Background

Following three years of intense development, Aston Martin choose to unveil their new car for the nineties and beyond, at the International Motor Show in England on the 18th of October 1988. Called the Virage it was one of the sensations of the show attracting enormous public and media attention. The engine, based on the well tried and tested all alloy V8 designed by Tadek Marek with its racing pedigree, was heavily revised with entirely new cylinder heads with four valves per cylinder (last used by Aston Martin in 1921-2) for better breathing and to overcome power losses inevitable with the use of catalytic converters. This is so the engine can run on unleaded fuel anywhere; in effect it is a 'worldwide' engine compatible for all markets. Development of the new four valve heads was undertaken by the renowned experts, Callaway Engineering of Connecticut, United States.

The chassis was designed in conjunction with the Cranfield Institute of Technology (one of the leaders in aerospace technology). It is torsionally stiffer, lighter and less complex that that of its predecessor, the V8. The body, in true Aston Martin tradition is aluminium, hand beaten by skilled craftsmen to a design by John Heffernan and Ken Greenley. "From the outset we felt that the car should be an evolutionary successor to the DB4, 5, 6 and V8", said Heffernan. The front spoiler incorporates an aerodynamically shaped under tray, while the rear features a boot lip spoiler, each combining to produce zero lift. Glazing is flush throughout.

A Virage Volante was first displayed at the 1990 International Motor Show, with a 2+2 following in 1992. In 1993 the car was further improved when the four speed version of the Torqueflite automatic gearbox was introduced with variable sport or comfort settings.

Customers could specify mechanical upgrades, and conversion specification varied according to customer’s individual requirements. For those clients that like the new body styling, but did not require the engine enlargement and other mechanical up grades the Wide Body, as it was known,  was the preferred option. 

Vehicle History:

First registered in August 2008, the car was acquired by its current owner in January 2004 from Aston Martin specialists, Grange of Brentwood. Grange had supplied the car from new but there is little on record of the car’s early ownership.

However, Grange have been able to give the owner a computer print out from their Kerridge computer system that shows the elements of service history that they were involved in  for the first 10 years of its life. Together with invoices from other service points after 2006, it offers the following service history for the car.

Summary

The Virage Volante Wide Body has appeal both as a classic convertible and as one of the last of the hand built Aston Martins. In a popular colour scheme, it offers any prospective purchaser outstanding performance at a value for money price.