The V8 Volante came about as a result of Aston Martin needing to do something groundbreaking in order to revive the company, with these early series 1 examples of the Volante very identifiable by their bonnet bulge needed to clear the four Webber carburettors

Essentially as a broadening of the V8 saloon range the Volante proved an instant hit with performance figures of 7 seconds to 60 and a top speed in excess of 140mph

Aston needed to make sure everything was done to such an exceedingly high standard buyers would have to consider them as "A factory where only the best is good enough, and where skill, dedication, and loyalty are by-words of a world famous product" - a direct quote from the very charming period sales brochure that accompanies this cars history file

Although it can't be confirmed it is very strongly suspected that this Volante was the car used for the photographs in said sales brochure

If one casts their mind back to the 1980's and deciding upon a set of new British made convertible wheels these Volante's must have been very, very difficult to pass on when compared with their contemporaries which were generally not nearly as fast & stylish

The Volante was the most luxurious of the V8 range too as the first car to feature the burr walnut facia as standard as well as the power operated hood

In addition to the period sales brochure she also has her original owners manual in the leather pouch, leather tool roll & two service books with a total of 17 stamps between them

Also within in the history are copies of her previous log books confirming she has had just 4 registered keepers from new, with the first keeper initially registering in their business name before putting themselves - Mr James McNeil - on the title in 1989

She remained with Mr McNeil until 2010 when she was sold to a Mr Hansjoerg Baumann who kept her between his underground storage in Scotland and his holiday home in Switzerland

It was Mr Baumann who commissioned to have the whole underside of the car overhauled in 2018, including extensive work on the suspension and brakes. Validating this is a USB drive with a raft of photographs from when the work was done although there are no invoices for the work

One needs only make their own inspection however to be left in no doubt of the solidity of VSX 44V

Only 157 of these early Volante's were reported to be produced in RHD as most were destined for the North American market where the looks were rather spoiled by the dictating US safety regulations of the time

She was very nearly completely immaculate before we took her in, all that was necessary was to have the Diamond Cut wheels refurbished and they look magnificent for it

Presented in her pretty original colours of Tourmaline Blue with Magnolia hide everything is in brilliant order and works exactly as it should, she drives like a total dream and can't be far off being the best example of one available anywhere