Aggressive Elegance: A new direction with an old-world chariot

It was warm afternoon, circa 2003, and I was piloting my '95 Toyota Supra in San Diego towards the Mexican taquiera of choice, Cotixan, or "Coti's" as my friends and I affectionately called it. The Supra was one of the "hero" cars of my teenage years and I certainly felt lucky to be able to be tooling around in one just a few years later, completely unknown to me that this car would be worth 3x its value inside of a decade (long after I parted with it.)  

This steed served me well. Alas, if only I had the foresight to keep her! $$$

On that typical, sunny, San Diego day, I was driving northbound on the 5 freeway and exited eastward, merging onto Balboa boulevard. As I continued onto the incline road from the exit, I heard an exotic sounding roar from something coming up on my left. Looking over my shoulder I caught a glimpse of the passenger side headlight. I remember how it looked oddly like the Supra's own: projector lenses inside an ellipsoid casing, only done in a way more refined and tasteful housing.  Come to think of it, the whole body of that car was very elegant yet menacing, like a panther leaning forward with its hind legs tucked in. And it was emitting a steady purr from its exhaust that was definitely not of this land.

Wait - what is this?  It felt strange, doing a double take whilst in the car that usually was on the receiving end of the double takes (mostly from pimply-faced teenagers sticking their heads out the windows of their hatchbacks, but still.)  At the approaching light I slowed down in tandem with the mystery car to get a better look as we came to a stop.  

I saw the famous winged badge on the trunk lid and immediately went, "Ohhhh, THAT'S what that is?!"

"Aston Martin," it read in the center of its emblem on the trunk. "Vanquish," was the model designation. "What an undeniably cool marque," I thought to myself.

In those days I didn't know too much about Aston Martin and its long and obscure history, other than that they were essentially a boutique manufacturer of hand built, expensive, British cars designed for grand touring. "Crossing continents," as Europeans love to say, while eating up the miles with speed, style, and comfort.  And as a brand Aston Martin was something rare and exotic that I'd really only read marginally about in the car mags and seen in the 007 movies.  

The undeniably beautiful DBS featured in Casino Royale made me a believer.

But to see one on the move in person like I did was something that stayed with me ever since.  It's sculpted and striking silhouette was something achieved only when a design team wins the battle with accountants. It's trademark front end grill resembled nothing else on the market. And to hear the noise it made outright only confirmed its exotic nature, with it's unique howl and bellow generated from a glorious and throaty V12 motor in front.

And like that, it was gone. But its impression remained.

Fast forward to 2013. I was at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and thanks to a birthday gift from the wife, I was exercising my third stint at the track with an exotic car of my choice.  The usual suspects were available for me to choose - Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren, Porsche, etc.  But there was another car there on the list that caught my eye. (That double take again.) 

It was an Aston Martin V8 Vantage.

"Hmm," I thought to myself.  From what I already knew, it wouldn't likely be as fast as some of the other thoroughbreds, but then I also already knew what the Italians drove like from my previous time here.  And since they actually offer an Aston here with its own unique characteristics, I thought why not try the Vantage and see what its all about? When else would I ever drive one of these again, after all, given how rare they seem to be?

So I convinced myself it would be worthwhile and decided to have a go.

As I opened the "swan door" (named for the way they open up at an angle to avoid curbs) and sat inside, I knew instantly this was going to be a whole new experience.  The leather that the entire cabin was swathed in felt and smelled way more high end than any sports car I had previously sat in. Where there was metal looking trim, it was actual metal, not painted plastic. Where there was carbon fiber trim, it was real carbon fiber. And that jewel of an instrument cluster was designed to look like it housed sophisticated watch dials, more-so than for actually measuring the speed of the car.  It was class and finesse all around, which separated it from the herd.  This was automobile art done with a clean sheet and without compromise.

With my instructor in the passenger seat and helmets on, I went ahead and placed the glass key - sorry - "Emotional Control Unit," as they call it, into the jewel-like slot in the center of the dash.  One of the most glorious sounding V8s I had ever heard fired up like it had wicked intentions in mind. And on the center display of the instrument cluster flashed three words, one after the other:

"Power"

"Beauty"

"Soul"

It's one thing when a car company throws out these sort of cheesy words on commercials and brochures, over-promising on what they deliver and underachieving when the tires hit the pavement.  But this is a different company. They actually try and build to this ethos. Their history conveys this in numerous iconic models built over the decades. And those 3 words perfectly embodied this Aston Martin as well. The doors, the ECU key, the startup sequence - it was all part of the sense of theater and occasion that the car creates at the start of each and every drive.

