One to Buy: 1 of 36 LHD 1988 Aston Martin V8 Vantage V580X
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For most of its life, the Aston Martin V8 Vantage was the only traditional front-engined Grand Tourer with sufficient punch to match the new generation of mid-engined supercars. Thanks to an intoxicating mix of Rolls-Royce build quality, handsome looks and spectacular performance, there was simply nothing to rival the bulldog from Newport Pagnell.
During the course of a near 13 year production run (from early 1977 to late 1989), Aston Martin updated the V8 Vantage with a host of cosmetic and mechanical improvements. Arguably the most significant of these came in early 1986 when the so-called X-Pack variant was introduced (the V580X).
The X-Pack featured all the performance-enhancing updates seen on the limited edition V8 Vantage Zagato along with some exterior details that made these last-of-line variants the best looking of the entire production run.
Just 137 examples of the fixed-head V8 Vantage X-Pack were produced, of which a mere 36 were completed in left-hand drive, one of which is currently on offer at the Autosport Designs showroom in Huntington Station, New York.
Originally delivered to the Italian market, this particularly fine example showing a mere 31,000km from new was configured in the traditional colour scheme of British Racing Green with Fawn upholstery and with the all-important five-speed manual gearbox.
Retained by the original owner until 2015 (at which point the car was exported to the United States), it has since resided with just one collector and throughout this period been maintained exclusively by the Aston Martin experts at Autosport Designs.
