1998 Aston Martin V8 Volante LWB

First registered on 24th January 1998, this very late automatic LWB Volante is finished in blue with a beautiful parchment hide interior.

With a comprehensive service record, the Aston Martin underwent a complete repair and maintenance programme between 2005 and 2012.

It then went to Germany temporarily in 2015, returning here in around January 2021. Still showing just 32,000 miles on the odometer, it’s being offered with a very sensible guide price and an even lower reserve.

The extra inches are well disguised, aren’t they? Still supremely elegant and wonderfully understated, the combination of careful curation and sensible investment has left this Volante looking as good as it ever has.

With straight, ripple-free panels and consistent, tight shutlines, the condition of the panels forms a wonderful canvas for the bright blue paintwork to shine. It’s a neat and discreet deign anyway, and the blue lends it another layer of modesty; this is a car that wears its exclusivity lightly.

The six-spoke, 18-inch alloy wheels aren’t only in great shape, they’re also fitted with good Pirelli P-Zero tyres.

We will never get tired of telling you that experience shows that matching high-quality tyres are an infallible sign of a caring and mechanically sympathetic owner who is prepared to spend the appropriate amount in maintaining their car properly. Their presence does not, of course, preclude the need for a thorough inspection - something the vendor would welcome, by the way – but it does perhaps give you a shortcut into their attitude towards maintenance.

The double-lined blue mohair hood fits perfectly. Snug and taut when raised, it furls at the touch of a button, tucking itself away to allow the driver to hide it beneath a matching leather tonneau cover.

Of course, there’s a proper glass screen at the back with a proper heating element in it for defrosting.

Apart from the inevitable stonechips there is a tiny chip near the boot lid (#114) and another on the edge of the bonnet (#125).

Despite ticking all the classic British luxury sportscar boxes (i.e. Connolly leather, wood, chrome and Wilton carpets) the Aston Martin’s interior is anything but a cliché.

Take the deeply scalloped rear seats, for example. With way more legroom than standard, the result till feels intimate and enveloping thanks to the wrap-around Parchment hide that extends from the seats along the sides to form an ultra-luxurious cocoon.

The front seats manage to be both plump and comfortable and supportive, balancing the competing demands of sportiness and luxury just as well as the chassis. They’re electrically adjustable and heated, too but then you’d already guessed that, hadn’t you?

Of course, the workmanship is on point and the feeling of driving something very special is typical of Aston Martin built at Newport Pagnall.

Take, for example, the leather-trimmed instrument binnacle, which is both lavishly covered and beautifully stitched. The dark blue leather extends across to the passenger side too, and its expansiveness is matched only by that of the polished walnut veneer, which is similarly effusive and lends the cabin a wonderfully luxurious air.

The headlining for the folding roof is in great shape but could do with cleaning (e.g. #70).

Aside from that small amount of detailing, other flaws are few. The driver’s seat has softened a little over the years (#16 and #22) and there is some light scuffing to the leather on the sill plate (#67).

A Cobra car alarm is fitted.

Chicane removed the gearbox assembly in 2022, replacing seals as necessary. This might not sound like a big deal but the bill came to well over £4,000, so it’s better that someone else paid for that, right?

Prior to that Trinity Engineering carried out £13,000 of work in 2006 fettling the chassis and miscellaneous braking and electrical gremlins in addition to giving it a damned good service.

The same highly regarded firm carried out £3,300 of work in 2008 for another service plus £3,000 of work in 2009. Another £2,500 was spent with them in 2009.

A year later, in 2010, Trinity benefited to the tune of £5,000 for another service, while 2011 saw a smaller bill, albeit for £1,400, for that year’s maintenance. The next year saw a four-figure bill for bodywork. Clearly this car regularly received the attention it needed.

It moved to Europe around this time, where the servicing and maintenance continued in Germany. Please see the attached invoices for details but rest assured, the highlights are that this is a not a car that has wanted for either love or attention.

As you can see, it starts well and idles perfectly. It also manages to combine low-rev civility with high-rev howls every bit as well as you’d hope.

The instruments show good oil pressure and a decent rate of charge.

The engine is beautifully presented, being clean and tidy and free of obvious oil leaks.

The underside is just as good and there’s no MoT tester has ever mentioned anything as vulgar as structural corrosion.

The V8’s MoT certificate is valid until February 2024 and it was gained, like so many before, without a single advisory point.

There are 47 enclosures in the Aston’s service and maintenance history file, and the recent vehicle check comes up clean.

Everyone loves an Aston Martin convertible and few are more desirable than this, the V8 Volante – especially in ultra-rare, ultra-luxurious and, when new, ultra-expensive long-wheelbase form.

And this one is lovely, offered in a great colour and with considerable recent expenditure that should go some way to easing any concerns you might have about splashing out the £140,000 to £160,000 we think this one will sell for.

Mind you, given the upper end isn’t a million miles away from the sum the first owner paid when it was new, this might turn out to be a surprisingly cost-effective car over the long-term given its historically strong residuals…

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; we are open weekdays 9am-5pm, to arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.