Dealer’s Diary
Stephen Ward mourns the one that got away.
Close to a decade ago, I had to drive to Carlisle to deliver a Rover 25 to a customer. I’d timed the trip to coincide with a classic car auction being held by a former Citroën dealer of good repute. Star of the sale was a 1990 Aston Martin Virage in metallic dark green (I’m loath to call it British Racing Green). This was the poster car of my childhood – no Ferrari Testarossas or Lamborghini Countachs for me.
I found the whole concept of the Virage and the man behind it, the late Victor Gauntlett, to be utterly fascinating. In a world of bankrupt banks, here was a supercar for sale amongst Minis and Escorts.
On a wobbly whim, I’d nodded to £14,000 for the car, but didn’t get it, unsurprisingly. The only other bids that had been forthcoming during the sale came from a fire extinguisher and a poster on the back wall.
Post-sale negotiations advised me that £17,000 + fees would secure the sale. I mention the fees here as I’d previously used up my ‘fee free sale’ card a year earlier after buying a classic Mercedes-benz estate to facilitate a house move. I’d figured it’d be more fun and cheaper than hiring a van. It was.
While £17k was ringing in my ears, I consulted my Aston Martin specialist, Brian. Now I’d been plaguing Brian with questions since I was a schoolkid and he worked at Reg Vardy’s specialist car emporium. I had skived off school once to cycle to Reg Vardy’s to scrounge a VIP pass from him for Aston’s stand at the NEC motor show that year.
Brian’s card not only secured me entry to the stand, the assistant stopped the rotating Virage display to let me climb in and pretend I was driving it home. Virtual reality car shows will never replicate this intoxicating and sensual mix of smell, touch, excitement and privilege.
So there I was picking the brains of the man who’d aided and abetted my Aston addiction, except he didn’t share my love for a cheap Virage. He warned me that the model would never become a truly desirable classic. He took me over to a V8 Coupe he was trying to sell. This was the car the Virage was facelifted into. Celebrity owned and one of the last built, it was mint and on sale for £38,000 ono.
Disheartened by Brian, nervous of the economic outlook and saddled with said new house (read ‘money pit’), I declined the £17k offer and have regretted it ever since.
Why am I telling you this story? Well, at the NEC Classic Car Show in November 2018, Silverstone Auctions was offering both an unmolested but used 1990 Virage in silver and a mint 1999 V8 Coupe in dark metallic green. The Virage sold outright for £35,438, while the V8 Coupe remains available for £92,000 ono. Had my £17,000 remained in the bank, it’d be worth £18,000 now as interest rates barely moved. Meanwhile, my house is nearly worth what I paid for it thanks to the recession.
Fortune favours the brave and, in this instance, I wasn’t. If you have enthusiasm, old money and discretion, is there a better supercar buy?