2003 Aston Martin DB7 Vantage Volante
Only 14,000 miles from new
Extensive service history with Aston Martin Works
Solent Silver with Pacific Blue and Parchment interior
The extensive history file for this Aston Martin DB7 Vantage Volante shows how fastidiously it has been maintained over the course of its life. Delivered on 12 December 2003 by main dealer Lancaster Reading, it was supplied in the elegant colour combination of Solent Silver with Pacific Blue and Parchment interior. The car was specified with optional extras such as a heated front screen, embroidered overmats, rear parking sensors, a wind deflector and even a golf umbrella.

On 26 May 2004, the DB7 Vantage Volante returned to Lancaster Reading for its 1,000-mile free service, but thereafter it was most often entrusted to Aston Martin Works Service in the marque’s historic home of Newport Pagnell. The car first went there on 10 January 2005, by which time it had covered just 2,241 miles.

Its annual servicing is carefully recorded in the paperwork, and the mileage was still only 9,604 when it last went to Aston Martin Works on 27 March 2019. Since then, it has been attended to by independent specialists McGurk Performance Cars on 24 July 2020 and AstonDB7.com on 11 August 2021.

This immaculately presented DB7 Vantage Volante is now for sale at The Classic Motor Hub, still showing only just over 14,000 miles, and is wearing Bridgestone tyres all round on pristine alloy wheels. The lavishly appointed interior is in superb condition, the paperwork records its service history in painstaking detail, and this represents a very rare opportunity to acquire an extremely low-mileage example of one of the most stylish Aston Martins of recent years.

MODEL HISTORY
Launched at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1993, the Aston Martin DB7 was one of the most significant models in the marque’s long and occasionally turbulent history. Tom Walkinshaw had masterminded Jaguar’s motorsport success during the 1980s and he used the Coventry manufacturer’s stillborn XJS replacement – codenamed XJ41 – as the basis for a new car designed by Ian Callum. On an extremely limited budget, this was turned into the Aston Martin DB7 – the first time for more than 20 years that the famous ‘DB’ initials had been used.

Initially offered with a Jaguar-derived, 3.2-litre, supercharged straight-six engine, the DB7 was made at the factory in Bloxham that had originally been built for production of the Jaguar XJ220. The new car won immediate plaudits for its lithe good looks and performance, but for many it really came into its own when it was developed into the Vantage model, which was first shown at the 1999 Geneva Motor Show.

Restyled by Ian Callum, the DB7 Vantage was much more muscular than the original car, but most important was the fact that the straight-six engine had been replaced by a 6-litre, all-aluminium, double-overhead-camshaft-per-bank V12. Driving through a Tremec six-speed manual gearbox or a ZF five-speed manual, the new powerplant transformed the DB7 into a searingly fast Grand Tourer that could top 180mph. It helped to position the car well above its Jaguar XK8 stablemate and turned it into a genuine rival for the likes of Ferrari.

As with the original DB7, the Vantage was offered in coupé form and as the convertible Volante. In 2002, the GT variant was introduced, with a more powerful V12, updated suspension and brakes, and minor external revisions. DB7 production lasted until 2003, when it was replaced by the DB9, which marked the beginning of a new era by being the first Aston Martin to be built at Gaydon.