1999 Aston Martin DB7 Vantage

The new millennium saw Aston Martin revamp the DB7, launching the V12 Vantage you see here, whose newly developed six-litre, 414bhp engine channeled its power through either a five-speed automatic or a six-speed manual.

‘V277 SBW’ is fitted with the latter, which is rare. It is also finished in Solent Silver and boasts both a Pacific Blue hide interior with refurbished carbonfibre inserts.

It’s also been with its owner for the past dozen years, has four new Michelin Pilot Sport 5 tyres, and has the GT suspension upgrade installed to refurbished subframes.

A Quicksilver sports exhaust makes one of the nicest noises we’ve ever heard, while a new twin-plate clutch, which was fitted 4,000 miles ago, and an original Aston Martin quickshifter leads to one of the slickest gearchanges we’ve ever used.

*deep breath*

Its handbook has been signed by Ian Callum, and the history file is so complete it even includes the original build sheet. It’s got a new MoT too – and it probably won’t surprise you to learn that this was issued with no advisories.

A genuine “passion project” – it was his first Aston Martin – the odometer will almost certainly tick over onto 50,000 miles during your first journey together.

Which might be a modest milestone but it is still something to be celebrated – and you could do it together.

The Solent Silver paintwork is in such fine fettle that Our Man struggled to find any significant problems, his mood being only slightly lightened by uncovering two chips to the windscreen, a slightly misaligned boot lid, some touched-in chips to the nearside door mirror, and a small scratch on the nearside rear wing above the filler flap.

The nearside front alloy wheel has a small chip on its rim too, but the fact we’re leading with these means you’ll have guessed this is the extent of the cosmetic flaws.

Because this is an unusually good example of the breed, sporting dent- and dink-free panels, ripple-free flanks, and a healthy shine to the metallic paintwork. The panels generally line up very well too, showing tight and consistent shutlines and neatly aligned side trim.

Mind you, the seller invested more than £8,200 in having the bodywork refreshed by Chicane Classics in July 2016, followed by further tidying in February 2019 and October 2021.

The details also stack up because the chromed mesh radiator grilles are in fine order with a good shine and even spacing, the lamp lenses are free of chips, cracks and other damage, and the badges are excellent.

The 18-inch, ten-spoke light alloy wheels are almost completely free of scuffs, scrapes, and other kerbing damage, as are other vulnerable areas such as the four corners and the mirror caps: It’s obviously been driven with the same care with which it’s been maintained.

Their open-design also allows you to admire the subtlety of the white-on-black Aston Martin brake calipers, while the enthusiast will appreciate the significance of matching Michelin Pilot Sport 5 tyres, which were fitted in March 2025 at 49,511 miles. In 265/35ZR18 on the rear and 245/40ZR18 on the front, they’ve yet to cover 500 miles.

Further signs of immaculate curation include subtly-larger exhaust tailpipes, good window and door rubbers, and a sticker in the windscreen that proclaims membership of the Aston Martin Owners’ Club.

The blue hide interior is wearing very well indeed, with little more than gentle creasing and a slight loss of colour to the outer edge of the driver’s seat. If you’ve made it this far then the fact that everything we tested worked exactly as you’d expect will come as no surprise.

The electrically-operated and heated front seats are still plump and comfortable too, and their hefty side bolsters continue to grip firmly during the sort of tomfoolery the Vantage of capable of.

The rear seats might be a little tight on legroom, but small children will appreciate the cocoon-like accommodation while adults will appreciate the chance of a lift to the pub or restaurant inside a V12-engined Aston Martin. Their condition is excellent too, with barely a mark on them and even less creasing than the seats in front.

The matching door cards and dashboard are also free of problems, and look as we might, we couldn’t find anything as vulgar as a rip, tear, or other damage, not even fading or cracking to the top of the leather-covered dashboard.

The blue carpets are protected by Aston Martin-branded overmats, something that might help explain their condition, which is pretty much flawless, including the driver’s heel protector. The ‘DB7 Vantage’ sill plates are also in an excellent condition.

The Smoke headlining is clean, taut, and undamaged too, thereby fulfilling everything that could be reasonably asked of it.

The carbonfibre trim, which extends to the steering wheel, dashboard, centre console, and door cards, was installed by the factory when the car was first built. However, like so many we see, it had started to delaminate, so the seller had it restored by Chiltern Aston in late 2017. It is still immaculate.

A genuine Aston Martin quickshift gear linkage has also been fitted, as have alloy pedals. Used in conjunction with the O/E twin-plate clutch kit that lightens the pedal considerably, we suspect you won’t find a better DB7 gearchange.

A silver-and-black Kenwood headunit controls the boot-mounted CD-multichanger and the whole lot plays through the Premium Audio speakers that have been fitted from new.

The boot also contains the original tool kit nestled inside the space-saver spare wheel. The boot lid contains the warning triangle, and the owner is happy to include the CTEK battery conditioner that’s done such sterling service. Lifting everything out reveals nothing but well-painted and solid metal.

As for flaws the gearknob is a little worn and the driver’s door card has a few light scratches. That’s it though.

The owner clearly takes great pride in looking after his cars properly; while the DB7’s history was very good when he bought it in 2014, his curation really stepped things up a notch.

