My Quest: Six cars in six years

[Cloudy147]

I have a plan. A six-year plan. Six cars in six years. Why? I’ll be 50 years young in 2027 and I’m only getting creakier as the years go by, so I set myself a target to have owned all of my most favourite sports cars that are remaining on the ‘to do’ list by the time I get to 50 - and start to vibe that 'old man in a sports car' look. Also, if I’m then so unbendy as to be happier with more traditional (rather than sports) cars, I will have at least crossed off all of the ones I’d like to own. And if I don’t get them all, it’ll have been a fun quest trying to achieve it anyway – so a win-win.

Here are the cars, in 1:18 scale to keep the motivation high:



2021-2022 was the turn of the 987 Boxster (which was great!), so that’s one down:



For 2022-2023 it was to be the Ferrari 360, but that didn’t happen because it turns out its really, really hard to actually find a good one.


One of the Ferrari inspections, not the greatest!

And so, somewhat frustrated and with enough time having now slid by without any progress I decided to aim by careless wallet towards one of the other cars instead. Enter the Aston!



A quick look on Auto Trader and this beauty was staring back at me, my perfect spec: Black with silver wheels, black interior and the standard dashboard. That’s the entirety of my spec requirements and this one matched them all! Oh, it also needed to be fairly cheap to mean I have options in the future; a (hopefully!) easier resale if and when the time comes or the possibility as maybe one to keep long term if the budget allows it whilst continuing my “before I’m an old man” mission. This one fit the bill, its done mega miles (100,000!) hence the price, but has got a full-service history. Mileage has never bothered me as long as the condition looks fairly decent (my Boxster had 110,000 miles with an amazing service record and ran perfectly).

Lets go and have a look, two hours drive away from me…



“Youuuuurrrrr not gonna fit in a Vantage!” was the comical greeting that I was met with by Adam, my sale man as he shook my hand. “Quite possibly,” I laughed, “This could be the shortest test in history”. “Well, go for it, have a look around and see what you think”, he said. I took my 6’4” frame over to the car at the front of the showroom, the lights gleaming off that lovely black paintwork. Surrounded by other Astons for company, I squeezed myself into the driver’s seat. My first impression was “Oh no, this isn’t going to work. My head was wedged against the roof lining – mimicking that of my Chevrolet Camaro – and reminiscent of the time I (almost) drove a Ferrari F40. Neither are particularly suited to my build. I started the ignition and all the electrics came to life. The words Power, Beauty and Soul light up on the dashboard. “I HAVE to make this work somehow”, I tell myself and started fiddling with the electronic seat controls. After some reconfiguration I managed to find a comfy position –it’s definitely a squeeze but I successfully managed to find space for all of my limbs – including my head.

Time for a quick test drive… Initial thoughts are that the seats are really comfortable and the clutch is not. A chat with the dealer and they think it’ll be ready for a new one, depending how I drive it in 6-8,000 miles, which in my mind means pre-sales talk for “it probably needs one now”. But we’ll see how we get on with it!



The comprehensive inspection involved me staring at the car for about 20 minutes, driving it and then deciding to buy it. Therefore, the potential for this car to steal all of my money over the next year or so is absolutely immense, but always finding an upside at least it’ll give me something to write about. Sometimes, you've just got to take a chance.

And just look at it! Look at it! To me, this is the most beautifully designed car that has ever been created. And now its mine. I’ll be picking it up in a couple of weeks’ time all being well. I’ll be sure to keep you updated

Wish me luck!

Edited by Cloudy147 on Monday 10th April 14:39

[Cloudy147]

Thanks everyone for the replies!

B'stard Child said:

Good luck

100K mile Aston - wonderful on the grounds that is things needed doing as the mileage got up there they probably were done

That's what I'm hoping!

MTK1919 said:

Interesting thread, all the best with the project!

Can I suggest swapping the scirocco with something more “sports car”. Perhaps an F Type (if you’ll fit!), Z4M, TTRS.

