• One of less than 250 examples ever • Low mileage • Runs, drives, stops perfectly • Striking looks - ‘Brute in a suit’ • Recently had a front suspension overhaul
The Background
At the start of the 1990’s Aston Martins high-end grand tourer, offerings had not received a major overhaul since the late ’70s and they were starting to show their age a little bit. When in 1988 Aston Martin debuted the Virage at the Birmingham Motor Show it was worlds apart from the car it was replacing. In 1993 it was then joined by the high-performance Vantage version which is where the story of the Vantage V550 begins.
Between 1993-1999 Aston Martin took fewer than 250 cars off the normal production line and turned them into one of the last hand-built monsters to leave the Newport Pagnell factory, the V550. Its namesake was taken from the cars performance figures, 550hp was created through a twin-supercharged V8 coupled to a manual six-speed manual transmission (an automatic version was optional) which would have long enough legs to take the car to almost 200mph.
To keep the car under control when braking they fitted it with huge 362mm ventilated discs and 4-piston AP racing callipers which, at the time, were the biggest brake package ever fitted to a car. The hand sculptured body panels were both aggressive yet functional, with a deep front spoiler to channel air into the huge radiator to keep the big V8 cool coupled with bonnet louvres and the iconic Aston Martin side vents. The V550 was a fitting swan song for the dying days of hand-built, high-end and luxury British cars.
First registered on the 26th of January 1996 this Vantage V550 left the Newport Pagnell factory with a beautiful combination of Cumberland grey metallic and a light stone leather interior. A few additional features that were optioned onto this car include parchment coloured instrument faces, padded headrests, and Aston Martin logo carpets.
When it comes to the whereabouts of this car over the past 25 years it is a little bit difficult to comment on. With the help of the V5, we can be sure in saying that it has had 8 owners from new, with the past two owners spanning 15 years since 2006. Some people may see the number of owners as a bigger number than preferred, but all you have to do is look at the excellent condition of the car and you can start to understand that all of the previous have understood how special and rare this car is.
The Vantage has been in the same ownership since 2013 where it has only covered an average of 270 miles a year but has always received the best quality of workmanship from Aston Martin authorised service centres.
The only part of this amazing Vantage that may let it down is sadly the lack of historic paperwork that comes with it. Throughout the past 25 years due to house moves, misplacing documents or just possibly not getting an invoice the car is now being sold with limited paperwork.
Even though it now has limited paperwork it is a car that has been seen within the Aston Martin network over its lifetime. The service centre where it has had its most recent works have been in contact with Aston Martin Works (Aston Martins historic home and heritage parts centre) and they recognise the car from its chassis number and may have more information about the car, but we cannot be sure about this.
There are a couple of invoices from between 2020 to the present day from an authorised service centre in Norwich. Both these invoices total a huge amount of money and are extremely detailed as to what works have been carried out. These works include a general inspection and vehicle health check, full service, re-conditioning of the front suspension, refurbishing the steering rack and paint repairs to the front wing and some damage to both sides of the front splitter.
The Car will come with a fresh MOT, please note that the Number Plate is not included.
With the Vantage V550 being the top of the line when it came to luxury and performance the interior has been designed to include a smorgasbord of 1990s technology, dials, buttons, leather, and wood. It is an amazingly comfortable place to sit and take control of the roads around you.
The stunning light stone leather Recaro electrically controlled seats are complimented beautifully by the walnut wood that wraps around the occupants from the door cards and across the dashboard. The interior is then finished off with the dark leather dash and steering wheel with an intricate suede headliner that is in perfect condition.
Like the headliner, all four of the Recaro seats fitted to this V550 are in excellent condition and show no signs of wear at all. With no evidence of stains, rips or tears, a great achievement for a car of its age. A couple of signs that this car has been looked after carefully are the condition of both the steering wheel and the gear knob, two items that the driver interacts with the most within the interior of a car, in this V550 both of these items show little to no signs of wear which is possibly thanks to its low mileage.
