MotorMartin was sifting through the press releases clogging up the automotive desk the other day, when the following caught my eye. Now in my mind, there’s nothing quite as exciting as the thought of an undiscovered classic laying quietly, waiting to be discovered amongst the dust and the silence of a long forgotten garage. So imagine the excitement at the news that two exciting Aston Martin barn finds will be auctioned by Classic Car Auctions at the Warwickshire Exhibition Centre on Saturday 19th March. The two sleeping classics have been kept in dry storage for the past few years waiting for new owners to restore them back to their former glory. Amazing.
Perhaps the most interesting of the pair, a rare 1973 Aston Martin V8, one of just 288 produced, is estimated at between £35,000 and £40,000. The car is one of only a few manual examples produced as the majority of Aston Martin V8s were automatic, making this car rarer still, even more so as this car is one of the very last of the David Brown-era.
Classic Car Auctions point out that the Aston features louvered rear vents and Aston Martin Lagonda embossed cam covers and that this Series III houses a 5.3 litre Weber carburetted V8 engine which, when recommissioned, should provide plenty of grunt. Fortunately, The leather interior is still in remarkably good order and is presented in black leather.
By no means the lesser of the two, after all, MotorMartin wouldn’t turn either away, also offered is the V8’s ‘son’, a 1990 Aston Martin Virage which is estimated at between £20,000 and £25,000. A bargain? Introduced at the Birmingham Motor Show in 1988, the Virage model was Aston Martin’s replacement for the decades-old V8 models.
This second barn find Aston has been with the vendor for five years, having been originally bought as a project and has been dry stored for most of this period. Again featuring a rare manual gearbox, the car has covered a total of just 34,000 miles, barely run in.
Shared with MotorMartin and speaking ahead of the sale, general manager of Classic Car Auctions, Guy Lees-Milne, said, “Both of these rare Aston Martins offer great potential as restoration projects and will definitely catch the eye of the buyers at the sale.”
He continues, “It’s unusual to find two Aston Martin barn finds in the same place and this is an amazing opportunity for anyone wanting to get into the wonderful world of Aston Martin ownership.” Definitely.
For more information on these cars and the Classic Car Auctions’ sale this March visit http://www.classiccarauctions.co.uk/cca-march-2016-classic-car-sale/view_lots/pn/all.
So there you are, if you have the spare cash, a friendly garage nearby, the time and experience then either of these two beautiful Aston Martins could be sat on your driveway by the end of March. Let MotorMartin know if you were one of the lucky ones.
Where will you go?