2000 Aston DB7 V12 Volante £41,950
It’s a top asking price, so Russ Smith gets behind the wheel to discover whether this top-spec DB7 soft-top is worth it
The first thing you notice about this Aston is how well it presents in what must be about the best colour scheme for these cars. No panel gap is anything less than factoryperfect, while the paint finish is even across the whole body and displays a good deep shine. With only a couple of tiny stone chips, the nosecone must have been painted at some point, but if so (and I couldn’t find a bill in the history file) it’s a perfect match. There are a few more chips to the silver grille slats but they would be easy to remedy.
Other body flaws are harder to spot, like a half-inch chip below the trim on the driver’s door, in line with the mirror, plus a few chips on the rear edge of the door where it’s touched a garage wall. They should touch-in easily. There’s also a little kerbing on both nearside alloys, though it’s only a very light scuff on the front one. The rear would benefit from a refurb, however. All the wheels wear matching Bridgestone S-02s with 2013 date stamps and plenty of tread. There’s not much brightwork and nothing to report on what’s there.
The car comes with a decent history file that also contains a pack of unused spare keys. There’s all the evidence you want to back up the mileage at 57,854. Since 2006 it has done a steady 15003500 miles a year with plenty of regular specialist servicing along the way. The file also reveals that while in the hands of one previous owner it wore the number plate ‘7 SE’. Those currently fitted bear the contact details for Rolls-royce specialists Ghost Motor Works, which may have taken it as a trade-in at some point.
The bonnet raises easily on well-gassed struts to reveal a clean and tidy V12, tagged in the AM tradition as built by Kevin Wild, though most of what you can see is actually covers. Many hoses and clips look recent and fluids are all clean and to level. All I could fault is some mild rust creeping under the thin black paint on the top radiator surround and front panel supports.
It’s even better inside, especially with the very presentable electric hood lowered out of the way. The Connolly leather seats have the right amount of light patina cracking and only minimal wear to the upright driver’s side bolster. They appear to have been fed and recoloured at some point, but not in an obvious way. The rest of the interior is original down to the Alpine radio-cassette unit and very smart, with no cracks in the wood trim’s lacquer.
The V12 growls into life instantly when you thumb the red starter button and pulls smoothly right through the rev range. The five-speed ZF auto shifts ratios imperceptibly and suits the powerful V12 well. That shows 5bar oil pressure at 3000rpm, falling to 2.5bar at idle. Once warmed up the temperature gauge sits bang in the middle. The brakes are strong and balanced and there are no clonks from the suspension over rough surfaces.
This is all the money for one of these, but with that mileage and the few minor flaws ironed out it looks about right.