Vehicle Description
West Coast Classics are proud to present this very rare and
striking 1977 Aston Martin AM V8 Series 3 Coupe matching #'s
5,340cc DOHC V8 engine and with the desirable 5 speed ZF
transmission with the most desirable 4 Weber carbs and hood bulge
and in superb condition throughout! Chassis no. V8/11759/LCAEngine
no. V/540/1759/LFM4 x Weber Dual Throat Carburetors model5 spd ZF
Manual transmission1 of 970 Series III's builtStriking 'Red' color
over Tan leatherElectronic IgnitionAir ConditioningOriginal tools
amp; spare wheel4 Wheel Independent Suspension4 Wheel Disc
BrakesCopies of factory build sheetsAston Martin Heritage
CertificateAccording to copies of Aston Martin's factory build
records, this rare and elegant V8 Volante was hand built at Aston
Martin's Newport Pagnell plant at the tail end of 1976 and
delivered in January of 1977. The car was equipped with a
left-hand-drive steering arrangement for the United States market
and specified with the rare and desirable 5-speed ZF manual
transmission. It was finished in Tudor Green Metallic over a
Natural colored leather interior, Woburn Sand carpeting and a
Natural headliner.Its first owner was not recorded. A decade after
being delivered, the Aston was in the garage of Ms. Margot Burrell
of Dallas, Texas. Retained for three years, it would go to its next
long-term owner, Arne Osborg in Dusseldorf, Germany. Mr. Osborg
would retain the car for the next 21 years, regularly maintaining
it as evidenced by records on file. At some point, the V8 was
professionally repainted Red. The previous owner, a renown
collector, acquired the car in June of 2011.We recently acquired
the car from the collection and had the car inspected and serviced
at our renown marque specialists here in Los Angeles, CA in April
2024 at a cost of over $11K which included: A full tune up
including new clutch master cylinder, slave cylinder amp; hose, new
brake servo, new vacuum pump, rebuilt carbs, rebuilt steering rack,
new plugs and filters, included rebuilding the alternator, cleaning
the distributor cap, and replacing the battery. The car will be
sold including its original spare wheel and factory tools.Post
David Brown, Aston Martin entered the most turbulent period in its
history, but somehow it pulled through. Nothing epitomised the
fighting spirit better than the AM V8 Coupe.With an estimated
345bhp available from its 5,340cc, fuel-injected, four-cam motor,
the DBS V8 could reach 100mph in under 14 seconds, running on to a
top speed of 160mph - a staggering performance in those days and
one which fully justified the claim that it was the fastest
production car in the world.The Aston Martin V8 is a GT coupe built
from 1969 to 1990. As with all traditional Aston Martins, it was
entirely handbuilt with each car requiring 1,200+ man hours to
finish. From 1969 through 1972, Aston's flagship model was the DBS
V8. Though the body and name was shared with the six-cylinder DBS,
the V8 sold for much more. The body was a modern reinterpretation
of the traditional Aston Martin look, with a squared-off grille and
four headlights. The acquisition of Aston Martin by Company
Developments in 1972 brought with it a change of name for the
V8-engined cars: out went DBS V8, in came AM V8. This new Series 2
was based on the DBS chassis but readily distinguishable by its
restyled front which now featured two instead of four headlamps, a
large hood scoop, front spoiler and recalled the looks of the
earlier DB six-cylinder cars with a virtually unaltered rear end.
Electronic ignition and air conditioning were now standard and
Aston Martin increased the price by more than 25%!Introduced in
1973, the Series 3 dumped the unreliable Bosch fuel injected 5340cc
DBS engine and employed a quartet of Weber 42 DCNF carburetors
instead of the previous Bosch mechanical fuel injection; the change
bringing with it increased torque and necessitating a larger hood
scoop to house the carburetor air box! Despite the switch, fuel
economy improved and even in automatic-transmission form the
Weber-equipped car proved almost as quick as the preceding manual
version. The result was a powerful V8 that was possibly over
engineered but with the benefit of being rugged and reliable if
maintained correctly. From around 1978, each engine proudly carried
a brass plate, such as this particular example, with the name of
the engine builder, in this instance a certain Mr Fred Waters.This
1978 Aston Martin V8 is the last year of one of a claimed 970
Series III units produced in Newport Pagnell between 1973 and 1978.
The car is a left-hand-drive unit and refinished in a super
striking 'Red' color over a 'Tan' leather interior, it is powered
by its matching #'s 5.3-liter V8 engine matched to the very rare
and desirable 5 speed ZF manual transmission.Additional equipment
includes four Weber carburetors, original 15" Lagonda Alloy wheels,
hood scoop, heater, and power windows and door locks. The car is
equipped with speed-sensitive power steering, and stopping power is
provided by four-wheel disc brakes with inboard-mounted rear units.
The all aluminum twin cam Tadek Marek-designed 5.3-liter V8 is
equipped with dual overhead camshafts and four downdraft Weber
carburetors. Factory rated output was 310 horsepower and 320 lb-ft
of torque with blistering performance of over 160mph!Only some
1,600 cars were built in total during the 1969-90 5340cc V8
production run! The large, thirsty and very expensive V8 was to
prove to be a rare breed with enormous appeal for collectors today
for these handsome high speed British brutes and is especially
desirable and collectible with the 5 speed ZF manual trans!In 1978
a new fuel injection system developed by Weber which proved far
more reliable than the earlier Bosch system, with these later '78
models having once again flat hoods without the required bulge and
scoop to contain the four Weber carbs. This particular model is
therefore one of the very last and most desirable Series III four
Weber carb models with the hood scoop.You will look long and hard
to find a finer example of this extraordinarily striking in this
rare color and penultimate year (1977) of the 4 Weber Carbs AM V8
Coupes with hood bulge/scoop and original matching #'s aluminum
Tadek-Marek 5.3L V8 engine paired with a 5 speed ZF manual
transmission!