Most of the cars apart from the 360 should be easy ish to acquire and I’d imagine the 360 becomes more and more tricky to source over time. I’d go on the hunt for that in parallel if you aren’t already.

Good luck!

Thanks MTK! I love the design of the scirocco, think it has a lovely shape so it is a firm contender on my to-own list, albeit perhaps more as a runabout/daily car.

covmutley said:

A good days shopping!. Bet you can't wait to pick it up, good luck with it.

Thanks Cov, yep excited to begin my Aston Martin experience!

Andy665 said:

Good to see how well they wear the miles, at least you will not be overly concerned about sticking some miles on to it

Yep, my plan is to drive it whenever I feel like it - although that said my daily miles aren't that high. This will be car number four, and taking our family car out of the equation, I probably only do 1,500 miles collectively on the others each year at the most - so even with determination it won't get used all that heavily.

nismo48 said:

Great plan...and good luck with 'New' Aston

Thanks Nismo!

Doofus said:

Seems like a fun idea. Five cars over five years, all the while looking forward to the day you finally get behind the wheel of a VW Scirocco.

Han Solo said:

Mine was pretty much faultless (leaking AC, paint oxidisation on the handles), over the 5 years I widened it, failed at some point aswell.

Clutch is an expensive job, £2.5 - 3k iirc, everyone and every dealer when I sold mine asked about it.

Enjoy, some great memories in mine around N Wales / ale Mans!

Thanks Han Solo, yes I've been told its around the £3k mark, so I'm ready for that if it needs it. How do you know if the clutch has had its day though? Its not slipping and it goes into gear without any issue that I can remember. Its pretty heavy though - is that a sign or are they all like that due to the design?

Nigel_O said:

I bought my V8V at the bottom end of the market and got pretty lucky with it. I’m not sure I’d have bought it knowing it needed a clutch within 6-8k miles, unless it was at least £5k cheaper than anything else on the market.

Hi Nigel, it was £6k lower than the next available one at the time, so I think they've accounted for miles and clutch in the price.

Calinours said:

Lots of great advice!

Thanks Calinours, great tips - will bare these in mind! They are such a lovely car to look at, it just needs to drive as good as it looks, and be comfortable enough for me to want to drive it. Oh, and it needs to behave! If it does, it might stick around for a while. We'll see!

trickywoo said:

All the best with your plan.

I’m doing something similar but with motorbikes. I’ve been feeling the age limitations creeping up on those but hadn’t even thought about cars, not that I have the money to do the same with four wheels anyway.

Thankyou Trickywoo, and all the best to you with the bikes!

seabod91 said:

It’s a clutch. Do it yourself on stands. I don’t get why people get scared of certain jobs when they’re the same principle as any other rwd car.. such a beautiful machine

Sadly I'm just not mechanically minded, so it's something I'd prefer to leave to the experts. I just like driving them

CarlosSainz100 said:

I'm a bit miffed that at 6ft 4 you can't really fit great in a Vantage, especially as I'm the same height and long in leg....I had always assumed they were relatively roomy.

I know! Sorry to burst the bubble - but they aren't. Its a two hour drive back home though so I'll have a good idea of comfort when I return and will update! But I don't think there is nearly as much room as there is in a comparable 997. If comparing to Porsche's two seater, I'd say the Cayman has more room. Its the roofline that does it, to keep those sleek looks you get less space up top.

Picking it up next week!

[Cloudy147]

Its here! Whoop! Today was collection day, so I took an early train to the midlands to collect my 'new' car.


All mine now

The train journey was relaxing and on-time and the handover was nice and smooth and the salesman gave me a quick overview of some of the Astons more unusual quirks (handbrake location and fuel cap operation amongst others). Beyond that it was payment, tax and then off!

