RE: Ex-Brunei Aston Martin Vantage V550 for sale
Discussion
My favourite car, I just think they look magnificent, sound magnificent, and to me it is exactly what an Aston should be (with a manual)
The Clarkson: Unleashed on Cars video cemented my love for the thing, and I'd imagine I could probably still reel off most of the script
"...weighs about twice as much as a Golf GTi, so you'd expect it to have twice the power. No, it has (insert Clarkson pause) 4 times as much. Weighs the same as a planet, goes like the starship Enterprise"
I really did watch that video a lot when I was a kid
This picture is just perfection
The Clarkson: Unleashed on Cars video cemented my love for the thing, and I'd imagine I could probably still reel off most of the script
"...weighs about twice as much as a Golf GTi, so you'd expect it to have twice the power. No, it has (insert Clarkson pause) 4 times as much. Weighs the same as a planet, goes like the starship Enterprise"
I really did watch that video a lot when I was a kid
This picture is just perfection
Edited by SturdyHSV on Tuesday 13th December 13:46
cookie1600 said:
Good spot - still need the wheel changing though 
This was about the only time where "smoking" was a broadly positive experience for me as a child.
Back in the day, my old man lived next to the local Jag / Aston dealer who would regularly bring home new Astons to be "smoked". Smoking basically involved him taking them home for the weekend, pootling around for a few miles and promptly returning them to the the forecourt as a used car. I imagine something to do with the tax implications
Being a social climbing sort and having just separated from my mother, Dad spent many a night over with his dealer friend. I can only assume they had some sort of burgeoning bro-mance over their shared love of booze / smoking, status symbols and (to my 12 year old post pubescent eyes / groin at least) perhaps his perky young wife. As a result he, and vicariously I; were invited to various corporate hospitality events and wangled weekend loans of all sort of fancy smokers. I remember being underwhelmed by a few DB7s - lots of walnut and leather but not a lot else. Weekends of tooling about in boxy old 4.0 Cherokee and Wranglers, with the occasional jaunt into the local woods to test them out just after dark.
But the one that sticks in my mind was a shiny green Aston Vantage with an auto box. It wasn't the V550 as in the article, but the "regular" 500 bhp version - exactly like the picture in the first post. I turned up for a "dad weekend" and there it was, resplendent in all it's glory on the driveway. Dad could hardly hide his smile. At the time it was cartoonish - a simply huge car in every respect. Massive arches, steamroller wheels, gigantic superchargers - and a big metal plaque under the bonnet bearing the signature of the man who built the engine. It cost more than the house - and it felt like it did.
My brother got the front seat, so my gawky frame was crammed into the back - knees up around my chin. Whereupon my ever positive male role-model spent the majority of the afternoon performing full bore standing starts in built up areas, burbling past all of our school friends houses and generally behaving like the pond scum we were. It was fabulous. My lasting memory isn't burning the local boy racers off the lights or doing the weekly shop at Tesco in it or even getting pressed into the leather by the unspeakable speed. No, it was getting locked out the thing at the local garden centre - lights flashing, alarms going off, car steadfastly refusing to start. What sticks in my mind is the proud old fella was racing around it, frantically searching for how to turn the alarm and immobilizer off - trying not to look like he'd just borrowed it. We never let him forget that in the years that passed.
However many years later when we talked about the cars he borrowed and which one was his favourite, he replied that he didn't really like any of them. He said they were all a bit fussy, didn't drive very well and cost more than the ought to have done. In his mind he always preferred his Subaru Legacy Turbo. Anyway, the old chap hasn't been with us for about a decade now - but thanks for the article, this made me smile and think of him.
Back in the day, my old man lived next to the local Jag / Aston dealer who would regularly bring home new Astons to be "smoked". Smoking basically involved him taking them home for the weekend, pootling around for a few miles and promptly returning them to the the forecourt as a used car. I imagine something to do with the tax implications
Being a social climbing sort and having just separated from my mother, Dad spent many a night over with his dealer friend. I can only assume they had some sort of burgeoning bro-mance over their shared love of booze / smoking, status symbols and (to my 12 year old post pubescent eyes / groin at least) perhaps his perky young wife. As a result he, and vicariously I; were invited to various corporate hospitality events and wangled weekend loans of all sort of fancy smokers. I remember being underwhelmed by a few DB7s - lots of walnut and leather but not a lot else. Weekends of tooling about in boxy old 4.0 Cherokee and Wranglers, with the occasional jaunt into the local woods to test them out just after dark.
