You know it’s going to need a large garage and deep pockets, but an Aston Martin Vantage like this causes an itch that must be scratched.
As classic sports cars go, this one ticks all the boxes: right name and pedigree, right colour, right trim, right mileage, right gearbox (manual), right service history (full, main dealer), right provenance (just two previous keepers) and in the right condition (flawless).
There is one box this car, registered in 2006 and which has done 30,000 miles, doesn’t quite tick, however, and it’s the one marked ‘engine’. The 4.3-litre V8 is based on the Jaguar unit used in the 1990s. Here in the Vantage it produces 380bhp and 302lb ft, but in 2008 Aston went back to the drawing board and replaced the 4.3 with a larger and much-reworked 4.7-litre unit. This makes 420bhp and 347lb ft, and on the road you can really feel the difference. The performance is more accessible than the 4.3’s and, being launched in 2008 when the world economy took a dive, the model is that little bit rarer.
We came across a 2009-reg 4.7 with 43,000 miles for £39,925. Like our 4.3 find, it ticks all the important boxes and then some. Economy and road tax (£580) are the same, too. Even so, it’s a solid £7000 more expensive. In the long term, we’ll regret not finding the extra, but for now, that 4.3 will do nicely. What to watch for? We’d check the clutch, or at least budget for a new one (they can go at around 40,000 miles), and that the suspension is in good health (low-mileage Vantages can suffer broken springs). We’d also examine the tyres for uneven wear and the dashboard for signs of shrinkage.
Jeep Cherokee 4.0 Limited auto £5500: The Cherokee of 1993-2001 is a classic 4WD SUV with a chunky 4.0-litre straight six under the bonnet. We found a tidy, private-sale 1995-reg with 108,000 miles for a stiff £5500, but it’s in lovely condition and in the right colour.
