1980 Aston Martin V8

Newport Pagnell based Aston Martin was "re-born" in 1976 following the financial crisis of late '74, and one of the first jobs of the new owners, Sprague and Minden, was to thoroughly revise the V8. Accordingly the car was unveiled at the Birmingham International Motor Show in October 1978 as the 'Oscar-India' (October Introduction in the phonetic alphabet) complete with a now closed power bulge and a new neat integral spoiler on the boot lid. The car was more refined and more luxurious with walnut door cappings, an automatic gear box, full leather upholstery and air conditioning all as standard.

Supplied new by James Edwards Ltd of Chester to its first owner, a Mr A.F. Piper, Beaconsfield, this Oscar India V8, chassis #12233, originally left the factory in Storm Red and was fitted with options that included air- conditioning, electric mirrors and ultra-rare cruise control. The early service history of this car is superbly documented with the original service book & continuation service book logging the services and mileage as follows:

Specialist Mileage DateAston Martin Lagonda 1,840 9.6.80Aston Martin Lagonda 7,255 11.11.80 Aston Martin Lagonda 11,865 25.3.81Aston Martin Lagonda 19,966 27.11.81Aston Martin Lagonda 31,451 9.12.82H.W.M Ltd 35,984 4.5.83H.W.M Ltd 41,230 18.1.84 H.W.M Ltd 44,758 30.5.84H.W.M Ltd 53,501 24.4.85H.W.M Ltd 56,510 3.3.86H.W.M Ltd 60,492 3.11.86Four Ashes Garage 65,000 30.8.89Aston Service Dorset 69,430 8.3.90Runnymeade Motor Co. 88,594 3.4.02SJB Classics 94,982 -SJB Classics 96,279 26.9.14

In the 90's the history file includes many invoices from Aston Service in Dorset for parts, labour and service work on the car with bills totalling more than £5,000 over a 3 year period.

It's believed that in the early 2000's the front and rear suspension, brakes, differentials and driveshafts were all rebuilt, along with the sills and underside of the car that were stripped and rebuilt by Aston Service Dorset.

Upon purchase of the car, our vendor set about returning "NBF 599V' to its best with a full body, interior and mechanical restoration in mind. The car was professionally repainted by L&L Bodyworks of Stoke-On-Trent at a cost of £8,000 and is now presented in the magnificent Cumberland Grey, with a cream leather interior retrimmed by experts AutoTrim of Cradley Heath at considerable cost. At the same time, the engine was stripped down, inspected and put back together, with many parts being repainted and re-coated where necessary, and as a result it now looks absolutely beautiful.

The final build of the car was entrusted to SJB Classics of Stoke-On-Trent, details of which are fully documented in the history file at length. Sitting on its original GKN alloys, this car is now ready to begin the next chapter of its life, with nothing left to do other than turn the key and fire the V8 into action.

Supplied with a UK V5c and an MoT until 15th April '15, and at a fraction of the cost of its predecessors, the DB4, 5 and 6, these V8's are certainly worthy of the attention of any serious car collector today.