This car just pre-dates the revised tax system meaning its on the Band K at £360 per year, rather than the higher bracket at £600+

Having had a look around the car now, there are a few bits and pieces that are looking a bit tatty and past their best - principally the drivers wing mirror stalk and the stone chip film that all sports cars have on the rear quarters. If I keep long term I'll be looking to improve both of these, dunno how I didn't notice these the first time around as they immediately stuck out when I collected it. However, neither would stop me from buying the car as it was a great deal. The salesman told me that he'd never had as many calls for a car as this one - likely due to the price and the relative condition.


A few cosmetic bits that could do with refreshing as part of the ownership journey

Positives then.... the clutch is nowhere near as heavy as I remembered it and the two hour drive home was absolutely fine. Its still heavier than my previous Porsche but it isn't bad. This is a sports car after all. Ditto for the driving position which is not too far off the comfort levels as my previous Boxster once I'd messed around with the seat adjustments and got it how I like it. The Boxster edges it for legroom (and headroom, obviously), but the Aston certainly isn't bad. And those with smaller buttocks than I will surely enjoy the enveloped bucket seats hugely.

Visually, the interior cabin is really nice, it looks lovely to me, particularly the instrument cluster which I think it really classy - and quite comical that the 70mph dial is soooooo far down the dial (which goes up to 220mph!).


Internet picture

Ergonomics are not Aston's strong suit with things not placed as intuitively as you'd expect, but that's all part of the learning process - and its that process which I think makes buying new cars interesting.


The Aston is a similar size to the Boxster too, which gives some good wiggle room all around the car when parked in the garage in the smaller side

So far, so good! All tucked up now in its box, both cars absolutely filthy and in desperate need of a wash... just need some warmer days before I tackle that job!!

[Cloudy147]

Had a great weekend of driving this weekend. Yesterday I met up with a few others from a local car club and we went to the Motorist - as this was a Saturday it was much less busy than the recent Sundays and so was a really, really pleasant morning out.

Then today was a longer drive up to the NY500 cafe, before heading out on a tour of the North Yorks Moors - some amazing roads and incredible scenery. Truly outstanding stuff.

Some shots from NY500 this morning:





The Aston behaved flawlessly and was pretty comfortable to drive.

Its foibles are largely in its ergonomics which are quite comical, rather than problematic. Most recently I've been thinking for several days that the windscreen washers had developed a fault as nothing sprayed when I pulled the windscreen stalk. Turns out the jets are actually on the button that you press at the end of the stalk, whereas when you pull the stalk, you just get some wiper action. Once you know, you know.


Picked up a fair amount of filth this weekend, and wearing it proudly.

Still in the honeymoon period, but so far so good. I do rather like this car, its fun to drive and I love the way it looks!

Next stop is to get my private number plate sorted out and transferred onto the car. I meant to go to Aston yesterday to get some new plates made up, but didn't get time so will do that in the coming week at some point.

[Cloudy147]

Krhuangbin said:

Lovely motor

I’ve had mine nearly exactly a year now (same age/spec apart from colour) and it was only ever meant to be an “experience for a year then move it on” car….. but I’ve rather fallen fall it and it’s still there on the drive ready for another summer of bombing around

Pretty much nothing on four wheels from the last few decades looks as good.

Enjoy

I can see why, they are very very nice cars indeed. I'm feeling rather satisfied with my little fleet at the minute I have to admit.

Terminator X said:

Great idea and great thread.

TX.

Thanks TX!

Update

In order to get my personal number plate added to the car I drove up to Aston Martin Leeds to get some new plates made up. Unfortunately I made an error and ordered the larger rear plate, designed for the original Vantage. When asked if I had the "old shape or new shape", I thought he meant the current run of cars so said "old shape". So I'll head back over this weekend I think and get another one made up.

Whilst I was there I asked if they might be able to tell me anything about the cars history, as the previous owner had the last service done there. GDPR meant that they couldn't disclose what had been done, but they advised that a significant sum had been spent on keeping the car well maintained and that it wanted for nothing by its previous owner. Nothing nefarious, just wear and tear items that had been refreshed. Marvellous! I thought I might write to the previous owner and see if he'd be willing to share what he had done?


Gave it a bath, as it looked embarrassingly unloved when parked at the Aston dealers, next to all the shiny metal!