But the one that sticks in my mind was a shiny green Aston Vantage with an auto box. It wasn't the V550 as in the article, but the "regular" 500 bhp version - exactly like the picture in the first post. I turned up for a "dad weekend" and there it was, resplendent in all it's glory on the driveway. Dad could hardly hide his smile. At the time it was cartoonish - a simply huge car in every respect. Massive arches, steamroller wheels, gigantic superchargers - and a big metal plaque under the bonnet bearing the signature of the man who built the engine. It cost more than the house - and it felt like it did.
My brother got the front seat, so my gawky frame was crammed into the back - knees up around my chin. Whereupon my ever positive male role-model spent the majority of the afternoon performing full bore standing starts in built up areas, burbling past all of our school friends houses and generally behaving like the pond scum we were. It was fabulous. My lasting memory isn't burning the local boy racers off the lights or doing the weekly shop at Tesco in it or even getting pressed into the leather by the unspeakable speed. No, it was getting locked out the thing at the local garden centre - lights flashing, alarms going off, car steadfastly refusing to start. What sticks in my mind is the proud old fella was racing around it, frantically searching for how to turn the alarm and immobilizer off - trying not to look like he'd just borrowed it. We never let him forget that in the years that passed.
However many years later when we talked about the cars he borrowed and which one was his favourite, he replied that he didn't really like any of them. He said they were all a bit fussy, didn't drive very well and cost more than the ought to have done. In his mind he always preferred his Subaru Legacy Turbo. Anyway, the old chap hasn't been with us for about a decade now - but thanks for the article, this made me smile and think of him.
Slowlygettingit said:
cookie1600 said:
Good spot - still need the wheel changing though SturdyHSV said:
My favourite car, I just think they look magnificent, sound magnificent, and to me it is exactly what an Aston should be (with a manual)
The Clarkson: Unleashed on Cars video cemented my love for the thing, and I'd imagine I could probably still reel off most of the script
"...weighs about twice as much as a Golf GTi, so you'd expect it to have twice the power. No, it has (insert Clarkson pause) 4 times as much. Weighs the same as a planet, goes like the starship Enterprise"
I really did watch that video a lot when I was a kid
This picture is just perfection
The Clarkson: Unleashed on Cars video cemented my love for the thing, and I'd imagine I could probably still reel off most of the script
"...weighs about twice as much as a Golf GTi, so you'd expect it to have twice the power. No, it has (insert Clarkson pause) 4 times as much. Weighs the same as a planet, goes like the starship Enterprise"
I really did watch that video a lot when I was a kid
This picture is just perfection
Edited by SturdyHSV on Tuesday 13th December 13:46
Agree Clarkson at his best, and the car ain't half bad.. 
Suddenly these things are all over the place There's another for sale in my local Aston shop.(HWM) It's got the manual box.
Maybe because it doesn't have the dirty heritage of this one it's double the price.
Still looking like a bargain.
A proper supercar. When that engine starts, omg, the sound! It is a proper British brute. Absolutely spectacular! Hand built before the days of 3d printing etc.
All that parts bin twaddle is for the haters, not important in the scheme of things.
In my Ideal garage it's going to be parked next to the blower Bentley.
Maybe because it doesn't have the dirty heritage of this one it's double the price.
Still looking like a bargain.
A proper supercar. When that engine starts, omg, the sound! It is a proper British brute. Absolutely spectacular! Hand built before the days of 3d printing etc.
All that parts bin twaddle is for the haters, not important in the scheme of things.
In my Ideal garage it's going to be parked next to the blower Bentley.
munk said:
This was about the only time where "smoking" was a broadly positive experience for me as a child.
Back in the day, my old man lived next to the local Jag / Aston dealer who would regularly bring home new Astons to be "smoked". Smoking basically involved him taking them home for the weekend, pootling around for a few miles and promptly returning them to the the forecourt as a used car. I imagine something to do with the tax implications
Being a social climbing sort and having just separated from my mother, Dad spent many a night over with his dealer friend. I can only assume they had some sort of burgeoning bro-mance over their shared love of booze / smoking, status symbols and (to my 12 year old post pubescent eyes / groin at least) perhaps his perky young wife. As a result he, and vicariously I; were invited to various corporate hospitality events and wangled weekend loans of all sort of fancy smokers. I remember being underwhelmed by a few DB7s - lots of walnut and leather but not a lot else. Weekends of tooling about in boxy old 4.0 Cherokee and Wranglers, with the occasional jaunt into the local woods to test them out just after dark.
