I’ve noticed he doesn’t do that ever since he sold part of his company for $$$ 😂 He doesn’t feel the need to entertain the peons anymore by folding himself into tiny backseats
I remember when Ed Bolien said when he was at Aston Martin of Atlanta these things would sit on the lot for eight months, and then they would discount them by 100 grand
@@edwardcarter5724People that want a V12 don't want some plebeian Jag or 911. It's because the DBS/the new V12 Vanquish and the DB9 already existed, and the Virage was a weird attempt at fitting something between them. Hell, even the Rapide existed.
@@EmazingGuitar Now, when you say "modern problems", do you mean "crappy old British and Italian vehicles most people don't give tho shits about"...? 🤔 😂 🤣
Doug actually USED the Aston umbrella? "Doug's the type of guy to actually use the extra goodies that come with those high end cars and devalue them - like his Aston umbrella. Used and LOST forever."
At the same time Aston martin also had the Vantage and the Rapide, so they had 5 models that were all more or less sporty GT cars, with extremely similar styling.
I think Aston Martins of the 2000s and early 2010s have aged so well partly because they defined the style that most car companies have tried to copy from ~2005-2020; swept aerodynamic lines with creases along them (as opposed to rounder, lumpier 90s cars) and a prominent, distinctively shaped front grille
its so refreshing to see doug revewing cars out in the wild rather than his underground dungeon, yes the camera is shaking and the audio is buffeting but who cares???
Until just before I bought one, I had never heard of a Virage. While paging through the many DB-9 adverts in my quest for a DB9, I happened to come across an ad for a Virage. I became very inquisitive about it and discovered that there was only 126 Virage coupes exported to the USA. I immediately began a quest for one and 2 months later I was the proud owner of one. I love this beauty! I've owned Jags, Healys, Triumphs, Porsches, Maseratis, Corvettes and many more marques but this is my overall favorite car.
I bought my Virage 2 yrs ago. I've taken it on a 13,000 mile road trip across the US and Canada, and it's my daily driver. Never a peep of an issue mechanically. I knew Aston made less than 1100 over the 2 model years, but did not know only 126 made it to the US. This makes me want to keep mine even more now.
@@josephlacey163 Same, I have had mine 2 years and it is also my daily driver. I discovered that mine was an early press car so features in some of the RU-vid videos of the era and a Top Gear magazine article on Virages as well!
They look even more similar than the photos you showed at 2:40 imply - the DB9 and DBS you showed were pre-facelift (in the DB9 case) and replaced by the 2012 Vanquish (in the DBS case), both of which look /even more/ like the Virage
Perhaps my most memorable moment of childhood was getting a ride in one of these, I haven't stopped chasing that feeling since. NEED an Aston Martin in the stable
Fun fact: Aston Martin technically didn't cancel the Virage after 2012. As the DB9 from 2003 was entering its 10th year in 2013 and the DBS was about to be dropped for the Vanquish, Aston Martin dropped the 'old' DB9 and renamed the Virage to DB9. You can see this from the updated styling which is identical to the Virage, and now that the DBS was gone they also upped the DB9's hp to 510. You could technically add the 2013+ DB9 numbers to Virage numbers, even though the amount of cars that were actually called Virage is scarse.
Not totally identical, the spoiler on the boot on the facelift DB9 is taller than the one on the Virage although I prefer it anyway. I am biased though as I own a Virage :)
The Vantage V550 (1993-1999) is my favourite. It has to be one of the nicest cars ever made and it was also hand-made. Like this one, it's super rare with only 239 ever made. Prices today are around the same as the car cost back in the mid 1990's, which is crazy for such a rare and fast car. The V550 cost £177,000 at launch (around £440,000 in today's money).
I was considering buying one of these but ended up with a newer Vanquish instead. And regarding maintenance: both my Astons have been unbelievably reliable. They're great
That leather slit in the centre console is great for holding a credit card and a parking garage ticket. It saves the inelegant moves necessary to extract your credit card from your wallet in your back pants pocket. No doubt it also gets used on the Continent for again keeping a credit card at the ready for paying autoroute tolls on the way to Cannes for the weekend. The car also has carbon discs which also differentiate the car from the DB9 of the same MY.
When this car came out I remember thinking it had no reason to exist. Even a member of the Aston Martin club didn't know it existed. It was a facelifted DB9... A year later it became the new DB9 ending the stupidity.
DB9 got all the stuff from Virage in the 2013 facelift. Same front end as Virage, same clear tailights and same led turn signals in the aluminium trim.
I owned one for six years 33000 miles and it never missed a beat, I upgraded suspension through a specialist it was then extremely comfortable, and tech upgrades for Apple and Nav are now available..if you get chance don’t hesitate the sound alone is stunning in this Electric age..