My cars last service was completed in April 2021, and me being all out of sorts with my years I thought it was due this coming April - but of course its actually 9 months overdue on timing, being an annual service requirement - albeit it has only done 7,000 miles since the last one so I'm not too concerned and it'll be done annually for at least as long as I have it.

I've booked it in with my local independent mechanic instead and see how he gets on with it. I was considering having the service done at the main dealer, but at a fiver under a grand, it felt a bit much for an oil, coolant and brake fluid change - the incentive being to get on the books with them. I'll see how that price compares to my mechanic when he completes the work and go from there, but I suspect it'll be around half that.


Purchased the Aston Martin Driver magazine today, because... you know... I'm now an Aston Martin driver. Also purchased a mag about the Pharaohs because I find ancient Egypt properly fascinating.

I'll keep you updated!

[Cloudy147]

The Vantage was (over)due a service, so I took it to my trusted mechanic who I have used for more than a decade. As well as being Porsche and Ferrari specialists they deal with other brands as well, including Astons. He ordered the appropriate service kit and got busy last week.



Whilst up on the ramps, he had a good look around, inside and out and couldn't find anything to be concerned with - so that's good news.

Service completed, at around one third of the price of the official Aston dealer, a quick clean and we are now ready for the spring! Happy days!! I have to say, for the first time that I can remember I do feel completely satisfied with my cars and no current desire to change at all. This may cause issues with my 6 year plan. It is of course still early days, but I think the Vantage really does look fantastic parked up in my garage. It makes me very happy.

Edited by Cloudy147 on Thursday 30th March 23:43

[Cloudy147]

tberg said:

Cloudy147,
Well the good news is that once you start getting older (post 50) you'll start shrinking and will fit better in your car. I speak from experience. Back in my "youth" I was nearly 6'-3" in height and sitting in my 1972 De Tomaso Pantera meant having my head hit the roof at all times. And when I took it to the track with a helmet on, my head was at a 45* angle in order to accommodate the helmet. It made for a lot of stiff necks at the end of a weekend. Now that I've just turned 70 years of age a couple of weeks ago, I have shrunk nearly 4" and finally after 27 years of ownership, I'm very comfortable inside the Pantera. I've finally "grown" into my Pantera and making up for lost time.

haha, I'd never thought of that tberg, what a great way to look at it! I look forward to getting shorter and finally fitting in sports cars properly too!

Your Pantera looks awesome, glad you are making the most of it!!

[Cloudy147]

43034 said:

Great thread, dare I ask how much you parted with? Feel free to tell me to eff off, of course.

I'm in the market for a V8V myself but having trouble finding 'the one'!

Hi 43034, I don't mind sharing - I paid £21,500 for the car, and £340 for the service (including break fluid change). The market does seem quite limited at the minute, particularly if you are a discerning buyer wanting a specific spec. My requirements were black with silver wheels and the standard black dashboard (rather than the painted/piano style) in the original 4.3 shape - and ideally the cheaper tax bracket .

So although not mega precise, in these limited run cars I think being specific like me can make things tricky - and if you then want something near-perfect, or have high expectations of a previous owner, it limits the opportunities significantly. This one came up as the right spec, at the right time, for the right price and with a decent history. There are a few cosmetic things that are best their best, and I'm sure if I had an inspection done on it I'd be immediately scared off But, I took a chance and purchased anyway - so far, so good!

Good luck with your search! What spec are you looking for?

[Cloudy147]

43034 said:

Thanks for the reply! I think thats very fair considering Miles Vs History, clear rear lights look great.

Personally, colour doesn't bother me but I wanted one with good history, recent clutch and lower mileage than yours (& perhaps the biggest ask, to be realistically priced, which I think a lot aren't and the fact they hang around for ages backs this up). And as luck would have it, i;m off to view / collect one tomorrow! Very excited.

How are you finding the performance? Any thoughts about the Fuse22 mod?

