Written by: Martin Ward
Wednesday, March 11, 2009 

It is most people’s dream to drive an exotic sports car and an Aston Martin has to be in the top three for desirability. Just the name conjures up such a high image; an Aston is not just a car to drive it is an object of beauty. Everybody knows what an Aston Martin is whether they be young or old or from anywhere in the world. Manufacturers spend millions on brand recognition but Aston do not have to; they are a household name but not every household will have the chance to own one.

 

Aston has had a chequered history with many owners including David Brown Tractors, which is where the DB badging started. No owner has ever really had much success in making profit from a specialist sports car and some in the past just bought it as a very expensive toy. The current owners bought the company from Ford with every of intention of making it into a profitable business with higher quality and to create a desirable car to compete with the best of the rest. However, since it was purchased a couple of years ago, the financial market has been turned upside down and the demand worldwide for all exotic expensive cars has hit an all time low.

 

The Vantage has a shorter wheelbase than the more popular DB9. It is only a two seater whereas the DB9 has two small seats in the rear. The Vantage is also less expensive being priced at £84,000; this does look to be good value for this sort of car. It has previously sold like hot cakes, with pop stars, footballers and city workers being the sort of people who buy them. The latter of which will now appear hesitant to spend money on an Aston, as the economic decline takes hold. It is a fantastic status symbol and has been so for many years but now things are changing and being seen in this type of car is not as acceptable as it once was. When I drove the Aston recently, I had a mixed reaction. There were those who looked in awe and those who seemed to look incensed that somebody dare drive such a car in the current financial climate.

 

The Vantage is not an easy car to drive as you have to think about what you are doing at every minute. It is difficult to relax back into the comfortable leather seats because if you make one mistake, you will be facing the way you have just come from. It is very ‘tail happy’ car and in wet conditions, you have to be doubly careful. The power comes from a 4.7 litre V8 petrol engine that produces 420hp. The fuel consumption around town was as low as 16mpg but on one long journey, mainly on motorways, I was surprised to get an average of 25.6mpg, which I thought was a good result.

 

The interior can only be described as absolute quality. The attention to detail is brilliant and the whole cabin is just such a luxurious place to sit. The stitching on the leather is like no other stitching I have ever seen, considering it is hand stitched and probably done on a very old machine, it is of perfect quality.

 

The exterior styling is just typically Aston Martin. The lines and design are fantastic, the front end and its large grille really make the car and when you see it you cannot help but admire this elegant machine.

 

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