This car does not just have an excellent cabin, even the boot is in immaculate condition too. If you open the armrest and release the boot you are welcomed with a cavernous space fitted with a 10 CD multi-changer, an original first aid kit, a fire extinguisher, an original breakdown kit (including original work gloves) and a factory original tool kit which still has almost all of its fuses present.
You have to see this interior to believe it. With the acres of leather and wood, it is possibly one of the best places to sit and enjoy the drive of your life. Whoever is lucky enough to become the new owner of this V550 will be getting a luxury grand tourer with an interior to match its incredible performance.
The Vantage V550 was one of the last hand-crafted cars to leave Astons spiritual home of Newport Pagnell. Many of the curves on the exterior were achieved using traditional coach building methods, like the English wheel. It is thanks to the huge amount of time spent on the final look of the car that it is now a timeless combination of 90’s design and classy looks. Referred to as a ‘brute in a suit’ at the time its boxy yet elegant design is classic Aston Martin.
Finished in the great Cumberland grey metallic it now sits resplendent today with a brutish presence that will not be rivalled by modern supercar counterparts. As you can imagine within the past 25 years and 40,000 miles it had picked up a few battle scars along the way, however, it has recently undergone some work to rectify some of these issues. In August of 2020, it went in for some bodywork repairs to fix a patch of corrosion on the front wing, a wet flat procedure to sort out some sinkage in the bonnet and a repair to the lower parts of the big front splitter.
All four of the alloys have also been taken off the car and undergone a refurbishment. It’s thanks to all of this recent work that this V550 is now in a condition good enough for any Concours d’Elegance, owner clubs meeting or museum.
The Vantage V550 is one of those cars that looks fast sitting still, the sweeping yet purposeful lines twinned with the huge flared wheel arches mean business. Wherever you park this car it will garner a huge amount of attention from anyone whether they are a car nut or nut. With less than 250 examples of the V550 being produced over six years, it is highly unlikely that you will see another one on the UK roads. It’s a truly rare beast that showcases 1990’s English automotive design.
With the Vantage V550 being designed as an out and out sports tourer it had to be fitted with an engine to match the claims. What Aston Martin did was take the usual 5.3l V8 and whack two huge Eaton superchargers on it, one per bank of cylinders, this was help throttle response over a more conventional twin-turbo set up.
With these upgrades, the V8 now produced both 550hp and 550 lb/ft of torque a mighty figure back in 1993 when production began. Not only is the engine extremely powerful but in a modern age of catalytic converters and petrol particulate filters, it sounds absolutely monstrous. The factory twin exit exhaust helps convert petrol into a soundtrack better than anything in the charts.
With there being a lack of paperwork it is hard to say what mechanical work has been carried out over the past 25 years, but what we can say for sure is that this V550 drives like an absolute dream. The throttle response is still mega when compared to modern standards, the superchargers are both working together in harmony and the gearbox transmits the power to the rear end smoothly without hesitation or any complaints from the clutch. If you pop your head underneath you will see that even the underside of the car is in great condition with no visible signs of corrosion.
Like the interior and exterior condition, this V550 is presented in brilliant mechanical condition and is just itching for the new owner to drive her as she should. This car has not been designed for miles per gallon rather it has been put together to provide the owner with an excellent driving experience that results in smiles per gallon. Whether you need to pop to the shop or road trip down to the south of France this is possibly the best car to take. It is both fast and comfortable, a winning combination for any task you want to throw at it.
We think that this car talks for itself. With its excellent all-round condition, simply outrageous combination of power and luxury and immense road presence, this is one car that you simply cannot afford to miss out on. These cars are extremely rare with less than 250 leaving Newport Pagnell over a six-year period it is almost guaranteed that you will never bump into another one of these on the roads.
The new owner will be collecting a rare car that will be ready for them to jump in and go on a huge inter-continental road trip. This V550 is not just a car, it is a ticket to a lifestyle that people dream of, it is an investment opportunity and it is just an all-around beast that deserves to be driven.
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1996 Aston Martin Vantage V550
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