The interior of the N430 features lightweight carbon fibre and Kevlar seats which are claimed to save 20kg in weight over the regular V8 Vantage.

• V8 Vantage Roadster MY2015 and MY2016
• 430 bhp engine from the V8 Vantage S
• Six-speed manual gearbox with optional seven-speed Sportshift™ II automated manual transmission
• Coachwork in Alloro Green, (Race), Jet Black (Stealth), Mariana Blue (Heritage), Skyfall Silver (Trophy) or Speedway White (Speedway)
• Optional club sports graphics packs (grille ‘lipstick’, mirror  caps, cantrails and rear diffuser), standard in the UK, optional elsewhere
• Carbon fibre and Kevlar lightweight seats
• Ten-spoke forged alloy wheels in graphite painted finish
• Sports suspension tune
• Quick-ratio steering rack
• Dark-themed exterior details such as black front grille, headlamp bezels, exterior meshes, side window surrounds and textured tailpipe finishers
• Clear rear lamps with black surrounds
• Optional Carbon fibre side strakes, front splitter, mirror caps, rear lamp infills and rear diffuser
• Machined carbon sill plaques
• N430 seat logos
• Black magnesium paddle-shifts or carbon fibre gearshift surround
• Contemporary driver instrument panel
• Black anodised rotaries
• Leather steering wheel with contrasting on-centre stitch feature
• Seat and door inserts in indented leather (Roadster model only)
• Unique seat trim patterns
• Carbon fibre facia trim, Piano Black interior trim, black anodised tread plates and black pedals
• Optional Carbon fibre door pulls and glass switches
• 160W Aston Martin audio system with six-CD autochanger
• Optional 1000W Bang & Olufsen BeoSound audio system with ICEpower® technology with distinctive speaker grille and lens detailing

The N430 became available for sale from September 2014 in most markets worldwide although sadly the standard fit lightweight seats mean the North American market did not receive the car. Instead, North America (and Australia) got their very own special edition, the entry level V8 Vantage GT Roadster.

The regular V8 Vantage Roadster N430 was discontinued from the range during 2016.

Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT 2014MY, the full range of colours, Alloro Green, Speedway White, Jet Black, Skyfall Silver andMariana Blue

The key specifications for the Vantage GT are listed below, which do differ in detail from the N430. For example, the N430 has interior carbon-fibre fitted as standard but optional sat-nav, whereas the GT has sat-nav as standard with optional interior carbon-fibre. And most significantly, the GT does not have and cannot have the fancy and desirable lightweight seats.

• V8 Vantage MY2015 and 2016MY, North American or Australian market spec
• 430 bhp engine from the V8 Vantage S
• Six-speed manual gearbox with optional seven-speed Sportshift™ II automated manual transmission
• V-spoke graphite painted alloy wheels with diamond-turned finish or optional 10-spoke forged alloy graphite painted wheels
• Sports suspension tune or optional Comfort suspension (Coupe only)
• Quick-ratio steering rack
• Graphite grey brake calipers
• A selection of five exterior liveries incorporating optional GT side nomenclature: Alloro Green with White, Jet Black with Silver, Skyfall Silver with Anthracite, Mariana Blue with Silver, Speedway White with Silver
• Optional Vantage GT graphics packs (grille ‘lipstick’, mirror  caps, cantrails and rear diffuser)
• ‘S’ side sills
• Dark-themed exterior details such as, black headlamp bezels, exterior meshes, side window surrounds and textured tailpipe finishers
• Platinum finish front grille or optional black
• Clear rear lamps with black surrounds
• Optional carbon-fibre, front splitter, rear diffuser, side strakes, mirror caps and rear lamp infills
• Special edition engine bay inspection plaque
• Electrically adjustable Aston Martin Sports seats with side airbags with optional heating and memory
• Obsidian Black or Argento Grey full-grain leather interior with a choice of accent colour: Yellow, Black, Grey or Red
• Seat and door inserts in technical Plissè Alcantara (coupe only)
• Embroidered GT seat logos or optional wings logo
• Piano Black facia trim (or optional carbon-fibre)
• Graphite interior trim (or optional carbon-fibre) with Satin Chrome (or optional black anodised) centre console rotary controls
• Optional black magnesium paddle-shifts, optional glass switches and carbon-fibre door pulls
• Pure Black Alcantara® steering wheel with matching stitch (Coupe only) or leather with contrasting on-centre stitch
• Satellite navigation system
• Rear parking sensors and rear parking assist camera, optional front parking sensors.
• Optional technology Pack incorporating cruise control, Bluetooth® telephone preparation and satellite radio
• 160W Aston Martin audio system with six-CD autochanger
• Optional 700W Aston Martin Premium Audio System or 1000W Bang & Olufsen BeoSound audio system with ICEpower® technology with distinctive speaker grille and lens detailing
• Black anodised tread plates with special edition sill plaque or optional machined carbon special edition sill plaque