P.S, glad you managed to fit, i'm only 6ft but have never sat it one, glad to hear i'll no doubt make it work!

Excellent, good luck hope it ticks all the boxes for you, let us know how you get on!

Fuse 22, not done it as yet, still on the to do list

Performance is decent, im happy with it - but it depends what you are coming from I guess. No complaints here, but I’m not a speed demon so it’s all subjective I suppose.

[Cloudy147]

Mrinsignia said:

Congrats on the Aston, it's a beautiful car and it sounds like you got it at a good price.

I am in a similar boat to you in that I have a wish list of cars I would like to get through. I am thinking of putting some money aside to buy the first car on this wish list and swap it for the next car on the list each year. What's your plan to get through the cars, are you looking for good deals so you dont lose too much money over the course of the project?

Thank you, Mr Insignia!

My plan is similar in that I intend to use the funds from one car to help fund the next one. With regards the plan, I tend to look at cars at the cheaper end of the market, usually higher miles but with strong service history. The reason being that miles don’t bother me as long as it has been looked after and priced accordingly as most of the cars on my list are miles sensitive. I’ve found that if a car is used regularly and also looked after, it tends to be less maintenance than one which has hardly been used. I also want to use the cars daily when I choose without worrying about a stone chip here, or getting it wet etc. I like to use my cars and make sure they are looked after mechanically.

High miles also means cheaper end of the market, which usually is easier to sell on, and being cheaper less of a financial risk.

My Boxster I owned for a year and was largely fault free, and sold for more than I bought it for. It had 110,000 miles on it and had the most comprehensively documented history I’ve ever seen!

[Cloudy147]

Screenwash said:

Lovely looking car.

Bit surprised that the dealership hadn’t serviced it prior to sale, considering that it was well overdue?

Still, win-win I guess. Kept the price low and you’re happy!

Thanks, yes there was a mix up all round with this. It was last serviced in April 2021, and I purchased in December 2022, 8,000 miles since last service. The dealer agreed to do a service as part of the deal but couldn’t get the parts in time for my collection. This sounds odd, I thought he’d just totally forgot as he did all the other jobs I wanted doing, but I think it was true as my own indi took a while to get them too. But I’m sure the dealer also said something along the lines of “but it’s ok as it was only serviced in April anyway”. And weirdly, I thought the same which is why I wasn’t that bothered (the service was just something he offered after we agreed the sale as a bit of a happy Christmas thing, it wasn’t part of the negotiation deal).

So either we both got our years totally wrong, or there is a piece of paper which I’ve misplaced that shows an extra service.

But regardless, although almost two years for this interval by the time I’d got it done, it was still only 8,000 miles between them. Indi has given it a clean bill of health so I’m not too concerned. For as long as I keep it, it’ll be done annually now.

[Cloudy147]

43034 said:

Well I got it, and I fking adore it. Can't stop staring at it and finding excuses to drive it.

I bought it in the hope i'd use it more than my TVR. It's much more refined and was utterly silent at 3 figures on the drive home. But can still be a brute when needed!

34k with an AMR clutch at 29k.

Congrats!! That looks great, glad you managed to find one! Welcome to the club

[Cloudy147]

tberg said:

Cloudy147,
I really appreciate your attitude toward higher mileage models of cars you like. I bought my 2010 XKR over 10 years ago with about 70,000 miles on it. This past week I passed 199,000 miles. The car has been pulleyed and tuned to about 600hp, has been tracked many dozens of times, has been supremely reliable, and is still so enjoyable to drive everyday as my daily driver that I can't think of getting rid of it for anything else. A car that's been driven and properly maintained is much more likely to provide a good ownership experience than one that rarely leaves the garage. Congratulations, again, on your beautiful new Aston.

That's great to see, tberg! Here's to many more miles!!

[Cloudy147]

Hi all,

Almost 7 months into my ownership experience already, I can't believe how fast this year has gone. The Aston has been used for daily duties (which is mainly the school run, a healthy combo of A, B and motorway roads), along with a variety of longer journeys and pleasure drives.

