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The Virage Volante in its original pre-airbag guise: 17-inch wheels, front lamps from the VW Corrado, rear lights from the VW Scirocco, and wing mirror, from the Citroen CX. Ever since the early days of the V8 the mechanic who built the engine has left his visiting card in the form of a small name plate.

 

Lots of character: numerous modifications make the Vantage a very individual ...

In the view of the present-day company boss Dr. Andrea Zagato, it was now time to put a new joint project with Aston Martin on the road, to follow in the tracks of the super-light DB4 Zagato of 1961 and the Gianni and Elio Zagato brothers' V8 Coupé and Volante, controversial because of the modern appearance. Presenting this view to Dr. Ulrich in the fall of 2001, he met with the approval of Aston Martin's chief. The design is agreed upon in all its details by the following January, so that it can be jointly presented at the 2002 Geneva motor show....

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First made possible by the coming together of Ford's Jaguar and Aston Martin subsidiares under the aegis of the cosmopolitan Walter Hayes, the DB7 marked a return to the names based on the iconic David Brown's initials, a tradition which had fallen into disuse in 1972. The DB7 brings together tradition and high-tech, in house workmanship and external sourcing to create a dyed-in-the-wool Aston Martin. The car had its premiere at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1994, where its breathtaking lines met with an enthusiastic response from the visiting crowds. The idea of encroaching on the territory of the Porsche 928, Mercedes SL and Ferrari 328 by producing a smaller model in larger numbers first came to Victor Gauntlett in the mid-1980s, but at that time the company simply did not have the funds to implement it, a reality with which Aston Martin had so often had to live....

By the end of the 1980s the existing V8 saloon, Volante and Vantage were -after 20 years-history, and even the protean term " classic" barely sufficed as a description of how conservative their styling had become. At the 1988 Motor Show at Birmingham Exhibition Centre the Aston Martin Virage heralded the way forward into the 1990s with the moderately innovative styling retaining enough typical features and ambience to make its family membership to clear. John Heffernan and Ken Greeley were responsible for its smooth and pleasing lines. The V8 was handed over to the American tuners Callaway Engineering  for an update and to ensure its compliance with the most stringent emission legislation they could imagine....

Not surprisingly, Aston Martin's long and winding road through the 20th century has been liberally sprinkled with anecdotes bespeaking both human folly and greatness in equal measure, and casting light on the state of the company at that time.Some of them have become common currency, being part of a reportoire of stories wheeled out by the fireside or at AMOC meetings whenever the Aston Martin legend is reverentially touched upon....