By last century’s end, the traditional Aston Martin V8 was running out of road. The last model to have been designed before the Ford takeover in 1987, the hand-built Virage Coupé (and accompanying Virage Volante, launched in 1990) remained unapologetically old school in their approach. Powering both models was a 32-valve iteration of Tadek Marek’s storied 5.3-litre V-8 engine. Adding twin-superchargers gave the steroidal Vantage of 1993, a car the public took to their hearts.

Virage and Virage Volante sales were slow in comparison, hampered mostly by high prices. Works commissions and a steady trickle of demand for the latter Volante kept Newport Pagnell ticking over between the discontinuation of the Virage Coupé in 1994 and the introduction of the 1996 V8 Coupé—a naturally aspirated, smooth arched version of the Vantage that otherwise shared its styling cues.

As the last of the (retrospectively) “narrow body” Virage Volantes were finished in 1997, an open companion to the V8 Coupé was sought. The V8 Volante Long Wheelbase (LWB) was born: a true 2+2 convertible owing to an extra 200 millimetres added into the wheelbase, its identity further betrayed by a “vent style indent” on the rear arches. Sold in showrooms as the “Long Wheel Base Volante”, the model’s official title remained “V8 Volante”, the long wheelbase standardised in over the next 63 cars until a tiny number of special order, short wheelbase Volantes, produced in 2000, brought the nameplate to a close.

According to its warranty card, this car was supplied new by Aston Martin Lancaster Reading on 1 March 2000 to a Mr. W Bradley of Surrey. Some 24 years later, it has just 17,097 miles on the odometer at the time of cataloguing, while its Orkney Grey paint and matching double-skinned Grey Mohair hood appear as Newport Pagnell intended. The condition of the (Smoke leather with Piped Charcoal) interior seems commensurate with its low mileage.

A product of a bygone age, the V8 Volante offers (and continues to offer) a responsive, luxurious and fast foil to the likes of the Rolls-Royce Corniche, with the Aston offering more rear legroom and performance (bolstered by a short 4.09 final drive) than the Crewe equivalent. With so few long wheelbase V8 Volantes in the UK—most being built in left-hand drive for export—this car represents a rare opportunity to acquire a true modern classic.