Coys Auction - True Greats
Royal Horticultural Halls
Elverton St
Westminster
London SW1
Tuesday 7 December 2010
With less than three years between conception and display, the Virage gave Aston Martin Lagonda a much needed shot in the arm. In 1986 A.M.L had a two door Lagonda development car on the road and had also announced a design competition for budding Aston Martin designers. The winners, Ken Greenley and John Heffernan, created a large, modern GT - with an evolutionary link straight back to the DB4. Reeves Callaway in the US reworked the 5.3 litre V8 engine with four valves per cylinder, Weber fuel injection, a clean exhaust and an output of 330 bhp. Shown at the 1988 Birmingham Motor Show in Coupe form, with first deliveries in 1990, the sensational new Virage re-stated its forerunner's muscular looks in the modern idiom, slightly narrower but with increased interior space. With 330bhp, a top speed approaching 160mph and 0 to 60mph in less than 7 seconds were possible. The Virag