So we took it out for 10 laps on the circuit and there were things that I expected and things that surprised me. As mentioned earlier, I knew this car with its 4.7 liter 420 horsepower V8 and 3500 lb curb weight wasn't going to be mind-bendingly fast, but I was more interested in the overall experience and how it translates to real world driving. For that, I was not disappointed - I was smitten.  This brute in a suit with its sonorous motor that roars past 7000 RPM makes you want to rev it out gear after gear as we did lap after lap.  

Second, the steering was so refreshingly good. Being an old school hydraulic setup teamed with a quick ratio rack, makes for the best of new and old: communicative to let you know what the front tires are doing, and quick enough to make the car feel smaller and on par with sharp modern electronic systems.  And when we did turn in, the car felt as balanced as it should with its near 50/50 weight distribution front and rear. With plenty of grip on hand, this inspired more and more confidence with each lap, and I was just enjoying the experience of it all.  It was simply a delight to drive, and rewarding when pushed. To me this became more of a test drive than a track day, as my brain was taking mental notes the entire time.   

As the years went on, I got in and out of many different cars but the Vantage became my new "halo" car, replacing the 997 series Porsche 911 that I originally targeted and thought would be a more prudent choice. The Aston was way out of my price range, and I was too petrified about owning something from a small British manufacturer as it was, that I never seriously considered it.  

That is until about 2018. I started seeing articles and videos about the V8 Vantage as a "bargain" that constantly gets overlooked.  I was astonished to see the early models (2006-2008) go for surprisingly low prices with very little mileage on them.  I chalked up the depreciation to what was probably a not so good ownership experience, equatable with that of an unreliable, finicky car.  But then I started to dig into it a bit more, reading up on various forums, reviews, and DIY videos about what the Aston Martin ownership experience was like for the V8 Vantage, and I was again pleasantly surprised.  This was actually a stout little car, that rarely saw much more than a minor issue to be sorted out, so long as it had been well maintained and looked after. 

"Hmmm...."

The wheels kept turning with increasing optimism. I was happy with my 300ZX Turbo at the time, but after I sold it, I told myself that when I was ready to come back to the sports car world, the Vantage would have to be a serious contender.  I kept my eye on the market regularly and increased my research on the car, as I normally do in preparation for the inevitable move.  

And then: Covid-19 hit us. Like so many others, I had no idea initially what this meant for myself, the world around me, let alone cars.  All of that took a backseat for a few months.  When some semblance of normalcy resumed, so did my research. Low and behold, prices were going up! Like so many other cars had, the Vantage was appreciating from the low it was at in pre-pandemic times. Furthermore, more articles and first hand reviews were coming out with regularity, from people who had again discovered what a bargain this car had been on the secondhand market with what it had to offer.  

Did I miss my window? Should I no longer bother considering this car as an option if prices continue to go up while waiting another year?  These thoughts percolated in my head while I had my sights set on specific Vantage years and trims, but I had my own limits and I knew that at the current rate these cars were appreciating, I wouldn't have long to decide. 

This meme became wholly accurate for the entire year. :)

I went back and forth on this, considering whether perhaps I should just get something newer and more mainstream for the same money - like a late model BMW M car, or the new Supra, or wait for the upcoming Nissan 400Z.  Perhaps I could find a 911, but with 3x the mileage and wear? Naa.  I could not see any of those cars in the same light like I did the Aston. The newer cars, through no fault of their own, were victims of being over engineered with electronics that yielded disconnected steering feel, awkward sounding turbo motors, and ungainly proportioned bodywork. They just simply didn't dance or connect with me like the older ones did.  Most of the newer cars we see out there now are appliances anyway; destined to be leased and passed off to the next person, bereft of soul. Dang it, there it was again: "Power, Beauty, Soul."  It had to be the Aston Martin. And it was now or never.

I ratcheted up my search nationwide. Dealerships. Auction sites. Specialty shops where I let them know to ring me if they knew of a customer's car that was ready to sell.  All the feelers were out and like a fisherman would in the still water of a lake, I kept at it into the wee hours of the morning and night, week after week.  Missed a couple of catches by a hair.  And then finally my lure got a bite in Scottsdale, Arizona, and I held on.

This 2011 V8 Vantage N420 now in my garage has a slightly updated message for the driver when the ECU key is inserted for start up:

Seductive and exotic without being obnoxious. Aggressive and elegant. That's the difference between this car, and brand, and some of its more extroverted rivals. And that's why, it's now here. 

https://youtu.be/b83sSQN-hxM

Epilogue: The above video will give you a quite accurate recreation of the experience of driving home from AZ. Cheers. :)