In the late 1990s, it was certainly not Aston Martin who had the deepest pockets, but its VIP customers. And while the brand’s senior management in Newport Pagnell had long proclaimed that the 550bhp supercharged Vantage of the late 1990s was never going to be produced in a convertible form, the brand’s most demanding clients thought otherwise – and convinced Aston Martin to hand-built eight bespoke convertible Vantages before the shutters came down in Newport Pagnell for the last time and production moved to Gaydon. All eight cars were individually specified by the persuasive VIP clients and built to European standards in the year 2000. Equipped with the 550 or optional 600 bhp twin supercharged V8 engine mated to a manual transmissions, they represented the pinnacle of open-top motoring at the dawn of the new millennium.
The model became known internally within Aston Martin as the ‘Short Chassis’ Vantage Volante, due to the chassis having a 200-mm shorter wheelbase and overall length than the standard production V8 Volante of the era. Classic Driver has recently covered the fascinating story of the rarest limited-edition Aston Martin of the last decades in a feature story. Now, the most desirable of the eight cars has been listed by Nicholas Mee in the Classic Driver Market. Finished in its original colours of Cumberland Grey with Connolly VM Smoke Green hides, Charcoal Wilton carpeting bound in green and fitted with a matching hood, this Short Chassis Vantage Volante is one of only three left-hand drive examples. Powered by the 550 bhp engine, it was optionally fitted with the Vantage ‘Le Mans’ edition instrumentation, smoked walnut veneer interior finishers and a Becker Hi-Fi unit.
"We have known this extremely rare and exciting special edition Vantage Volante Short Chassis since new," says Nicholas Mee. The car has covered just 9,400 miles in the hands of its two previous owners and has been maintained by the Aston Martin Works and highly respected specialists. "It is outstanding expression of the automotive craftsman’s art, an important and rare historic model, now 25 years old." The Cumberland Grey over Green Vantage Volante Short Chassis is eligible for importation and use in the United States and can be enjoyed in almost all territories worldwide. So if you are missing the most relevant modern-day Aston Martin in your collection, you should certainly give Nicholas Mee a call.