But the one that sticks in my mind was a shiny green Aston Vantage with an auto box. It wasn't the V550 as in the article, but the "regular" 500 bhp version - exactly like the picture in the first post. I turned up for a "dad weekend" and there it was, resplendent in all it's glory on the driveway. Dad could hardly hide his smile. At the time it was cartoonish - a simply huge car in every respect. Massive arches, steamroller wheels, gigantic superchargers - and a big metal plaque under the bonnet bearing the signature of the man who built the engine. It cost more than the house - and it felt like it did.
My brother got the front seat, so my gawky frame was crammed into the back - knees up around my chin. Whereupon my ever positive male role-model spent the majority of the afternoon performing full bore standing starts in built up areas, burbling past all of our school friends houses and generally behaving like the pond scum we were. It was fabulous. My lasting memory isn't burning the local boy racers off the lights or doing the weekly shop at Tesco in it or even getting pressed into the leather by the unspeakable speed. No, it was getting locked out the thing at the local garden centre - lights flashing, alarms going off, car steadfastly refusing to start. What sticks in my mind is the proud old fella was racing around it, frantically searching for how to turn the alarm and immobilizer off - trying not to look like he'd just borrowed it. We never let him forget that in the years that passed.
However many years later when we talked about the cars he borrowed and which one was his favourite, he replied that he didn't really like any of them. He said they were all a bit fussy, didn't drive very well and cost more than the ought to have done. In his mind he always preferred his Subaru Legacy Turbo. Anyway, the old chap hasn't been with us for about a decade now - but thanks for the article, this made me smile and think of him.
Nice post - thanks for that. I think the last paragraph says it all....Back in the day, my old man lived next to the local Jag / Aston dealer who would regularly bring home new Astons to be "smoked". Smoking basically involved him taking them home for the weekend, pootling around for a few miles and promptly returning them to the the forecourt as a used car. I imagine something to do with the tax implications
Being a social climbing sort and having just separated from my mother, Dad spent many a night over with his dealer friend. I can only assume they had some sort of burgeoning bro-mance over their shared love of booze / smoking, status symbols and (to my 12 year old post pubescent eyes / groin at least) perhaps his perky young wife. As a result he, and vicariously I; were invited to various corporate hospitality events and wangled weekend loans of all sort of fancy smokers. I remember being underwhelmed by a few DB7s - lots of walnut and leather but not a lot else. Weekends of tooling about in boxy old 4.0 Cherokee and Wranglers, with the occasional jaunt into the local woods to test them out just after dark.
But the one that sticks in my mind was a shiny green Aston Vantage with an auto box. It wasn't the V550 as in the article, but the "regular" 500 bhp version - exactly like the picture in the first post. I turned up for a "dad weekend" and there it was, resplendent in all it's glory on the driveway. Dad could hardly hide his smile. At the time it was cartoonish - a simply huge car in every respect. Massive arches, steamroller wheels, gigantic superchargers - and a big metal plaque under the bonnet bearing the signature of the man who built the engine. It cost more than the house - and it felt like it did.
My brother got the front seat, so my gawky frame was crammed into the back - knees up around my chin. Whereupon my ever positive male role-model spent the majority of the afternoon performing full bore standing starts in built up areas, burbling past all of our school friends houses and generally behaving like the pond scum we were. It was fabulous. My lasting memory isn't burning the local boy racers off the lights or doing the weekly shop at Tesco in it or even getting pressed into the leather by the unspeakable speed. No, it was getting locked out the thing at the local garden centre - lights flashing, alarms going off, car steadfastly refusing to start. What sticks in my mind is the proud old fella was racing around it, frantically searching for how to turn the alarm and immobilizer off - trying not to look like he'd just borrowed it. We never let him forget that in the years that passed.
However many years later when we talked about the cars he borrowed and which one was his favourite, he replied that he didn't really like any of them. He said they were all a bit fussy, didn't drive very well and cost more than the ought to have done. In his mind he always preferred his Subaru Legacy Turbo. Anyway, the old chap hasn't been with us for about a decade now - but thanks for the article, this made me smile and think of him.
munk said:
This was about the only time where "smoking" was a broadly positive experience for me as a child.
