V8 Vantage just looked a bit brutal and had an air to it. There were a lot of mundane cars around in those days, so seeing a Vantage was something really special!’ Walking through the workshops and showrooms of specialist Stratton Motor Company, he can relive that experience time and again. There’s a 1987 X-pack Volante convertible to peruse, while another corner boasts both a hardtop X-pack and the uncluttered lines of a lesser V8 saloon.
‘It’s like being a little boy in a sweet shop,’ he grins. Yet none of these machines are the focus of Mark’s excitement. With the help of firm founder and long-established Aston Martin specialist Roger Bennington, we’re picking a path to a small outbuilding and the Storm Red 1985 Vantage within.
A first glance doesn’t disappoint. Dressed with the revised front air dam and wider wheelarches that appear on Vantages built from the mid-eighties onwards, this Series II example pulses under low garage light. Approaching from the rear, Mark is drawn straight to the upturned bootlid. Unlike the Series I Vantage, which uses a stubby, high-rise spoiler that on the very earliest cars is bolted into place, the 1985 car exhibits a smoother but still distinctive upkick. Says Mark, ‘The wing is something I’ve noticed straight away, and I actually prefer it to the earlier version. It’s been styled into the car and it just looks the part.’
Snapping a quick shot of the intricate 16in Ronal wheels, Mark muses on the model’s width and its importance to the Vantage look. ‘The wheels look magnificent – though they’d probably take some cleaning – and used to look so much bigger than any ordinary car. You’ve got the flared wheelarches too. Put those two together with the blanked-off grille – which really differentiates it from other V8 models – and you’ve got a car that’s not only designed to go fast but one that looks fast too.’ Two inches wider than a V8 Oscar India, the Vantage has an imposing physical
‘It’s a car that is not only designed to go fast but also one that looks fast too’
presence. ‘It’s a departure from the DB4, DB5 and DB6 that came before. They were beautiful cars but the Vantage is less... tweedy.’
The time comes for a familiarisation drive with Roger, who sold dozens of Vantages when new and knows the model intimately. He talks Mark through the model’s foibles, advising a steady throttle application if the car won’t start on the key alone and counselling a double-declutch from first to second when cold, before spearing into the Norfolk countryside for a quick demonstration. ‘You can tell he’s comfortable in the car,’ notes Mark with a chuckle. ‘He’s sticking his foot down and using the gearbox too!’ Roger hands over the key and the Vantage is Mark’s for the afternoon.
Combining Connolly hide with blood-red Wilton carpets, the cabin reflects the quality-oriented philosophy of Aston’s thenchairman Victor Gauntlett. Black hide coats the dashboard – replacing the plastic used in earlier examples – while the seats are piped red to match the exterior and cream leather covers everything from the gearstick gaiter to the headlining. Notes Mark, ‘It’s a very traditional car and the burr walnut dashboard is beautifully done, though the Smiths gauges are very familiar.
‘The Vantage already feels like a supercar you could live with every day. It’s very comfortable and useable. You could even get two adults in the back for a short drive. The front seats are quite upright and I like that. You’re not lying down like you would in an Italian supercar and the view out is good, which is a surprise.’ The starter churns and churns, seemingly without hope or end, until the motor finally catches with muffled thunder. Mark pulls back the fly-off handbrake, lets the lever fall away and drives off.
Before we even leave the car park, the vista beyond the windscreen grabs our attention. ‘You’d think it would be an air scoop,’ says Mark, pointing to the bluff-shouldered wedge that rises above the bonnet, ‘but it’s completely sealed and it’s only there to clear the carburettors. It looks a bit brutish and it really suits the car.’ The nose – and the noise – soon clear a space in the traffic and the Vantage burbles south along the Pye Road.
‘It’s a bit intimidating to be driving this car,’ Mark comments as, beyond the fast-fogging windscreen, the traffic slows to stationary. ‘But it feels very special to be behind the wheel of a classic Aston Martin.’ His early anxieties centre around the clutch pedal, a floorhinged design that sits in a close-set footwell. ‘From the moment I first put my foot on the clutch, I’ve noticed how heavy it is and I’m wondering whether I’ll be able to change gear effectively. The pedal is quite close the brake too; I’ve got size 12 feet, so I’m a little worried that I’ll hit both of them at once.’
The narrow, mud-soaked path along Stratton Road does little to allay Mark’s worries. Tense and cautious, he’s yet to find a rhythm with the car. ‘Do you pull to the side and let people past or do you believe there’s enough room for us both to come through?’ he asks. A jink onto the flowing and better-sighted roads towards
Great Moulton removes that stress. ‘It’s easy to position the car; there’s not too much feel but the steering doesn’t feel overassisted at all. The weight is perfect for me.’
Temptation swells with familiarity and thoughts turn to the V8. ‘You do have to poke the accelerator to get moving but it’s nothing untoward. This car is clearly well looked after – four Webers must be very tricky to keep in line but it will trundle around at 20mph without complaint. It’s difficult to keep it there, though – you want to use the capability of that engine!’ A longer straight appears; Mark cracks the windows and the rear-view mirror empties.
‘Provoke this engine and it sets off at a rapid pace, but the power and the noise feel modern and it’s not at all like an American muscle car. The Vantage feels civilised, yet whichever gear you’re in you can put your foot down and it goes.’ These uncategorised roads are still too bijou for a grand tourer like the Vantage, so the hunt begins for wider tarmac. ‘The Aston feels fast on windy country roads like these,’ he agrees. ‘I think you’d really need a solid A-road to understand the Vantage.’
Rural Norfolk won’t provide that, but fast, well-surfaced turns leading away from nearby Forncett Saint Mary beckon. On the way, Mark focuses on making smooth shifts with the five-speed ZF manual gearbox. ‘You have to be very precise, especially from first to second, and the lever has to go straight into the specific gate. It’s quite a close-set pattern and you can easily put it in fourth instead of second. More modern gearboxes might be narrow-set but it’s a lot easier to find the gears, while older cars like my Stag put the gears a lot further apart than the Vantage.’
Spacing isn’t the only challenge presented by the transmission – it has a dogleg arrangement which puts first left and back. ‘I’ve been driving for 30 years and everything else I’ve tried has a conventional gear layout,’ Mark laughs. ‘I’m not always sure which gear I’m in, but the Aston has huge torque to compensate. You could just drive it in third if you wanted.’ That might be possible, but Mark won’t be beaten and his shifts gradually get smoother. ‘You need to be firm but gentle and you have to guide the shifts; you can’t just jam it into a gear. With time, I think it could all be overcome and I could get to be very good at changing gears.’
‘I was expecting a more brutish car and one with a lot more peculiarity,’ Mark adds. ‘The brakes feel very natural; nothing about them surprises.
‘It will happily trundle around at 20mph – but you want to use the capability of that engine’