MARKET TRENDS DB6 + DB7
MARKET TRENDS: AT SIXES AND SEVENS WORDS: JEFF RUGGLES
One makes for an affordable way into Aston ownership, the other is an established icon. We look at how the DB6 and DB7 are performing on the market, with an eye on the future.
DB7 (1994-2004)
T
he cachet of having the famous Aston Martin badge on your pride and joy is usually accompanied with a premium price tag, but there is a way to get to get hold of car wearing those famous wings for around the same money as a second-hand Fiesta. It just so happens that it saved the brand from almost certain extinction too – step forward the DB7. Granted, the DB7 was built on a diet of bits from across the portfolio of then-parent company Ford.
SEEN AT AUCTION: n 2003 DB7 GT One of only 76 right-hand drive examples of the 435bhp V12 DB7 GT, this 2003 car presented well in Solway Grey Mica and had recently been treated to a thorough recommissioning. The 73,000-mile example sold at Silverstone Auction’s March 2022 season opener for a hammer price of £31,275.
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Aston Martin Driver | Issue one
The underpinnings are Jaguar XJS, the rear lights come from a Mazda 323 and the interior makes for a great game of spot the Granada part, but the DB7 belied all that to become one of the most effective parts bin designs of all time. This was manifest in the initial engine choice too; the 3.2-litre AJ6 was of Jaguar stock, but supercharged to develop 335bhp. What’s more, it was all wrapped in a package of lavish trim and an attractive monocoque body that still looks the part today. Following the 1994 launch, the DB7 range expanded with the Volante convertible in 1996 and then the V12 Vantage model in 1999. The six-cylinder cars also saw the end of the line in 1999, with the rare uprated GT (manual) and GTA (automatic) versions of the V12 launched in October 2002. Finally, 99 Zagato-bodied DB7s were made in 2003, but are now mostly in the hands of ardent Aston collectors. Currently, DB7 values are beginning to rebound after a gradual fall since the middle of the decade and a more significant drop for 2020. Five years ago, a 3.2 coupe automatic hovered at £22,000-£24,000 for a tidy example and £35,000 for the best, with the cheapest cars around £14,000-£16,000 – a modest drop on the £17,000-£18,000 in 2015. However, in 2020 we saw cars as cheap as £11,000 at auction. However, similar cars are now at £15,000, with a good, useable car £20,000 and an
SEEN AT AUCTION: n 1996 DB7 3.2 manual This very tidy 1996 3.2 car is a good example of what can he had for under £20,000. A desirable manual in Cheviot Red, it had been subject to much expenditure and had only covered 69,000 miles. It sold on the hammer at SWVA in Poole last October for £18,300.
exceptional one £25,000. Rarer manuals tend to be worth about 15 per cent more. As for the 3.2 Volante, the pattern is much the same but up to 30 per cent higher. Five years ago a high-miler might have cost you £25,000, but £17,000 was enough two years ago. Now you’ll be pushing beyond £20,000, with the best examples at £30,000 and above. The V12 Vantage similarly experienced a low point in 2020, with more sub £20,000 cars at auction than any other year and none above £40,000. That’s in contrast to 2017, when a high-miler was £22,000 and the best examples £45,000. Now, the entry point is back over £20,000 and nicer cars pushing are
