Whilst the muscle car might have found its roots in Detroit, it was perfected in Warwickshire. Which, now we’ve typed that, sounds less dramatic than initially intended. But, the point remains true, the recipe for a Muscle car is a simple one: take an existing car and fit it with an engine as large as you can conceivably imagine would fit.

It’s ultimately what Aston Martin did when they launched the V12 Vantage. Who could imagine that they would fit their flagship engine into their entry-level car? But, we’re incredibly glad that they did, because it loses none of the V8’s pretty looks, and gains all of the DBS's massive power.

Aston Martin at the time were celebrating some excellent product placement, and thus so many were optioned in Bond-like colour schemes but this car was not! Instead, the original owner opted for Onyx Black, over an Obsidian black interior. God, even the colour names are cool!

The car is sat on a set of 19” 10-spoke alloys, that are diamond cut, with anthracite grey recesses. They’re wrapped in a matching set of Michelin Pilot Sport tyres. The exterior’s black-ness is only slightly broken up by the signature clear tail-lights and carbon fibre trimmings.

The interior is equally as special, the Obsidian black leather is contrasted in texture by Alcantara that adorns not only the factory fitted bucket seats, but the door cards, headliner, steering wheel and gearknob. The carbon-fibre is carried on into the interior, with the fascia finished in equally stunning exposed weave goodness.

Under the bonnet, you’ll find the V12 Vantage’s namesake. A 6.0-litre hand-built V12, that produces 510bhp, which is enough power to deliver you to 60mph in around 4 seconds. In 2023, along an ECU remap, the car was treated to a primary catalytic converter delete that means it not only makes even more power, but has a sound track that could rival Black Sabbath.

The decat and remap aren’t the only upgrades, there is a Bluetooth adapter that allows for music streaming and vitally the car has been fitted with the AM-upgrades headlamp venting kit, to avoid the incredibly frustrating and common fogged up headlights that plague Aston’s of this era.

Despite covering just 60,000 miles across its life, the car has been maintained consistently, primarily within the Aston Martin main-dealer network, but more recently with marque specialists. The full records show:

04/2011 – Annual service at 8,315 miles – Aston Martin Stratstone, London
05/2012 – Annual service at 13,256 miles – Aston Martin Stratstone, London
04/2013 – Annual service at 19,576 miles – Aston Martin Stratstone, London
03/2014 – Annual service at 28,138 miles – Aston Martin Harwoods, Chichester
05/2015 – Annual service at 34,863 miles – Aston Martin Harwoods, Chichester
05/2016 – Annual service at 41,592 miles – Aston Martin Harwoods, Chichester
04/2017 – Annual service at 46,173 miles – HWM Aston Martin, Walton-on-Thames
05/2018 – Annual service at 48,690 miles – Aston Martin Harwoods, Chichester
09/2019 – Annual service at 51,537 miles – HWM Aston Martin, Walton-on-Thames
08/2020 – Annual service at 53,746 miles – HWM Aston Martin, Walton-on-Thames
09/2020 – Carbon Ceramic Brakes at 53,928 miles – HWM Aston Martin, Walton-on-Thames
10/2021 – Annual service at 56,427 miles – HWM Aston Martin, Walton-on-Thames
05/2022 – Clutch service at 57,000 miles – David Appleby Engineering Ltd
10/2022 – Annual service at 58,109 miles – HWM Aston Martin, Walton-on-Thames
08/2023 – Annual service, primary decat, and ECU remap at 59,426 miles – Bamford Rose

Now available for sale, this is an opportunity to buy an excellently maintained and expertly upgraded V12 Vantage. Less than 1200 of these first V12 Vantages were produced, and this is a mighty fine example.

Duke of London

Duke of London

Duke of London

Duke of London

Duke of London

Duke of London

Duke of London

Duke of London

Duke of London

Duke of London

Duke of London

Duke of London

Duke of London

Duke of London

Duke of London

Duke of London