Folk know about the Virage if they have an interest in cars, and in particular, Aston Martin. The Virage was basically the replacement for the DB9. The Virage initially sat in between the DB9 and the DBS, but Aston realised that there was really no need for 3 cars that were very similar in performance. So they dropped the DB9 and had the Virage and the DBS. Absolutely gorgeous looking cars
Sorry but that’s incorrect. The DB9 was in production until 2016. The Virage was only in protection for two model years, 2011-2012. It was meant to split the price gap as Doug mentioned but was quickly discontinued after effectively 1 year of production. The DB9 soldiered on for another 4 years.
@arconcritter I stand corrected! You're correct as the Virage was the model that was discontinued, with the new DB9 adopting the Virage styling and slight power advantage
I always thought the Virage was a mistake by Aston. It was ment to sit between the DB9 and DBS but in 2012 someone at AM must have thought “yanno we brought the DB9 out in 2004 why don’t we just update it?” Then they realised what they ended up with was the Virage so that car no longer had any use. Just swap out the Virage badges for DB9.
Hi Doug! I already said when you reviewed I think it was the DB9, I could never understand how people capable of manufacturing such a gorgeous designed car with the exquisite leather and stitching not to mention the upgraded B&O stereo (which actually is not that good really, a looker for sure but that would be it, the pop up tweeters can be a nightmare), were mediocre, sluggish and nasty enough to attach pieces of crap like the turning lights horrible stocks from the ford Escort ( I had one of those and I know for sure) or the Garmin atrocious foldable screen. After all these years I keep scratching my head in disbelief. I'm not sure but despite design and V12 engine I sure as hell would go for any 911 of the same year. Far way cheaper and 100 times better car in every sense. Thanks anyway for another great job. By the way, if you tell me the Aston Rapide sedan, I could be more convinced probably.
@@rustler08yeah, I guess I just figured it was a db model and I thought there were just multiple throughout the years but not all at once, since it was all at once I can see why it had terrible production numbers
Hey Doug, I've been watching for years. I would appreciate if you covered the audio quality of the sound system in cars briefly going forward. Would be nice to know even if its a sentence or two.
I agree absolutely, particularly the Naim Audio Systems in the Bentley cars or the Burmester Audio on Hi end Mercs and Porsche. Domestic Naim systems are extremely good and expensive but Burmester are the Rolls Royce of audio. Their home systems look like jewellery. truly unbelievable.
I find it interesting Doug missed the huge quirk about the engine: it was made by sticking two Ford 3.0L Duratec V6’s together end-to-end. If you don’t believe me, do the math. The 3.0L Duratec makes 240 hp, and this engine makes 490. Only a 10 hp gain with both engines stuck together. More obvious, the displacement. The two 3.0L liters combined to make the 6.0L. This was something very interesting I looked up a while ago, and is a very Ford thing to do.
Doug complained about how cheap the wiper stalks is when a 500K RR Phantom uses even cheaper looking ones. This car is gorgeous and sat-nav can be updated to a modern unit by a skilled tech shop.
It's funny that Aston Martin had introduced the Vantage and the Vanquish, with the latter looking almost the same as the Virage. The 2010s for Aston was special. But for me, it was the V12 Vantage with its ugly hood but with a massive V12 in a tiny car that made me fall in love with the brand (and, of course, a lot of games having it and the One-77 helped a lot for my favoritism)
I’ve never deciphered the Aston line up and history. Virage, Vanquish, Vantage, DB models? They all look the same. I guess there’s V12s and V8s but beyond that just pick your favorite color and call it a day.
The Park function on an auto box locks the output shaft to the gearbox casing. People who profess to know about these things say you shouldn't rely on it to hold the car because it's putting a lot of strain on the gearbox.
@@Gordanovich02 And yet, parking pawl failures are extremely rare. Maybe they were more common in the early days of automatic transmissions but transmissions have improved since then.
I was always mad that Aston cancelled the Virage when only a couple of years later they could have had the Vantage, Virage and Vanquish as their lineup. I think their mistake in 2012 was keeping the pre-redesigned DB9 available next to this Virage. It didn't make any sense to have them both available. A year later the Virage was "cancelled" and morphed into the 'new and updated' DB9. Still gorgeous though!!!
Carbon ceramic brake discs ! That was a big difference that the Virage inherited from the DBS. It's a great car, a great used car prospect with some previously held in collections and rarely used.
I have never been a fan of the frontend of the Virage/Rapide, but my God the rest of the car is gorgeous inside and out. The DBS is one of the best looking car of all time.
I remember JWW taking his DBS to get his infotainment upgraded to Apple CarPlay. They had all sorts of Astons in there, even Vanquishes. Worked a treat. So if the OEM unit is really something you can’t live with, yeah, you can swap it out.
