One of 167 ‘X Pack’ Vantage Volante models produced - Recent £130,000+ in restoration and maintenance at Aston Martin Works - In current ownership since 2011, four owners from new Announced in April 1972, the Aston Martin V8 was an extensively modified version of the DBS V8 which was announced in September 1969.

The engine was by then the well tried and tested all alloy V8 designed by Tadek Marek that had made its first appearance in January 1967 at the Racing Car Show in London, and raced by Lola in their Type 70 Mk III GT.

Whilst performance of the new V8 model was more than adequate, as the 1970s wore on it became apparent that the car was starting to sit in the shadow of competitors from the likes of Ferrari and Porsche.

With the introduction of the 375bhp Vantage in 1977, Aston Martin's V8 was thrust back into the supercar league, however the factory chose not to disclose the actual figure, instead commenting that power was 'adequate'.

To cope with this additional power larger...