Aston Martin is one of the best loved and most iconic names in the world of supercars and luxury. First founded back in 1913, the Aston Martin company has been responsible for some of the greatest performance cars we have ever seen. The Aston Martin DB5 is one machine that springs to mind, as does the incredible Vanquish and DB9. More recently of course we have had cars such as the DBX SUV and the recent Aston Martin Vantage.
One car that for some reason gets overlooked by many is the original V8 Vantage. Aston Martin still produce a V8 Vantage, but the very first iteration of the car came in 1977 and remained in production until 1989. It’s a car that shared the engine with the incredible Lagonda, and became almost the British equivalent of the Ford Mustang and is often seen as Britain’s first true supercar. But even though it was a fabulous thing, it doesn’t get mentioned in the same way as the likes of the DB9 or the DB5. But we think it's one of the brand's most special cars.
The Original Vantage Bursts Onto The Scene
Aston Martin launched the V8 Vantage to much fanfare in 1977, and it was then heralded as the first true supercar to come from Britain. What the company had come up with was quite a big and heavy car, but one that had great handling despite that meant it never felt like the big V8 monster it was. Plus, the fact it was a four-seater, a genuine four-seater, meant the V8 Vantage had a level of practicality that not every Aston Martin could claim to have, and something that is still true today.
At the heart of the V8 Vantage was the same V8 engine that powered the Aston Martin Lagonda, the brand's big and bold luxury car of the era. That V8 engine was either a 5.3-liter V8 or a 6.3-liter V8 engine, initially the first-series V8’s produced 390 hp, and they were all equipped with four 481DF2/100 Weber carburetors. The first series of V8 Vantage also featured specific details such as the blanked hood vent and separate rear spoiler, with only 38 of these ever made and that included 13 “Cosmetics” that were then exported to the United States.
Britain’s First True Supercar Then Makes A Name For Itself
The V8 Vantage soon began to make a bit of a name for itself. It came during the time in the 1970s when the brand was in a spot of bother, and indeed it had actually gone bust in 1974. All this while the likes of Ferrari and Porsche were blossoming. Alan Curtis put Aston Martin back on its feet after it went into receivership in 1974, and soon after the V8 Vantage followed on from that. It was quite the departure from people had expected from Aston Martin at the time.
You could say that Aston Martin was the quiet one, compared to the likes of Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche. But it truly exploded onto the scene, becoming the world's fastest production car at the time of its launch. The straight-line performance was incredible, its 0-60 mph time just 5.3 seconds which was a tenth faster than the Ferrari Daytona. It had something of the Ford Mustang to its looks about it too, showing a brash and brutal nature more associated with an American muscle car, and not something from the United Kingdom. Yet the V8 Vantage was still a perfectly comfortable Grand Tourer when it wanted to be.
An Underrated British Classic That Revitalized Aston Martin
The V8 Vantage did a lot for reviving the brand that only just prior to its inception, had really sunk. That big 5.3-liter V8 engine the car first came with was a bit like a sledgehammer, providing plenty of power in a brutal manner that was rather unlike a lot of other British cars of the era. It almost defied what many thought a supercar needed to be, a simple, brutal machine with oodles of power and speed, and it didn’t stop there either.
The V8 Vantage Evolved Into A True Classic
The V8 Vantage would continue to evolve. The car later had 403 hp for the 1986 model year, and this was thanks to the X-Pack upgrade that saw Cosworth pistons and Nimrod racing-type heads come to the engine. The V8 Zagato edition further evolved the car and only 52 of these 432 hp cars were ever made. One of the last iterations of the V8 Vantage was the Series 2 Vantage, with 304 built up until the end of the car's production run. While it doesn’t get spoken about in the same manner as other Aston Martins sometimes, there is no denying just how special and potent the V8 Vantage was.
Sources: Aston Martin, Classic & Sports Car