In the same week that we’re reporting most of the growth action being focussed on the sub-£50k sector of the market, Aston Martin V8s are bucking the trend, or at least some of them are.
I’m talking about the William Towns-designed coupés that arrived in DBS V8 form in 1969, all crisp, clean lines and sharp aluminium radiator grilles before it took on a subtly more muscular form with a more curvaceous nose section around single headlamps plus neatly flared wheelarches. By now David Brown was no longer at the helm and DB was dropped from the model name.
Those early DBS V8 cars have just seen a gentle 2% rise, making £38.5k the hopeful hunting ground for one needing a wallet-wilting restoration. Usable cars move to £59k and our guide now places mint cars at £90k with concours contenders more like £120k. With just over 400 built, the bigger problem is finding one for sale. For a long time the market much preferred the later and brutally effective V8 Vantage, or simply the less dated-looking V8-badged models (1972-1990) that could be more readily updated with BBS cross-spoke alloys, spoilers, skirts and red or blue-piped cream leather for that up-to-the-minute Eighties look.
Now those early cars have special appeal for their first-of-line purity, though not quite as much as the six-cylinder DBS that preceded it, an interim model created because the new V8 engine wasn’t ready for production. This was a car that suffered long-term as an Aston orphan, eventually humbled to parts donor status until someone realised that being the last of the David Brown-era Astons counted for something.
Despite the scarcity of the DBS V8s, the subsequent and more numerous V8s sell for a little more in top condition, though the entry point for cars needing work is lower. After its new 6.4% jump, the V8 can make £35k in rough condition, £50 if good and £90k to £125k depending on where it lies in the mint to concours scale.
We’ve become used to seeing cars at this level losing value but these Aston V8s have joined a select group that appear to have bottomed out before finding gentle growth.
Price Guide Movers On The Up is part of 18 pages of market tips, analysis and buying advice in the latest issue ofClassic Cars