Scottish Elises

Had a quick trawl of Pistonheads this lunchtime and found this:
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/ ... 96/1152198

Aston DB7 for £18k!!! Just as well Sandra's company car is not up for renewal otherwise I my have been very, very tempted.

So hypothetical question, could you run an Aston like that as your daily runner and still be quids in come 3 years down the line (compared to a new Clio RS) if you factor depreciation/running costs

George

Very nice cars. In fact, I was looking at these on line with another SE'r the other night (for him, not me!)... one was advertised as having had £20K spent on it in the past year

I guess if you do your research and buy wisely, in theory it should not be too pricey to run.... maybe.. ..(ignoring MPG).

Yep - could not believe how cheap they were.

Still remember the days of Lotus/Murray's service dept together and seeing the cost of some of those service invoices (and that was when they were only a couple of years old)!!!

Completely hypothetical at present as the company car has another 1.5 years to run and I did promise Sandra that the next car was her choice (think she would go V8 rather than DB7).

George

Ugly and dated next to an XKR. Engine seems to be missing an entire bank. Not known for reliability. Not old enough to be classic-cool, not new enough to be expensive-cool.

Can't think of a single reason to buy it other than the badge. Oh, that badge. That beautiful, beautiful badge. Yup, I say go for it!

On this I-6, the 5 speed manual is a nice box and preferable to the GM 4-speed auto.....

given that it is essentially an XJS cabrio, scuttle shake is monumental and the carpets can be...damp

Looks great thought, and the smaller 6 cyl is daintier and prettier than the V12 (which is of course a better drive........)

Graeme,

Have you any contacts that can get me a DB7 Zagato for Aston Shed money

George

douglasgdmw wrote:Graeme,

Have you any contacts that can get me a DB7 Zagato for Aston Shed money

George

Amazingly enough no, otherwise I would be using these contacts to make enough money to avoid working for a living

You will need the Zagato purchase price to cover the cost of a replacment rear windscreen alone

Proper investment car I think, no other Aston is that cheap, and surely these can only go up.

As for the XKR comparison, I was always more of a fan of the XK8 looks, but now to me it looks like a chavvy 90s baseball cap compared to the more elegant / thing of beauty DB7 (and I'm no fan of modern Astons either..)

The real question is, can it ever shaken the XJS and Mondeo switches stigma..


Chris

Corranga wrote:The real question is, can it ever shaken the XJS and Mondeo switches stigma..
Chris

Esprit had the Allegro door catches and Elise had a Corsa's radio antenna, so I suspect anything can be forgiven.

George

Corranga wrote:The real question is, can it ever shaken the XJS and Mondeo switches stigma..

MX-5 inner door handles too - my old man had one of the first 40 to come off the line (circa early '95), and had so much bother, it got sent back to Bloxham as an example to the staff how bad the first batch were....

Still fcuking beautiful it was in silver though, but was a nightmare for MMC and poor old George Paterson

I remember speaking to a car dealer a few years ago about Astons - his reply

"Any Aston Martin without a full service history shoudl be assessed at it's scrap value only."

So a leaky unreliable parts bin special with a posh badge


It has Rich written all over it

GraemeLotus wrote:On this I-6, the 5 speed manual is a nice box and preferable to the GM 4-speed auto.....

Now this comment really surprises me!!

Rag_It wrote:

GraemeLotus wrote:On this I-6, the 5 speed manual is a nice box and preferable to the GM 4-speed auto.....

Now this comment really surprises me!!

Me too as I'd read someplace the straight six had a heavy flywheel which didn't match well with ze manuel...

douglasgdmw wrote:Esprit had the Allegro door catches and Elise had a Corsa's radio antenna, so I suspect anything can be forgiven.

George

The Elise made up for it with Rolls Royce number plate lights and Ferrari F50 dash vents though
(plus I think you kind of expect it with a Lotus..)

Some part shares I think are acceptable, but on a car like the Aston, and with something as obvious as cheap Ford switch gear, especially when it doesn't look that great, it's ill advised.

rossybee wrote:my old man had one of the first 40 to come off the line (circa early '95)

Still remember it sitting in the B&Q car park

Chris