As he explains, “you really need to keep on top of the maintenance” and we suspect he’s the sort of owner who takes a pride is making sure everything is as good as it can possibly be, no matter what the cost.

Anyway, enough waffling. Here’s the maintenance history in all its glory:

· 08.11.1999 and 56 miles – pre-delivery inspection by Stratstone

· 01.12.1999 and 903 miles – service by Stratstone

· 16.02.2000 and 3,502 miles – service by Stratstone

· 18.08.2000 and 6,653 miles – service by Murray Motor Company

· 21.03.2001 and 10,199 miles – service by Lancaster Reading

· 28.09.2001 and 14,548 miles – service by Stratstone

· 08.04.2002 and 17,385 miles – service by Stratstone

· 21.10.2002 and 19,061 miles – service by Stratstone

· 17.07.2003 and 21,586 miles – service by Stratstone

· 16.02.2004 and 22,958 miles – service by Stratstone

· 18.08.2004 and 24,892 miles – service by Stratstone

· 03.03.2005 and 25,441 miles – service by Stratstone

· 06.09.2005 and 26,306 miles – service by Stratstone

· 02.03.2006 and 26,851 miles – service by Stratstone

· 18.09.2007 and 27,652 miles – service by Stratstone

· 07.05.2008 and 33,104 miles – service by Stratstone

· 26.09.2012 and 35,558 miles – service by Stratstone

· 22.02.2016 and 37,908 miles – service by Chicane Classics Limited

· 31.01.2017 and 39,406 miles – service by Chicane Classics Limited including a new twin-plate clutch at a cost of £5,300

· 23.02.2018 and 41,543 miles – service by Chicane Classics Limited

· 24.02.2020 and 44,491 miles – service by Chicane Classics Limited including fresh coolant, rustproofing of the sills, and a new waterpump at a cost of just over £3,000

· 31.10.2021 and 45,541 miles – service by Chicane Classics Limited including a new differential pinion seal

· 23.02.2023 and 47,323 miles – service by Chicane Classics Limited

· 26.02.2024 and 48,712 miles – service by Chicane Classics Limited including fresh brake fluid and recharging the air-conditioning system and a new receiver dryer

· 31.03.2025 and 49,511 miles – service by Chicane Classics Limited including a new air-conditioning compressor and miscellaneous fettling at a cost of £4,480

· 31.03.2026 and 49,843 miles – service by Chicane Classics Limited including various jobs for a total cost of £3,246

The front suspension and subframe were restored in July 2015 at a cost of around £8,700, with the rear one being done a few months later at a cost of £10,500.

That’s almost £20,000 spent on restoring the subframes and suspension: The owner is clearly not a man who does things by halves.

Which is reflected in the way the V12 engine starts. Murmuring into life with little more than a discrete cough, it idles and revs with the silky smoothness only a V12 can deliver; the torque might twitch it gently from side to side but you’ll search in vain for roughness.

Well, you will until you walk behind and hear the intimidating exhaust note; a car like this should be capable of raising the hairs on the back of your neck and the combination of a pedigree V12 and Quicksilver exhaust system means it delivers on command.

Our test drive went well, but then that’s no surprise, is it? In fact, Our Man came back grinning from ear to ear, and when we asked how it went, he smiled even more broadly and simply said: “Great!”

It does it all with good oil pressure too, and a healthy charge to the battery. No odd noises either, nor warning lights on the dashboard.

The engine bay is clean with being OTT. If detailing is your thing, then improvements could be made but we suspect most enthusiasts would be happy to pop the bonnet on request as it is.

As for the underside, the plastic front cover bears the usual and inevitable light scuffs, and the fasteners and steel suspension components have the usual veneer of corrosion but – again – that’s the extent of your woes because everything else looks to be solid and well protected by a good coat of long-established underseal.

The DB7’s MoT certificate, which is valid until March 2027, was issued with no advisories, something it’s made a bit of a habit of over the years.

The recent Vehicle History Check is clear, and the history file includes the build sheet and the Aston Martin wallet and book pack.

It also contains neatly filed MoT certificates, service sheets, and invoices, including many from the seller’s curation that total many thousands of pounds and contributed to a valuation in 2016 by Byron International of £65-70,000.

Clearly treasured over the years and only being offered for sale because he fancies trying a newer Aston Martin and has a strict one-in-one-out policy, the combination of cosmetic condition, mechanical soundness, and paper-backed provenance means we can’t find a single reason not to buy this Aston Martin DB7 Vantage – and before you think we’re being lukewarm in our praise, a canny buyer should try to find reasons NOT to buy a 27-year-old handbuilt sportscar.

So, the fact we can’t find a single reason not to splash out your hard-earned is actually praise of the highest order – and this is before we tell you that the owner is a lovely bloke and, as we all know, the best cars tend to come from the nicest people.

And how much will you need to splash out?

Our estimate is the hammer will fall somewhere between £18,000 and £23,000, which wouldn’t make it the cheapest example you’ll ever see but it might just make it the best value.

Viewing is strongly encouraged, and this lot is located at THE MARKET HQ in South Oxfordshire. Viewings are STRICTLY BY APPOINTMENT and we are open weekdays (apart from Bank Holidays) between 10am - 12pm or 2pm - 4pm. To make a booking, please use the ‘Enquire About This Vehicle’ button on the listing. Feel free to ask any questions, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.