Virage — 1988
The Virage represented Aston Martin’s gamble to renew its range after twenty years of the V8 without abandoning its fundamental identity. Designed by John Heffernan and Ken Greenley, it adopted modern, aerodynamic lines that broke with the classic style of previous models while retaining the chassis and the 5.3-litre V8 engine, now managed by electronic fuel injection to meet the new emissions standards. Its launch price — £135,000 in 1988 — made it one of the most expensive road cars in the world at the time.
The Virage family grew to include numerous variants: the Volante convertible, the V8 Coupé, the spectacular V8 Vantage Supercharged with its 550 bhp and 300 km/h top speed, and several limited editions. Built in 411 examples across all versions, the Virage remains a model unjustly overlooked by the general public, valued by connoisseurs for its rarity and its transitional character between the classic era and the modernity that would follow with the DB7.
The V8 Vantage Supercharged: the Gaydon monster (1993–1999)
In 1993, Aston Martin turned the Virage into a road-going racing beast. The 5.3-litre V8 received two Eaton superchargers that raised power to 550 bhp — a figure that made it, at the time, the most powerful production car in Great Britain. The body was widened by 75 mm per axle to accommodate oversized wheels, the visual transformation being as radical as the mechanical one. With just 239 examples built through to 1999, the V8 Vantage Supercharged remains one of the most excessive and fascinating objects ever to come out of Newport Pagnell — an extreme culmination of the Virage philosophy.