The Aston Martin Virage is an intriguing specimen among the variety of high-end GT cars the company has produced over the years. Caught between various ownership groups and severe financial issues, it’s amazing the company produced anything of merit at all throughout the 1990s. The Virage is considered by many to be the last true Aston Martin, even though the company was tangled up in Dearborn’s leadership by this point. It was still defiantly British, even when there were barely two pennies to rub together. This Virage listed here on eBay is rarely seen in the U.S. and is bid to $11,000 with the reserve unmet.
As a testament to how much parts bin raiding was happening just to keep the lights on at Aston Martin, check this out: the taillights are from a MK2 Volkswagen Scirocco and the headlights from an Audi 5000. That doesn’t get into any other potential cheap-feeling switchgear, but I’m sure there are other examples of components from other manufacturers. The Virage was meant to be a quintessential grand tourer, constructed out of aluminum and equipped with V8 power. However, it was still quite heavy, which stunted its performance potential to an extent.
Still, you’re talking about an old Aston in the best way possible: brute force looks, handsome yet fierce, old-world arrogance with modern-day usability. It’s everything an Aston should be, along with the inevitable reliability and build quality quirks that seem to plague their products. The interior of this Virage is still entirely fetching, with green piping on the gray leather seats, woodgrain everywhere you look, and thick carpeting emblazoned with the iconic Aston logo. This is what you imagine when you think of aristocracy on wheels.
And the 5.3L DOHC V8 was a charmer, even if it couldn’t deliver the blistering performance it may have originally promised. With 335 horsepower, it was no slouch, but it also weighed 4,000 pounds. 60 miles per hour clocked in around 6.5 seconds which was quick, but not nearly as fast as its looks would other promise. Of course, Aston offered factory upgrades which significantly increased performance, and those special builds are quite sought after today. This is an enormously appealing car with the seller claiming lots of recent maintenance work already done.
Fantastic car. 🇬🇧