I tend to do the school run for the first half of the week with Mrs Cloudy doing the second half. Unfortunately, in an act of great buffoonery I forgot to take the key out of the ignition when I had parked it back in the garage on my last school run 'shift'. I came back a few days later to find everything very dead. "Oh no, I've broken it a bit" was my first thought.

I posted on here for some advice and the first step was to charge it and see what happened. Time to break out the trusty CTEK which, after 24 hours had brought the battery back to full. I started the ignition and the warning still came up "low battery", but thankfully it fired first time without a problem.



I took it for a drive, no issues, so then a run down the motorway to get everything back to best. So thankfully no drama!

Other than that, to date no issues. I'm pretty much used to the clutch and handbrake oddities now so that's all fine too. On a recent visit to my parents house, with just me and daughter on the journey we went in the Aston rather than our family car. My mum asked me to "give it a roar" (she likes to hear my cars !), so I blipped the throttle and she nearly jumped out of her skin! Have to admit, when stationary it certainly is rather loud when the beans are given!



The year is whizzing by, and I'm questioning my ability to complete the aforementioned six year car plan...

Edited by Cloudy147 on Sunday 25th June 00:23

[Cloudy147]

B'stard Child said:

A little slippage in the plan isn't going to hurt anyone - if you are enjoying the car you can look and jump when you are ready

Thankyou, Mr Child. I think there may well be some slippage!!

RD-1 said:

Love this.

All these cars are on my ‘list’ too, so following with interest.

Boxster - done
GranTurismo - done

360 or V8V next.

Excellent! Any progress yet? How did you find the GranTurismo? I don't hear great things about reliability or the speed of parts availability?

lewisf182 said:

Love the idea of this, especially having the model cars helping to visualise the journey!
Your target cars are exactly the ones i’d go for too, the millennium heroes, cars I grew up yearning for. Finnily enough I purchased a 2008 vantage in april and am really fancying an r8 next.
The 360/430 i’d love to get to asap as think they’re going to quite quickly shoot off in value over the next few years

Is your vantage a manual? I went sportshift. I love it when pressing on its actually a great gearbox. The low speed manoeuvring though is virtually useless, tight spaces are impossible. With it being a weekend car not too much of an issue but for a daily driver the ss1 just isn’t feasible.

Hi Lewis, thanks very much. Yes I love the model cars. The 360's are already going up and up it seems - particularly for red ones. My Vantage is a manual one. I would have been happy with a sportshift or manual I think, but it was the manual that came up first.



Breakfast Meet at Topaz Detailing

I met up with a local sports car group that I'm a member of recently, and we headed over to Topaz Detailing in Leeds for breakfast.

I wasn't aware that Topaz was in my locale so I wanted to go and see what they do, as well as have a good ol' social too. Their building is really nice - spotlessly clean and lots of really bright, but not glaring, lights above the cars. They had some wonderful cars too!


A lovely new Aston SUV!


And a Lotus electric SUV! This took me by surprise, I hadn't realised it had even become a production car yet, so had a good nosey around it!



Supercars in attendance, naturally


Very nice Rolls - with photo exposure making the rear bumper look very weird!



A really cool Ferrari, which has its engine bay signed by everyone who built it. Awesome!!

One area of required cosmetic improvement for my Vantage is the stone guard film on the rear quarters. These are past their best and are starting to peel on one side, so I asked Topaz if they could replacement. The answer was yes, and they have all the templates available - so I'm going to book in over the next few months and have these tidied up.

There was also another gent at the meet who came in his V8 Vantage and ultimately I got talking to him too. He is very much an enthusiast of both the brand and the model, having owned three of them, with the current one being in his collection for many years. As the conversation turned to my car, it turns out that the previous owner was actually his neighbour! I asked if he could perhaps see if the previous owner has any additional documentation for the car, or perhaps if he can recall if/when the clutch was replaced. He said he would do so, as he hasn't seen his neighbour around for a while so will be a good excuse to knock and see how he is and what car he has now. If anything comes of it, ill update!

