The Best DB7

Posted on December 5, 2022 by classiccarweekly

2000 Aston Martin DB7 Vantage Volante

Offered by Aguttes | Paris, France | December 14, 2022

Dream spec. Fact: the Aston Martin DB7 is one of the best-looking cars of all time. And when they dropped a V12 under the hood and tweaked the styling a bit, they really ended up with a winner. Add on top of that the fact that this one is a drop top finished in Almond Green with over a beige and green interior… perfection.

The Vantage-specification DB7 went on sale in 1999 and featured a 5.9-liter V12 (as opposed to the earlier DB7’s straight-six) that made 420 horsepower. This manual-transmission car was capable of 60 mph in five seconds when new.

Having covered less than 10,000 miles since new, this Volante is a keeper. It has a pre-sale estimate of $73,000-$94,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

DB7 Zagato

Posted on November 30, 2016 by classiccarweekly

2003 Aston Martin DB7 Vantage Zagato

Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | December 4, 2016

Photo – Bonhams

While the Aston Martin DB7 may be one of the most beautiful cars ever put into production, that doesn’t stop people from trying to improve upon it. Enter Aston Martin collaborators, Zagato. They hadn’t touched an Aston since the 1960s and they chose the DB7 as their next canvas.

The first thing they did was shorten the chassis. Then Zagato crafted a muscular and sporty body to wrap around it – including a double-bubble roof, Zagato’s signature styling touch. Power from the 6.0-liter V-12 was increased to 440 horsepower. Top speed is 186 mph, although this example probably never got there as it’s covered less than 600 miles since new.

Only 99 of these coupes were produced between 2002 and 2003. This one was sold to Latvia and is now up for sale. These tend to come up for sale less than the DB AR1, Zagato’s equally rare followup Aston. This car is expected to bring between $300,000-$350,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams.

Update: Sold $390,262.

DB7 V12 Prototype

Posted on May 16, 2013 by classiccarweekly

1998 Aston Martin DB7 V12 Coupe Prototype

Offered by Bonhams | Newport Pagnell, U.K. | May 18, 2013

The DB7 is my favorite Aston. I think it’s gorgeous – especially the convertibles. But when Ford first put the DB7 out – it was powered by a less-than-exciting straight-six. While that engine followed the long line of Aston sixes from back in the day, it was out of line with modern luxury car buyers.

Thankfully they figured this out and decided to stuff a 6.0-liter V12 underhood. The output was 420 horsepower – about a hundred more than the six. The car went on sale in March of 1999.

But prior to that, Aston had to do some development work on the new engine. Enter this car, chassis DP 001. It’s a DB7 – and it’s listed in the lot description as a “circa 1999” but I would assume that, if the car went on sale in March of 1999, they started development work in 1998 or prior – hence my labeling it as a 1998. Anyway, this car was used as a test mule with the new powerplant. Later, it was sold by a dealer (on behalf of Aston Martin) in England in 2004 under the condition it never be road-registered and used on track days only. And that’s what it has been doing. Recently, windows have been added and the interior cleaned up – but it currently is not running.

This is a chance to own a piece of Aston Martin history – a factory prototype (even though it isn’t too exciting, I still think it’s cool). It is expected to sell for between $23,000-$31,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of this auction’s lineup.

Update: Sold $34,663.

Update II: Sold, Bonhams, Newport Pagnell 2015 $35,612.