The DB7 Volante Blends Soft-Top Aston Martin Thrills And A Hot Hatch Price Tag

The new DB11 Volante is expensive. At almost £160,000, it’s not the sort of money most of us could realistically hope to have in our pockets. However, ye classifieds enthusiasts, all is not lost, because there’s a more achievable solution to this little problem.

Alright, so a fiver short of £30,000 isn’t cheap, but it’s just about as cheap as Aston Martin Volantes get. You’re looking at a beautiful hand-built DB7 Volante with a mere 53,660 miles to show for its 21 years on this earth.

A relatively early car from 1996, it has the 3.2-litre supercharged straight-six taken from Jaguar at the time. It was good for 335bhp and 361lb ft, which was enough for gentlemanly progress even if it does look a bit weedy next to the latest uber-hatchbacks. However, this one has had the Aston Martin Sports Exhaust and performance ECU upgrade, bumping power to 375bhp. We bet it sounds biblically good.

According to the ad, which comes from a trade seller in Cardiff, Wales, it has thick-pile Forest Green carpets, heated electric seats, unmarked alloy wheels, as-new tyres and has spent much of its life in a “time capsule.” Perhaps it was owned by a friend of Dr Who.

There are 18 service stamps in the book, all from main dealers and specialists. There’s also a file of receipts to document the thousands that have been spent on its upkeep. Another upgrade that we like the sound of is the Aston Martin AP Racing front brakes, which should do the job nicely.

It comes with the original book pack and folder, which is a nice touch, and you couldn’t ask for it to be in better condition than this. There are lots of hot hatchbacks milling around the £30,000 mark these days. Here’s a way to buy so much more class – and so much less depreciation.