For now, both cars are parked in my garage, both a bit dirty and are ready for some winter cleaning and routine maintenance (service, mot, tyres, etc, as required).

[Cloudy147]

Just a short update this time around, in that the MOT was due this month...



I booked it in for today and I'm pleased to say that it passed with flying colours, no advisories. Hurrah!

We are coming up to one year ownership with this car. I've covered just over 1,600 miles in that period and the Vantage is still so very satisfying to own, drive and look at! 

Edited by Cloudy147 on Tuesday 5th December 22:00

[Cloudy147]

Some interesting news, you may recall I mentioned in an earlier post that I met the neighbour of the previous owner of my Vantage recently.

He messaged me earlier this week to say he had spoken to his neighbour (the previous owner) who said that my car had a new engine, clutch and flywheel at 105,000 miles (5,000 miles ago). All were done at the main dealer at a cost of £26k! He sold not long after as he felt he’d put enough into the car and didn’t want to risk another big bill.

He is going to look and see if he still has the receipts (my car only came with the service book), and if not will ask the dealer for copies, which would be most kind of him.

[Cloudy147]

Mark-ri571 said:

That’s a great result. Strange that the clutch feels heavy after only 5000 miles ( are they always heavy ?)
Interesting that AM Leeds consider a new engine as a wear and tear item ! Quote from page 1 :“Whilst I was there I asked if they might be able to tell me anything about the cars history, as the previous owner had the last service done there. GDPR meant that they couldn't disclose what had been done, but they advised that a significant sum had been spent on keeping the car well maintained and that it wanted for nothing by its previous owner. Nothing nefarious, just wear and tear items that had been refreshed. ”

Yes indeed, I thought that. Perhaps they didn't want to worry me as they couldn't give context, or maybe they were just looking at the last bill, rather than maybe previous ones? I dunno, but I suspect the size of the bill(s) he clocked up is perhaps why they remembered him as a customer too!

As for the clutch, I've no frame of reference as regards Aston's, but I've heard from others that the clutches are heavy compared to other cars, and are certainly more so than my previous Porsches. But it's not like pressing concrete or anything like that.

All that said, I am used to it now. I suppose it depends what you come out of previously. But the next time I meet an owner of a similar model Vantage I might request a sit and see how they compare, my guess is they'll be pretty much the same though.

As for my six year plan, I've been contemplating whether to change for one of my other cars in the list, but I'm just too content with the Aston right now. I am really happy with my cars, having the Vantage for its sleek looks, its noisy bark and its timeless and satisfying interior - and having the Camaro for its out and out fun and playful nature. They contrast and complement each other really well and I don't want to sell either!

In other news, has anyone messed about with AI Image Generation yet? Its so cool! I asked it for a picture of my cars, and here is what it came up with! Just need to get rid of the yellow stripe on the Vantage but otherwise I think its a brilliant likeness!

Edited by Cloudy147 on Friday 15th December 22:40

[Cloudy147]

Service Time

The annual service for the Vantage is due this month so I booked in with my local specialist garage who I have used for years. The car had a clean bill of health, commenting that it all looks clean underneath with no leaks etc.

A few weeks ago I inadvertently let the battery go flat (again! ), and this affected the auto-drop on the windows, I did the reset procedure which worked for the passenger but not the driver. I mentioned it to John, my mechanic, and he sorted it. He did the same reset procedure so I must have been doing something wrong!

Anyhow, adapter now purchased for the ctek charger so that it plugs into the power socket in the boot and I leave it on charge if I’m not planning on using it for more than a few days.

Covered 1,590 miles in 12 months between services. So far so good! My “6 cars in 6 years” plan isn’t going to plan though, I really do like this car!


(It was given a good clean when I got home so it’s looking very shiny again now!)

[Cloudy147]

Here are a couple of shots I took in the car park when I was working late recently. I’m no pro, was going for that ‘moody and cool’ vibe and quite liked how they turned out…