This 2012 Aston Martin Virage 'Dragon 88' is offered in Amethyst
Red exterior over Spicy Red leather interior. Absolutely stunning &
rare car with no accident history - 232 original miles!!! Announced
at the 2012 Beijing Motor Show, the Virage Dragon 88, alongside the
other DBS and V8 Vantage S variants is Aston Martins offering to
the Chinese market with a dramatic and exclusive limited edition
created especially for this large and important emerging market.
The dragon is a reference to the Chinese year of the Dragon which
began on the 23rd January 2012. As the mightiest of all Chinese
zodiac signs, the dragon is a symbol of intense power strength,
health and harmony. In Chinese culture, the number 8 is associated
with good luck and prosperity; the number 88 with two 8s combined
it is an even more fortunate number. Of the 88 cars split across
the three model variants, this is said to be the only Dragon 88
sold in the US market and it very well could be the lowest mileage
example worldwide. The Virage is a rare car in it's own right with
only 986 (617 Coupes) units produced worldwide. The Virage,
introduced at the Geneva Motor Show was a model designed to fit in
the Aston Martin range between the DB9 and the DBS; an elegant and
opulent luxury GT sportscar. Although obviously a development of
the original DB9, almost all of the body panels were brand new and
the car sat both lower and wider than the original. The Bi-xenon
headlamps with LED side lights / indicators have already been used
on the 4 door Rapide and the new grille was inspired by the one
used on the One-77 where the five horizontal vanes have an aerofoil
profile. The side strakes were the longest ever used on a
production Aston Martin and ran above the grille aperture for the
first time rather than the traditional middle line. A new
innovation in windscreen wipers was made with the Virage which used
a beam blade wiper design, incorporating Bosch Aerotwin wiper
blades. Not only was it claimed to work better than conventional
wipers, they also looked neater too. At the rear, the body coloured
diffuser stretched almost the full width of the car. The interior
followed that of the DB9 and DBS, complete with the wonderful glass
buttons fitted as standard but it was also given a new contrasting
pinstripe welt throughout the cabin. The Virage, like the DBS could
be speced with either regular 2+2 seating or 2+0 which used the AM
lightweight carbon fibre and Kevlar seats. AM made special note of
the complete new SatNav system from Garmin using a larger 6.5 inch
screen replacing the previously used Volvo unit. Shortly after the
Virage introduction, the Garmin unit was also be made available on
all the other models in the range too. Particular attention was
given to making the Virage more refined than the DB9, especially
drawing on experience with the Rapide. One of the ways this was
achieved was with additional sound insulation on the front and rear
bulkheads. Another was a revised version of the adaptive damping
system, developed with Bilstein as also used on the DBS but tuned
for a GT rather than a sportscar as in the DBS. On start-up, the
ADS is in Normal mode but also the system offers a Sport mode which
moves the dampers to their firmest setting. The V12 engine, still a
6.0L but with an improved output of 490 bhp (neatly between the 470
bhp of the DB9 and 510 bhp of the DBS) was mated to the familiar
Touchtronic 2 transmission: there was no manual transmission
option. Part of the reason for the increase in power was the use of
a new inlet manifold, distinguished by being painted in black. The
brakes were based on those already in use on the DBS with cross
drilled Carbon Ceramic Matrix discs. 2012 Aston Martin Virage
Dragon 88 Specifications: 2012MY Virage Coupe, LHD, Touchtronic 2
transmission, 2+2 seating Amethyst Red, Volcano Red or Champagne
Gold coachwork Bright grille with Magnum Silver bonnet mesh
24-Carat Gold Plated Aston Martin Wings Badges 10-spoke Silver
painted Diamond Turned alloy wheels Black Brake Calipers Spicy Red,
Deep Purple or Chancellor Red leather all with Sahara Tan stitching
Piano Black fascia with intricate gold Inlay Dragon seat
embroidery, inspired by one on the Nine-Dragon Wall in Behai Park,
Beijing Limited edition laser-etched sill plaque Bang & Olufsen
Sound Leather wrapped presentation box with owners manual For more
details, please call Curtis at (972) 768-2691 or email
[email protected].
