Page 22 - Wayne Carini's Guide to Affordable Classics

cars with the brand’s signature double-bubble roofline and a up to its advertised 184 mph top speed, or in achieving the five-
Zagato side badge. These cars are also 130 pounds lighter and about eight inches shorter than a standard production DB7 V12 Vantage GT. As a result, these are the quickest DB7s with a 0-60 time of 4.9 seconds.
Another 99 topless roadsters known as the DB AR1 (American Roadster) were made by Zagato exclusively for the US sun belt market. These have about the same performance envelope as the Zagato coupes.
Buying a DB7 Today
Getting yourself into a DB7 is easier than you might think, although managing the repair bills could effectively counterbalance the low cost of entry. In 2019 and 2020, British and American auction houses have seen prices as low as $12,000 for a six-cylinder DB7, and most DB7 variants can be purchased for less than $50,000. The fat part of the bell curve is between $20,000 and $30,000 for coupes, and a little higher for Volante convertibles. Most special editions float to the high end of the range for basic DB7 models, but don’t usually go much higher than that.
What’s interesting is that there’s not really a price premium for V12 models over six-cylinder examples, so there’s very little reason not to hold out for the car you really want. In all, Aston Martin made 7,141 examples of the DB7 for public sale, so there are plenty to choose from. The smart buyer will wait for his or her preferred body, engine, and transmission combination in a car that’s been well-kept with low miles.
All of those calculations change when you shop for the Zagato models, however. Multiply the average sale price by 10 and plan on spending at least $350,000 for any of the 198 examples sold on the open market. You can also expect to wait a while for one to cross the block somewhere in the world.
THE DRIVE
Take your mind back to the late 1990s, when the first Silicon Valley tech boom was in full swing. At the time, you could buy a six-cylinder Aston Martin DB7 coupe for $126,000, or a convertible Volante for $136,000. A few years later, the new DB7 V12 Vantage sold for $148,000. That was a bit less, but not a lot less, than a Ferrari 360 Modena, and more than a contemporary Porsche 911 Turbo.
The difference between the DB7 and those competitors is obvious: the Aston Martin was always intended to be a fast Grand Touring car, whether in its coupe or convertible guise. Most comparable vehicles from other brands have purer sporting intentions. So we’ll dispense with the skidpad stats and get right into what the Aston Martin DB7 really is.
second 0-60 mph dash. The reviewers found the car comfortable, stable, and enjoyable. Weaker points included steering response and brake modulation, both to be expected in a 4,054-pound coupe with a 12-cylinder engine in front of the driver.
Inside, the DB7 came with a Connolly leather upholstery package, and even that was upgraded to British upper-crust Bridge of Weir leather after 2002. The wood trim in any DB7 is real walnut burl, with options for oak, elm, maple, yew, carbon fiber, or brushed aluminum. The headliner is smooth Alcantara that will have you stroking the car at stoplights. Hey, don’t judge.
Reviewers in its day found the DB7 easy to drive and satisfying
to the senses, reserving special praise for the V12 engine and its
willingness to rev all the way to redline. Contemporary tests of the
then-new DB7 V12 Vantage coupe had no trouble getting the car The take rate on the automatics was as much as 2/3 of total
Although very similar in appearance to the standard cabin trim, the materials and stitching used in the Zagatos were unique.
Seats in the DB7 usually offered built-in heat, and the optional sport upgrade seats hold you snugly in place on perforated center sections rimmed with smooth leather on the bolsters. Taller drivers may find the DB7 coupe a tight squeeze due to its low roofline, but that’s why they make convertibles, right?
Appropriate to its era, the DB7 comes with a cassette deck, but there was an optional 6-disc CD changer that could be installed in the trunk. US market models are more likely to have that feature. Audio brands were Sony, Kenwood or Alpine, but any original speakers will be long-obsolete at this point. Notably, a Becker GPS unit could be optioned starting in 2002.
Most collectors will be looking for the manual transmission cars, especially the later ones equipped with the crisp Tremec six-speed, but if you encounter one of the five-speed automatics, take a moment for a look. Leading their era by quite a bit, the Touchtronic transmission offered steering-wheel-mounted upshift and downshift buttons. If you’re planning on using the DB7 as it was designed, you won’t ruin the experience with an automatic.
20Wayne CariniAffordable Classics