When the GT became available from the beginning of the third quarter of 2014, it  came with a headline grabbing price of just $99,900 although this did not include shipping change, gas guzzler taxer state sales tax. It undercut the regular V8 Vantage by around $20,000. You may therefore still consider this significantly cheaper than the UK market N430 although the GT does without the expensive lightweight seats, much of the interior carbon-fibre and has the optional graphics pack as standard. Also VAT adds £15,000 to the UK sale price of the N430 which was included in the sticker price.

For the 2016 model year, the GT revived the updated Vanquish inspired centre console and a revised range of wheel options.

For an unknown reason, the 2016MY V8 Vantage GT was also marketed in Australia in preference to the N430 variant more commonly seen in Europe.

In addition, the Vantage N24 was also very eligible for the new European GT4 series, the Grand-Am Cup and SCCA Touring Car Class in the USA. The production car was eventually unveiled at the Autosport International Show at the Birmingham NEC on the 11th January 2007, as a guest car on tyre partner, Yokohama’s, stand. It also featured on the AML stand at the Geneva Motor Show a few weeks later.

The N24 was based on a standard European specification production V8 Vantage; initially fastidiously hand built in a dedicated facility initially within Aston Martin’s Gaydon headquarters (Special Vehicle Operations) but later production transferred to Aston Martin Racing in Banbury. The 14 Gaydon built cars will doubtless be highly sort after by collectors in the future.

The N24 was striped bare with a huge 250kg weight loss over the standard car (down to 1330kg). Gone was most of the interior trim, standard seats, air bags, air-con and entertainment system.

Key specifications of the N24

• Engine modified to enhance throttle response and performance; including lightning and balancing of the crankshaft, conrods and pistons
• Cylinder heads re-profiled to optimise compression ratio and gas flow
• Engine management system calibrated for race use.
• Free flow exhaust system and catalysts plus improved air filters and secondary air injection
• Power output of 410bhp (305KW) at 7500rpm
• 6-speed manual transmission with Valeo twin plate cerametalic racing clutch and lightweight flywheel
• Facia moulding re-trimmed in Alcantara.
• Console and door casings replaced by lightweight mouldings
• Full high strength steel roll cage
• Recaro Pole Position competition shell drivers seat
• Passenger seat with safety harness is an optional extra
• A suede-trimmed steering wheel with a quick release mechanism
• Schroth six-point safety harness with a push button release.
• Lifeline Zero 360 gas extinguisher system.
• Underframe and body discreetly modified to save weight
• Tapping plates to accommodate the use of pneumatic jacks
• Motor sport towing eyes attached to the chassis.
• Side and rear windows in clear polycarbonate – sliding opening on the driver’s side
• Quick release bonnet and tail latches
• Larger diameter front and rear anti-roll bars
• Adjustable ride height aluminium dampers
• Single rate flat ground springs with separate helper springs
• Modified front subframe with extra camber and castor
• Speedline cast magnesium front and rear wheels with high performance Yokohama AO48 tyres
• Brakes uprated with Pagid RS 29 race pads
• Dynamic stability control, traction control, ABS and electronic brakeforce distribution carried over from the standard car
• Modified sill panels with carbonfibre inserts. Grille with less horizontal slats, lightened wing vent brightwork.