Back in the day, my old man lived next to the local Jag / Aston dealer who would regularly bring home new Astons to be "smoked". Smoking basically involved him taking them home for the weekend, pootling around for a few miles and promptly returning them to the the forecourt as a used car. I imagine something to do with the tax implications
Being a social climbing sort and having just separated from my mother, Dad spent many a night over with his dealer friend. I can only assume they had some sort of burgeoning bro-mance over their shared love of booze / smoking, status symbols and (to my 12 year old post pubescent eyes / groin at least) perhaps his perky young wife. As a result he, and vicariously I; were invited to various corporate hospitality events and wangled weekend loans of all sort of fancy smokers. I remember being underwhelmed by a few DB7s - lots of walnut and leather but not a lot else. Weekends of tooling about in boxy old 4.0 Cherokee and Wranglers, with the occasional jaunt into the local woods to test them out just after dark.
But the one that sticks in my mind was a shiny green Aston Vantage with an auto box. It wasn't the V550 as in the article, but the "regular" 500 bhp version - exactly like the picture in the first post. I turned up for a "dad weekend" and there it was, resplendent in all it's glory on the driveway. Dad could hardly hide his smile. At the time it was cartoonish - a simply huge car in every respect. Massive arches, steamroller wheels, gigantic superchargers - and a big metal plaque under the bonnet bearing the signature of the man who built the engine. It cost more than the house - and it felt like it did.
My brother got the front seat, so my gawky frame was crammed into the back - knees up around my chin. Whereupon my ever positive male role-model spent the majority of the afternoon performing full bore standing starts in built up areas, burbling past all of our school friends houses and generally behaving like the pond scum we were. It was fabulous. My lasting memory isn't burning the local boy racers off the lights or doing the weekly shop at Tesco in it or even getting pressed into the leather by the unspeakable speed. No, it was getting locked out the thing at the local garden centre - lights flashing, alarms going off, car steadfastly refusing to start. What sticks in my mind is the proud old fella was racing around it, frantically searching for how to turn the alarm and immobilizer off - trying not to look like he'd just borrowed it. We never let him forget that in the years that passed.
However many years later when we talked about the cars he borrowed and which one was his favourite, he replied that he didn't really like any of them. He said they were all a bit fussy, didn't drive very well and cost more than the ought to have done. In his mind he always preferred his Subaru Legacy Turbo. Anyway, the old chap hasn't been with us for about a decade now - but thanks for the article, this made me smile and think of him.
Wonderful story......... Back in the day, my old man lived next to the local Jag / Aston dealer who would regularly bring home new Astons to be "smoked". Smoking basically involved him taking them home for the weekend, pootling around for a few miles and promptly returning them to the the forecourt as a used car. I imagine something to do with the tax implications
Being a social climbing sort and having just separated from my mother, Dad spent many a night over with his dealer friend. I can only assume they had some sort of burgeoning bro-mance over their shared love of booze / smoking, status symbols and (to my 12 year old post pubescent eyes / groin at least) perhaps his perky young wife. As a result he, and vicariously I; were invited to various corporate hospitality events and wangled weekend loans of all sort of fancy smokers. I remember being underwhelmed by a few DB7s - lots of walnut and leather but not a lot else. Weekends of tooling about in boxy old 4.0 Cherokee and Wranglers, with the occasional jaunt into the local woods to test them out just after dark.
But the one that sticks in my mind was a shiny green Aston Vantage with an auto box. It wasn't the V550 as in the article, but the "regular" 500 bhp version - exactly like the picture in the first post. I turned up for a "dad weekend" and there it was, resplendent in all it's glory on the driveway. Dad could hardly hide his smile. At the time it was cartoonish - a simply huge car in every respect. Massive arches, steamroller wheels, gigantic superchargers - and a big metal plaque under the bonnet bearing the signature of the man who built the engine. It cost more than the house - and it felt like it did.
My brother got the front seat, so my gawky frame was crammed into the back - knees up around my chin. Whereupon my ever positive male role-model spent the majority of the afternoon performing full bore standing starts in built up areas, burbling past all of our school friends houses and generally behaving like the pond scum we were. It was fabulous. My lasting memory isn't burning the local boy racers off the lights or doing the weekly shop at Tesco in it or even getting pressed into the leather by the unspeakable speed. No, it was getting locked out the thing at the local garden centre - lights flashing, alarms going off, car steadfastly refusing to start. What sticks in my mind is the proud old fella was racing around it, frantically searching for how to turn the alarm and immobilizer off - trying not to look like he'd just borrowed it. We never let him forget that in the years that passed.
