Cars

A Vantage Le Mans was the last of the truly hand-built Aston Martin's. Constructed with an aluminium body it was the very last model to be powered by the legendary Tadek Marek's renowned V8 engine. Built to celebrate the factory's famous victory at the Le Mans 24-Hour Race in 1959 when Roy Salvadori and Carroll Shelby took the chequered flag first in 'DBR1/2'., A very different car to a 'normal' Vantage, many styling updates included but were not limited to its front wing side vents, ducted bonnet, 'nostril' front grille, improved high-downforce air dam, while at the rear the spoiler was revised to incorporate the high-intensity and reversing lights. The Le Mans received unique five-spoke magnesium alloy wheels while beneath the skin its chassis boasted the kind of extensive upgrading, in the form of the ‘Driving Dynamics’ package, required to cope with the massive increase in performance. Aston Martin engineers developed a blown version of the proven 5,340cc V8 engine, twin mechanically driven Eaton superchargers being preferred to turbo-chargers on the grounds of superior throttle response. Quite apart from its already stupendous maximum output of 550bhp a special tuning program was offered to buyers for whom 550bhp was not enough, resulting in the V600 specification cars squeezing out a total of 600bhp along with further upgrades to the brakes and suspension., This particular example is car number 19 of only 40 examples ever produced and is most probably the finest surviving of them all. It was delivered from new in the ultimate V600 specification package (as opposed to being upgraded later in life, as some others have) including a close-ratio 5 speed gearbox and has only covered 1,665 miles from new!, Complete with its original invoice, handbooks, tool kit, spare keys, sterling silver key fob (given to all original owners), road map, torch, old tax disc's, old MOT's, Aston Martin car cover, a well-documented history file which contains original corresp. Metallic Aston Martin Racing Green, £495,000