First, let’s talk about the name. The name “Virage” comes from the French word meaning “a corner” or “a turn”. The car was introduced in 1988 to replace Aston Martin V8.
This name was never used by Aston Martin before, a completely new invention with an idea to create a new page for the company. And actually, it was the first really new Aston Martin for 20 years. And unfortunately, the last one before the start of rather toxic family relationship between Aston Martin and Ford.
In 1996, Aston Martin decided to return the name V8 and use it instead of “Virage”. So, all V8 cars from this time were called V8 Coupé. But it was the same Virage as before. Well, almost the same.
In addition, a high-performance version of Virage appeared in 1993 under the name “Aston Martin Vantage” or, later, “V8 Vantage”. It was almost the same Virage with deep performance modifications but it never was called “Virage Vantage”. Only “Vantage” like it was a completely different car.
And by the way, what’s even more confusing – the names “Virage” and “Vantage” were used by Aston Martin later again. But these new cars have absolutely nothing in common neither with the original Virage, nor with each other.
So, Virage was created to become the flagship model of Aston Martin. A pure luxury, performance, and aristocracy. Most-known Aston Martin DB7, which appeared already under Ford’s management in 1994 received only a 6-cylinder engine and was positioned lower than Virage. Of course, DB7 later gained a V12 engine and relevant performance but Virage still was the most expensive and most exclusive AM car of that time.
It is believed that about 1050 cars were produced in total but there are some discrepancies in the data, particularly considering rare versions, such as shooting-brake bodies. All of them were hand-built, of course. Well, you know this Aston Martin’s feature where the engine is assembled by one engineer for a whole week and there is a plaque on the engine with the name of the person who assembled it.
This personal hand-made approach unfortunately didn’t mean long-term reliability. Aston Martins of that time were quality car in terms of assembling but never considered reliable ones. In the nineties, if you wanted a reliable car, you had to buy a Mercedes Benz or BMW. But if you wanted a touch of aristocracy together with great but not always reliable performance – then, you should buy Aston Martin or Bentley.
Among these 1050 cars, there were 101 V8 Coupé, 6 or 9 cars with shooting-brake bodies, 233 (or 224 by different sources) convertibles, and 280 high-powered Vantage versions. So, Virage was a rare car but not extremely rare.
A funny thing, despite the luxury image of the cat, Aston Martin was sourcing some parts from other manufacturers to cut the costs of production. Front lights from Audi 200, or Audi 5000 how it was called in the American market. Taillights from Volkswagen Sirocco, steering column from General Motors, climate control, switches, and mirrors from Ford and Jaguar that was also owned by Ford at that time.
From the beginning, you could buy Virage with the 5.3L V8 engine with 32 valves that could produce up to 335 horse powers and crazy 494 Nm or 364 lb ft of torque. This made Virage extremely capable despite its weight of 1800 kilos or 4000 pounds. Frankly speaking, it was a heavy car despite its aluminum body.
But it could make 0-60 in 6.5 seconds with automatic transmission and in 7.4 seconds with the manual one. The top speed was 254 km/h or 158 mph. Not a supercar but it wasn’t a sports car, it was a luxury coupe. And honestly, this power was more than enough for comfortable sport-style driving on any European road.
Auto journalists reviewing the Virage particularly underlined its beautiful and distinctive sound and “Never-ending acceleration in all situations”.
In 1996 models the engine was upgraded to 350 horse powers. But if you wanted even more performance and had an unlimited budget you could buy Virage with Works Service Package starting 1992. These cars had a 6.3-liter V8 engine that could give you up to 500 HP and 480 lb ft (651 Nm) of torque. Absolutely crazy figures for a road car. These versions could accelerate up to 282 km/h (175 mph).
But what if you bought your Virage before this update? Well, you could bring it to Aston Martin and officially upgrade it to the Works Service Package. They would modify the engine, replace some body panels, and even replace the dashboard. You had to pay 50 thousand British pounds for these modifications, but for the most part of the Virage owners it wasn’t a large sum of money.
