-Suffolk Red with Black leather interior and Black carpeting, 8,000

　　KMs/5,000 miles from new, 5,340cc DOHC Twin Supercharged V8

　　producing 550bhp at 6,500rpm, 6-speed manual, One of 239 V550's

　　produced and One of approximately 70 Left Hand examples, Extremely

　　rare.

　　A whole four years was to pass between the introduction of the

　　Virage model designed by John Greenley and John Heffernan and the

　　high performance Vantage. It was John Heffernan who continued on to

　　create the much improved V550 Vantage, in his own admission stating

　　that he was never quite happy with the original Virage styling.

　　Thus, the V550 Vantage took shape. It was quite a bit different

　　from the antiquated Virage with only the roof and the doors being

　　carried over from the Virage and its original styling.

　　Changes to the Virage based body may be extensive, but that's

　　nothing compared to the engine. The original 5.3 liter V8 now

　　housed twin superchargers and thus the engine now produced 550bhp

　　and 550 lb.ft of torque. This power plant was at the time, the most

　　powerful production powerplant in the world. The braking system

　　utilized massive 362 mm diameter ventilated discs with four piston

　　AP Racing calipers, the largest brakes fitted to any road car and

　　certainly enough stopping power for this 550bhp Aston. The power

　　propelled the V8 Vantage to 0-60 mph in 4.6 seconds with an

　　official AMLs top speed of 186 mph, although a figure of almost

　　200mph was recorded in testing. 'Brutal' was a word used more than

　　once to describe the fastest Aston Martin ever on its introduction

　　in 1993, but as the Vantage had no less than 550bhp available to

　　propel its two tons, the choice can only be judged as a fair

　　comment.

　　In its day, it was the fastest Aston Martin road car ever. This

　　interior was sumptuous but functional as always as befitting any

　　Aston Martin motorcar. A real Aston Martin, big, very beautiful,

　　very fast, a very expensive GT when. It has so much appeal and

　　purpose behind it that it is more an experience than mere

　　transport.

　　By February 1998, production had topped the 200 mark during five

　　years of production, and when production ended, a mere 239

　　'standard' examples had been produced (1/3rd of which were LHD)

　　making this an exceptionally rare and exclusive Aston. Once

　　production of the V8 Vantage ended in late 2000, the days of hand

　　built-coachbuilt Astons were truly over for good.

　　This Left Hand Drive V550 Vantage was first delivered new to

　　Johannesburg, South Africa and sold to its first registered owner,

　　Mr. G.A. Forrest, Sandhurst through local Aston Martin franchise

　　dealer, The House of Sports Cars. Shortly thereafter, the Vantage

　　was shipped to Belgium to be used and enjoy in Continental Europe.

　　Sold to Aston Martin collectors ownership in 2010, this V550

　　remained in the collection until only last year when imported and

　　purchased by a West Coast Aston enthusiast. Since its purchase, the

　　Aston has been completely serviced throughout.

　　This is an opportunity to purchase a rare V550 Vantage with

　　extremely low mileage from new and which was the end of of truly

　　bespoke hand-built Aston Martin Newport Pagnell coach-built

　　era.