This highly desirable V8 Vantage V550 from the model’s final year of production is believed to be one of only 97 left-hand-drive versions made. As number 225 of approximately 240 total V8 Vantages to emerge from Aston Martin’s hallowed Newport Pagnell facility, it is a late-production example benefitting from the various incremental improvements made over the model’s seven-year manufacturing run, which started in 1993.

Making this car even more covetable, it benefits from over 20 years of single ownership—by a prince, no less. Built to German specification, it was dispatched in July 1998 to Jaguar Autohaus Kronberg near Frankfurt, Germany, according to documents accompanying the vehicle. The car was later sold through Auto Performance Paris in May 2000 and relocated to the U.K., where it remained under single ownership until July 2021.

This V8 Vantage V550 is finished in Antrim Blue over a stunning Magnolia leather interior. Contrasting beautifully with the hides and matching Alcantara headliner are exquisite burl wood veneers, a blue leather dashboard, blue piping, and blue carpets. A factory Alpine stereo system with cassette player and boot-mounted, six-disc CD-changer add to the exceptional ambiance.

As the car’s name denotes, the twin-supercharged 5.3-litre V-8 engine sends 550 horsepower to the rear wheels through a ZF six-speed manual transmission, enabling truly astonishing performance even by today’s standards: 0 to 60 mph in 4.6 seconds and a top speed of 186 mph. Contributing to the car’s superlative driving dynamics are 18-inch alloy wheels—massive for the day—and brake discs that were said to be the largest fitted to a production vehicle at the time, measuring 14.25 inches in diameter at the front.

The odometer shows less than 16,000 kilometres as of cataloguing time, and service invoices indicate regular maintenance throughout its life, including replacement of the clutch and alternator in April 2016, fluid and filter changes in July 2019, and installation of a new battery in July 2021. Given its well-documented service history, low miles, and being of the less-common, left-hand-drive configuration, this V8 Vantage V550 is indeed a rare and highly desirable find.