Brute in a suit

I can tell you now I was worried about this. There are very few cars in the world worse than a bad Aston Martin Volante. I know this because I’ve driven one, and it was shocking.

It had no power, even on the rare occasions it could be persuaded to run on all eight cylinders, the automatic gearbox was horrid, the chassis felt as composed as a newborn elephant calf on a frozen lake, the seats sagged and the brakes were as good at steering the car as slowing it.

To be fair I knew this one would likely be better, first because it would struggle to be worse, and second it’s being sold by Bonhams at their December 16th Bond Street sale and I’d doubt very much they’d have accepted it if it were. But that’s not why I toddled over to Vantage Engineering near Horsham to borrow it for a few hours. It was because it was the ultimate car of its kind. Not merely a Volante, but a Vantage Volante which only came into existence for the last three years of production, with just 166 built.