An alternative to the standard V8 as a roadcar? I personally think the N24 is a little too extreme as regular road transport but it is wonderful to see a production AM perfectly equipped for the track and a worthy successor to the DB4 GT. Although, strictly speaking, the N24 is a racecar, AM Works Service can make the N24 road legal under the single vehicle type approval rules with a few modifications. To do this the N24 needs number plates with lights, indicators, a horn, a proper handbrake, steering column with steering lock, fuel filler restrictor, RHD headlights, catalytic converter mods to comply with noise and emission regs and a normal drivers window to replace the fixed Perspex type with sliding panel. This process was estimated to cost around £9,000 and at lest two cars have been made road legal.

Production of the N24 begin at Gaydon during the early part of 2007. The price for the N24 started at £78,720 + local taxes (17.5% VAT in the UK at the time) and delivery. By 2008 this had risen slightly to £84,500 for the standard car and £95,000 for FIA GT4 spec – (plus options and taxes). A pucka professional racing team would perhaps be able to reclaim the VAT which is why the price is split like this. It also made the N24 appear less expensive than the standard road car which, in fact, it was not.

The N24 was upgraded in 2008 with the 4.7 litre engine, and renamed the GT4.

Design verification models are made in full scale from the design drawings to verify all the design and engineering surfaces of the car are correct before starting production tooling. This particular 1:1 model was built on a steel ladder chassis clad in model board, milled to shape and painted in what became called Villa d’Este blue.

Above the quarter size clay model of the One-77 which is often displayed in the customer atrium at the Aston Martin facility in Gaydon.

Once production proper began, there was no use for full sized model, so AML disposed of it at the 2016 Bonhams auction at AM Works. It was snapped up for a little over £10,000.

The key specifications for the Vantage Roadster GT are listed below, which do differ in detail from the N430. For example, the N430 has much interior carbon-fibre as standard but no sat-nav, whereas the GT has sat-nav as standard with optional interior carbon-fibre. And most significantly, the GT does not have and cannot have the fancy lightweight seats.

• V8 Vantage MY2015, North American spec
• 430 bhp engine from the V8 Vantage S
• Six-speed manual gearbox with optional seven-speed Sportshift™ II automated manual transmission
• V-spoke graphite painted alloy wheels with diamond-turned finish or optional 10-spoke forged alloy graphite painted wheels
• Comfort suspension
• Quick-ratio steering rack
• Graphite grey brake calipers
• A selection of five exterior liveries incorporating optional GT side nomenclature: Alloro Green with White, Jet Black with Silver, Skyfall Silver with Anthracite, Mariana Blue with Silver, Speedway White with Silver
• Optional Vantage GT graphics packs (grille ‘lipstick’, mirror  caps, cantrails and rear diffuser)
• ‘S’ side sills
• Dark-themed exterior details such as, black headlamp bezels, exterior meshes, side window surrounds and textured tailpipe finishers
• ‘S’ side sills
• Platinum finish front grille or optional black
• Clear rear lamps with black surrounds
• Optional carbon-fibre, front splitter, rear diffuser, side strakes, mirror caps and rear lamp infills
• Special edition engine bay inspection plaque
• Electrically adjustable Aston Martin Sports seats with side airbags with optional heating and memory
• Obsidian Black or Argento Grey full-grain leather interior with a choice of accent colour: Yellow, Black, Grey or Red
• Seat and door inserts in technical Plissè Alcantara (coupe only)
• Embroidered GT seat logos or optional wings logo
• Piano Black facia trim (or optional carbon-fibre)
• Graphite interior trim (or optional carbon-fibre) with Satin Chrome (or optional black anodised) centre console rotary controls
• Optional black magnesium paddle-shifts, optional glass switches and carbon-fibre door pulls
• Pure Black Alcantara® steering wheel with matching stitch (Coupe only) or leather with contrasting on-centre stitch
• Satellite navigation system
• Rear parking sensors and rear parking assist camera, optional front parking sensors.
• Optional technology Pack incorporating cruise control, Bluetooth® telephone preparation and satellite radio
• 160W Aston Martin audio system with six-CD autochanger
• Optional 700W Aston Martin Premium Audio System or 1000W Bang & Olufsen BeoSound audio system with ICEpower® technology with distinctive speaker grille and lens detailing
• Black anodised tread plates with special edition sill plaque or optional machined carbon special edition sill plaque