So, you can now find an early-year produced Virages in the market with officially installed Works Service Packages. And they usually cost more because they have this interesting history.
Visually, you can distinct the Works Service Virage with the 6.3 engine by wide flared bumpers, low sills and air dams, and side air vents on the fenders.
But there is a catch. The bizarre thing is that some owners of Virage installed just wide body panels without modifying the 5.3-liter engine into the 6.3. Just to save money but look cool at the same time. So, if your target is a modified Virage, you should be careful to make sure that the engine was really modified and it’s not just an old version with new body panels.
40% of Virages were produced with 5-speed manual transmission. Other 60% with either 3-speed, or, starting from 1993, 4-speed automatic transmission. Some later Vantage versions also received 6-speed manual transmission.
You may be surprised but in a car of this power and this price there were not many driving assist or safety features. They didn’t have even airbags. Only starting 1992, Virage received the ABS, the first time in the history of Aston Martin. So, it was a pure natural driving experience. And what a cool experience.
A convertible version of Virage – name’s Virage Volante – was first introduced with 2 seats only but received negative reviews and later it came into production as a 4-seater in 1992.
In Europe, it was available both with 5.3 and 6.3 engines while in the US only the 5.3 version was available due to certification issues. And only 20 Volantes were imported into the United States at that time.
In the last years of production, Volante was also available in a long-wheelbase version but these cars are very rare because only 63 of them were built.
There were also a very rare sedan (or saloon if you prefer British English) 4-doors version of Virage under the name Lagonda Virage. 8 or 9 of these cars were produced, 6 of them for the royal family.
Speaking about the rarest versions of Virage, I must mention station-wagon versions. It is known that 6 or 8 3-door Shooting Brake versions of Virage were made in-house by Aston Martin Works Service Division.
And even more rare, a long 5-door version was made on the basis of Lagonda Virage sedans. It is known that 6 or 7 of them were made in-house, one for a German collector of Aston Martins and others for the Royal Family.
Of course, there were several modifications made by aftermarket body shops but in-house versions are the most interesting because they were the first shooting-brake conversions made by Aston Martin itself.
The high-performance versions of Virage were more common. Under the name Vantage, 280 of them were made from 1993 to 2000. But it is a very wide approach to call it the same car as Virage because even though they were based on the same platform, all styling was different, and Vantage shared only the roof, doors, and mirrors with Virage.
The main difference was the installation of twin superchargers on the engine. This allowed to increase the power of the 5.3-liter engine to 550 HP from 335 on a regular Virage and the torque up to incredible 745 Nm (555 lb ft). This gave the top speed of 300 km/h (186 mph) with 0-60 mph in 4.6 seconds. It became even crazier in 1998 when Vantage V600 version appeared with 600 hp, 600 lb ft (813 Nm).
And as it was with Virage Works Service Package, all previously bought Vantages could be brought to Aston Martin Works Service for an upgrade to the new V600 version. Unfortunately, I don’t have the information on how many of Vantages were upgraded like this.
The final ultimate versions of Vantage received the name V8 Vantage Le Mans and only 40 of them were made in 1999 and 2000. These cars had 612 HP with 820 Nm (605 lb ft) of torque, max speed of 320 km/h (199 mph), 0-60 in 3.9 seconds despite the weight of over 2000 kg. They also had a sterling silver memorable key holder and a special plate indicating the name of the first owner. And this was arguably the most powerful road-legal new car sold in the UK at the time.
Only 5.3-liter versions of Virage were imported into the United States, and only from 1991 to 1993. Among them, only 20 Volantes. No Vantage versions were available in the American market ever.
And what if you’d like to buy Virage right now? Well, good news – they are available on the market in Europe and you can import most of them because they are older than 25 years now.
You can find a right-hand steering version in the UK for 50-80K GBP for Virage or 90-140K for Volante in good condition. Most of them have relatively low mileage because these cars rarely were bought as a daily driver.
In continental Europe, you will pay 70-85K Euro for Virage with normal left-hand steering, or 85-160K Euro for Volante in good condition.
