Way off topic: Gaydon era Aston Martin V8 Vantage

[R3awak3n]

beautiful. Congrats!

It is kind of crazy how good the prices are on these. Sure the maintenance is going to suck but seeing low mile examples, manuals for pretty decent prices.

[verticaldoug]

Does LA have an AMOC chapter? If so, you should think of joining and checking out track day.

Also if the Vantage is a Graydon era, you should have a decibel reading on the the owner doc for the exhaust noise at 4500 rpm/

[Tickdoc]

what a gorgeous classy car....congrats!

[denapista]

V12 Vantage in manual is still at the top of my list of cars to buy in 2023.

Congrats on the buy! My best friend in Silverlake has been putting endless miles on his black V8 Vantage. I drove it around the lake and around LA for a bit. Such a good car.

[IJWS]

Denapista, A V12 would be bonkers! My friend has been threatening to get one for himself for years. I'm hoping my purchase pushes him over the edge. I'm in Echo Park--tell your friend to keep an eye open for a Blue 4.7!

[IJWS]

Originally Posted by verticaldoug

Does LA have an AMOC chapter? If so, you should think of joining and checking out track day.

Also if the Vantage is a Graydon era, you should have a decibel reading on the the owner doc for the exhaust noise at 4500 rpm/

Surprisingly, I'm not seeing an AMOC group in Los Angeles or California at all. Very curious. I am going to have to do a trackday soon--it's one of the experiences I would like to have with this car. I also think it would be great to have an idea of the cars limits sooner than later.

[AngryScientist]

Awesome purchase. We are nearing the end of an era for gas cars, get the crown jewels while you can before we are all driving washing machines around.

I might have missed it - does this one have a manual gearbox?

[IJWS]

Angry,

It is a manual, RWD car with a big 'ol 15mpg V8 that makes noise when it goes! I think it's a pretty great example of a great ICE car--I plan to keep it for a long time. One of my car friends asked me what I thought right after I got it. All I could think of was "It feels like a REAL thing." I know washing machines are the future and I think they are going to be really cool but I'm glad to have this piece of history for now.

[AngryScientist]

Nice.

While my car has no where near the power yours does, I hope to keep a euro manual trans RWD car in the garage as long as I can too.

[JasonF]

I was just driving on Hyperion Ave. in Silver Lake and saw this cars twin...or was it you? Wow, what a beauty...

You made the right choice versus a 911. Prices are silly and one should tread carefully with 997.1's. I owned one that was actually lemoned back in 2006.

[IJWS]

Originally Posted by JasonF

I was just driving on Hyperion Ave. in Silver Lake and saw this cars twin...or was it you? Wow, what a beauty...

You made the right choice versus a 911. Prices are silly and one should tread carefully with 997.1's. I owned one that was actually lemoned back in 2006.

I think that was me! I had to get some cream of tartar for Thursday so I took the "shortcut" that goes from Echo Park through La Canada, then through Glendale..and Atwater and... I may have forgotten to get wine though so I'm going to have to make another trip!

I (and my wife) were convinced that a 911 was the only way to go ever but the prices kept creeping up higher and higher. The Vantage that I wanted was actually in my budget. A 997.2 was in a whole other bracket and the speculators really bothered me. I thought it might be more fun to have a really special car than maybe a "perfect" car.

I just got back from a 3-hour errand and I think I finally found my calling in life: being in that car.

[JasonF]

Originally Posted by IJWS

I think that was me! I had to get some cream of tartar for Thursday so I took the "shortcut" that goes from Echo Park through La Canada, then through Glendale..and Atwater and...

Lol, that's one helluva "shortcut" - car looks great and SO unique.

[verticaldoug]

Originally Posted by IJWS

Surprisingly, I'm not seeing an AMOC group in Los Angeles or California at all. Very curious. I am going to have to do a trackday soon--it's one of the experiences I would like to have with this car. I also think it would be great to have an idea of the cars limits sooner than later.

Unless you really know how to drive, the correct sentence is I rather know my limits sooner rather than later.

I doubt you can get anywhere near the limits.

But having said that, stomping full gas down the straight at full roar is a lot of fun.

In Tokyo, AMOC had track day at the FUJI INTL SPEEDWAY. I had a 1981 V8 Vantage with engine built by Mike Peach with sport exhausts.

Club track day usually continued until someone missed braking in the hairpin at the end of the straight and ended up in the gravel.... The organizers knew it was time to pull the plug before someone became very stupid.

[72gmc]

Originally Posted by verticaldoug

Club track day usually continued until someone missed braking in the hairpin at the end of the straight and ended up in the gravel.... The organizers knew it was time to pull the plug before someone became very stupid.

Probably a good place to see lots of premium goodies like carbon ceramic brakes … and to see if they were actually any better

[R3awak3n]

Originally Posted by 72gmc

Probably a good place to see lots of premium goodies like carbon ceramic brakes … and to see if they were actually any better

carbon ceramics are better on the track, there is no doubt about that however if you go to track days you don't see people running them because they are way too expensive. Ceramics last a long time... if you don't do constant heat cycles on them, if you do their life will be reduced much quicker and it will cost too much to replace. Good ole brakes have got so good that they are still very good and much cheaper to replace. They are also much better day to day since carbons are not so good when they are cold.

But yeah, driving ceramics a couple of times you will notice how incredible they are and no fading ever... and no dust either