Aston Martin V8 Vantage

Under the management of Company Developments Ltd., Aston Martin was given a new theme from the early 1970s, which was also reflected in the development department. However, the new owners didn’t succeed in ensuring the stability of the company, and the fuel crisis didn’t help either, ultimately leading to insolvency in 1974. Therefore, in 1975, several British and North American businessmen took over the bankruptcy estate as a consortium and founded Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd., where the engineers quickly set about putting a new sports car on wheels that was called “Britain’s first supercar” at its world premiere in 1977. In fact, the new V8 Vantage was still based on the DBS V8, which had been given a facelift with a new front end with individual headlights next to a more clearly contoured radiator grille. It was renamed from DBS to Aston Martin V8 under Company Developments.

The V8 Vantage used larger wheel arches and wider flared fenders to make room for larger wheels. In addition, the front end was modified with a closed, body-colored fascia including two auxiliary headlights in the radiator grille and a plastic spoiler lip that effectively reduced lift. A matching spoiler lip was also installed on the boot lid. There was also a clearly visible power dome on the bonnet. On vehicles delivered to particularly hot regions, the air intake wasn’t covered. Customers were also able to coordinate individual details for their cars with Aston Martin, resulting in numerous special editions and one-offs over the years. In general, the model range is divided into three series (V540, V540 OI and V580 (Oscar India) as well as V580X), each of which can be divided into two sub-series.

On the drive side, the V8 engine developed by Tadek Marek was still used. In the V8 Vantage, this engine initially produced an output of around 430 hp from 5.3 liters of displacement thanks to Cosworth pistons, two overhead camshafts as well as larger Weber carburettors than in the AM V8. Aston Martin never provided official technical data for the first two series, but only spoke of “about 40 percent more power than in the regular V8”. As official figures were required for registration in Germany, the TÜV carried out corresponding measurements and came up with 380 hp. From the third series V580X onwards, the power output rose to official 410 hp, and from 1987 a version called ‘Big Bore’ with 438 hp was also offered as a retrofit package via Works Service. Although officially only a manual five-speed transmission from ZF was available, some customers received their car with a Torqueflite automatic gearbox from 1978 on, which officially appeared in the price lists only from 1986 on. Compared to the normal Aston Martin V8, the V8 Vantage was lowered a little and fitted with adjustable Koni shock absorbers and larger brakes. Up to and including 1980 the tyre sizewas 255/60 VR 15 ex works, then they changed to 275/55 VR 15, which meant that the fenders had to be widened again, and finally to wheels of the dimension 255/50 ZR 16. However, customers could always order special wheels.

In the USA the V8 Vantage couldn’t be registered because the carburettor engine couldn’t comply with the emission regulations in many states. Therefore Aston Martin offered mixed vehicles there between 1978 and 1987, which combined the drivetrain of the V8 with injection system with the bodywork of the V8 Vantage. In addition, from 1978 the V8 Volante was available as a convertible with a soft top. The factory originally didn’t consider this open body to be stiff enough to accomodate the more powerful engine, but sold six retrofitted cars through Aston Martin Works in the late 1970s to selected customers such as the Sultan of Brunei. In October 1986 the V8 Vantage Volante made its official debut and was at times the fastest convertible in the world with a topspeed of 270 kph (167.8 mph). By 1989, 109 units had been built, 30 of which had automatic transmission. Of the Coupé they produced a total of around 360 cars. In addition, there was the V8 Zagato with an independent body shape, which was presented in 1985 and which we show in the second part of our picture gallery. Zagato wanted to reduce weight and improve aerodynamics, but had to retrofit front and rear spoilers on the production cars in order not to generate lift. After 53 Coupés and 38 Convertibles (each including prototypes) this Italian-British co-production ended.

Images: Aston Martin