However many years later when we talked about the cars he borrowed and which one was his favourite, he replied that he didn't really like any of them. He said they were all a bit fussy, didn't drive very well and cost more than the ought to have done. In his mind he always preferred his Subaru Legacy Turbo. Anyway, the old chap hasn't been with us for about a decade now - but thanks for the article, this made me smile and think of him.
SturdyHSV said:
My favourite car, I just think they look magnificent, sound magnificent, and to me it is exactly what an Aston should be (with a manual)
The Clarkson: Unleashed on Cars video cemented my love for the thing, and I'd imagine I could probably still reel off most of the script
"...weighs about twice as much as a Golf GTi, so you'd expect it to have twice the power. No, it has (insert Clarkson pause) 4 times as much. Weighs the same as a planet, goes like the starship Enterprise"
I really did watch that video a lot when I was a kid
This picture is just perfection
Agree 100% I'd still take this over any modern supercar, I was 10 when that video came out and I wore it out from watching it over and over..... and overThe Clarkson: Unleashed on Cars video cemented my love for the thing, and I'd imagine I could probably still reel off most of the script
"...weighs about twice as much as a Golf GTi, so you'd expect it to have twice the power. No, it has (insert Clarkson pause) 4 times as much. Weighs the same as a planet, goes like the starship Enterprise"
I really did watch that video a lot when I was a kid
This picture is just perfection
Edited by SturdyHSV on Tuesday 13th December 13:46
Also, if you haven't seen it yet, youtube "top gear supercars 1994" and skip to the last car... saved the best till last!
munk said:
It wasn't the V550 as in the article, but the "regular" 500 bhp version - exactly like the picture in the first post.
V550 was the regular version. There was a V600 upgrade available as an option later, and I don't think the Vantage was ever referred to as the V550 until after the V600 came about; it was just the Vantage until that differentiation of the two engine specs was needed.Absolutely love it. Maybe not this particular example - but overall what a car. I was recently having a glass of wine in Casino Sq and did wonder what the cheapest “head turner” in Monaco would be these days as so many cars are the same even if they are £1/2m+, but I’d imagine this would be right up there.
No exaggeration to say that the Brunei royal family saved Aston Martin in the 1990s. Without them it would have folded.
As for the car lovely on the outside but I couldn't live with such a crap interior in such an expensive car.
Steering wheel from a Lincoln and other bits from the Ford parts bin. Just look at those air vents. Dreadful
As for the car lovely on the outside but I couldn't live with such a crap interior in such an expensive car.
Steering wheel from a Lincoln and other bits from the Ford parts bin. Just look at those air vents. Dreadful
SturdyHSV said:
The Clarkson: Unleashed on Cars video cemented my love for the thing, and I'd imagine I could probably still reel off most of the script
"...weighs about twice as much as a Golf GTi, so you'd expect it to have twice the power. No, it has (insert Clarkson pause) 4 times as much. Weighs the same as a planet, goes like the starship Enterprise"
Was it the same video where he was talking about how great the seats were and how they would 'support even the fattest of businessmen no matter how many lunches they had that day' "...weighs about twice as much as a Golf GTi, so you'd expect it to have twice the power. No, it has (insert Clarkson pause) 4 times as much. Weighs the same as a planet, goes like the starship Enterprise"
Edited by SturdyHSV on Tuesday 13th December 13:46
thegreenhell said:
munk said:
It wasn't the V550 as in the article, but the "regular" 500 bhp version - exactly like the picture in the first post.
V550 was the regular version. There was a V600 upgrade available as an option later, and I don't think the Vantage was ever referred to as the V550 until after the V600 came about; it was just the Vantage until that differentiation of the two engine specs was needed.Davey S2 said:
No exaggeration to say that the Brunei royal family saved Aston Martin in the 1990s. Without them it would have folded.
As for the car lovely on the outside but I couldn't live with such a crap interior in such an expensive car.
Steering wheel from a Lincoln and other bits from the Ford parts bin. Just look at those air vents. Dreadful
It's also the screws as well. Just a rubbish interior (except the seats). As for the car lovely on the outside but I couldn't live with such a crap interior in such an expensive car.
Steering wheel from a Lincoln and other bits from the Ford parts bin. Just look at those air vents. Dreadful
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