When the GT became available from the beginning of the third quarter of 2014, it  came with a headline grabbing price of aroung $115,900 although this did not include shipping change or gas guzzler tax. It undercut the regular V8 Vantage by around $20,000. You may therefore still consider this significantly cheaper than the UK market N430 although the GT does without the expensive lightweight seats, much of the interior carbon-fibre and has the optional graphics pack as standard. Also VAT adds £15,000 to the UK sale price of the N430. 

For the 2016 model year, the GT revived the updated Vanquish inspired centre console and a revised range of wheel options.

For an unknown reason, the 2016MY V8 Vantage GT was also marketed in Australia in preference to the N430 variant more commonly seen in Europe.

The Vantage GT4 was built to FIA GT4 regulations and is eligible to compete in the following series: FIA GT4 European Cup; British GT4 Championship; Britcar Endurance Series (where there will be a separate N24/GT4 championship); German GT4 Championship; Dutch Supercar Challenge; Dutch GT4 Championship; VLN Endurance Championship at the Nurburgring; Australian Endurance Championship; the American SCCA Championship; and the Aston Martin Owners Club Race Series.

The Vantage GT4 came with either a manual or Sportshift transmission and was priced from £96,645 (plus VAT) with the first customers taking delivery from January 2009. It is almost impossible to tell an N24 from a GT4 – the only way I know that this car is a GT4 is that I glimpsed the chassis number after the FIA GT4 race at Silverstone in 2009. Owners of the 4.3 litre N24 cars found that their cars were not competitive against the GT4 and many have now been uprated to GT4 4.7 litre specification.

The GT4 became the inspiration for the V8 Vantage S SP10 special edition of 2013.

I have been extremely fortunate to have exclusive access to an early pre-production One-77 in June 2009 at the Design Centre at Gaydon. Very few people have had the opertunity to take pictures like this and for that, I’m extremely grateful to my friends at the company for this opportunity.

The seamless body is to be made up of classic hand-crafted rolled aluminium panels as we were used to seeing back in the day at Newport Pagnell. The V12 has been taken to it’s limit – 7.3 litres with 750 bhp. Whilst based on the standard V12, virtually no components are shared with the 5.9 litre example. The engine, developed in partnership with Cosworth, is much modified, the weight has been reduced by an almost unbelievable 25%. The V12 is fitted almost 26cm behind the front wheel centreline, the most extreme example of front-mid engined mounting on an Aston ever. All that power is transmitted to the rear wheels by a new generation of Aston Martin’s familiar 6 speed robotised sequential manual. Brakes are lightweight Carbon Ceramic Matrix of course behind 20 inch forged alloy wheels. Employing the classic formula of double wishbones front and rear, the One-77 features inboard suspension front and rear which transfers vertical suspension movements to the horizontally mounted spring/damper units as seen in racecars. The performance of the One-77 has made it the fastest roadgoing AM ever – tested to 220mph and 0-60 in 3.5 seconds. Most incredible is the kerb weight of just 1627 kg, for comparison, the stripped out V8 Vantage N24 weighs 1350 kg, a 310 Vanquish, 1739 kg.

However great the leap made with One-77, the car was massively eclipsed by the announcement of the Formula 1 inspired Valkyrie in 2016.