Twenty years ago house prices were
rocketing, money was cheap and yuppies
were trendy. The economic feelgood
factor was irresistible and car makers
were having a ball.
Whatever they produced, people bought.
The late 1980s was the era of
wide-bodied Porsche Turbos, Ferrari F40s
and the outrageous Jaguar XJ220. It was
against this backdrop that Aston Martin
conceived the Virage, a super-large,
super-cool supercar epitomising its
brand values.
But as history would testify, the timing
of the Virage’s introduction to the UK
in November 1989 could not have been
worse. It was the year of the
house-price slump. Car values crashed
and City jobs evaporated. Far from
becoming the cash cow that Aston Martin
had hoped, the Virage became an instant
dinosaur.
With a list price of around £120,000 it
cost as much as a house, and with fuel
economy of around 17mpg it cost as much
as a house to run. Its 5.3 litre V8
engine produced (by the standards of the
day) an extravagant 330bhp and 350 lb ft
of torque, enough to power the near
two-tonne beast from 0-60mph in just
6.5sec and on to a top speed of nearly
160mph. Fine and dandy when times are
good, but a statement of decadence too
far when everyone around you is
tightening their belt.
As a consequence, sales were sluggish,
second-hand examples languished on dealer
forecourts and used values sank faster
than a Christmas hit in the January
charts. But wind the clock forward to
2007 and a second-hand Aston Martin
Virage is starting to look like a very
attractive used buy.
Check this: at about £24,000 for a mint
condition 1990 Virage, this handmade
supercar can be yours for around the
same price as a new Mazda RX-8. In
addition to the Aston Martin pedigree
and that magnificent V8 engine you get a
vehicle that will turn heads in any
street.
The Virage body was all new, but
continued to use Aston Martin’s
traditional combination of aluminium
panels over a steel frame and chassis.
Being hand-built, every panel is a work
of art, hand-beaten to fit and lovingly
painted. In truth, the panel fit is
shamed by the new Honda Civic, but it
still provides a feelgood factor that is
unmatched by most mainstream cars.
Slip inside the cabin and Aston luxury
abounds, with leather and wood. Large,
supportive seats and deep-pile carpets
cosset occupants. Post-October 1992 cars
ditched the original computerised
fault-finder display in favour of three
more reliable instrument dials and the
addition of standard antilock braking,
together with additional wood on the
centre console. All models were well
specified, with air-conditioning,
electric seats and heated front and rear
screens as standard. It’s worth checking
used examples carefully as repair and
replacements are expensive.
Transmission is manual or automatic. The
beefy manual box is strong, but it’s
cumbersome and has a heavy clutch, while
the three-speed auto lacks the ratios to
take full advantage of the car’s power.
On balance it’s the manual that wins the
contest, and at around £1,250 less than
the auto, it’s the better deal.
In 1992 the Virage coupé was joined by a
2+2 convertible – the Volante, as Aston
Martin terms its soft tops. At £149,000
it was one of the UK’s most expensive
convertibles, but the ravages of
depreciation mean that secondhand
examples now start at less than £35,000.
Many secondhand Virages enjoyed a
privileged lifestyle so you can afford
to be fussy and should only consider
examples with a full service history and
flawless bodywork. The purchase price
aside, subsequent running costs are less
daunting than you may imagine. Fuel
consumption is predictably heavy, but
treat every mile you motor as an
occasion and the investment is
justified. Group 20 insurance may also
seem daunting, but due to the car’s
classic reputation, many specialist
insurers will cover it with an agreed
annual mileage for less than £1,000 a
year.
With negligible depreciation, the
Virage’s largest expense is likely to be
regular service and maintenance, for
which you should try the cheaper,
non-franchised independents.
