Cool car arrives, work stops

Aston Martin V8 Vantage in the Auto Trader garage (click to enlarge)

We like cars of all shapes and sizes at Auto Trader. But forgive us for getting a little more excited when a machine as desirable as the Aston Martin V8 Vantage shows up.

After all, this is the younger sibling of the Aston Martin V12 Vantage which currently sits on top of the Auto Trader Cool-o-meter.

Late on Friday, news of the Vantage’s presence spread around the office and a steady stream of people headed for the car park to check out the Aston. As these camera phone pictures testify, it drew quite a crowd.

The classic Vantage styling won a lot of admiration. And the V8′s wail, echoing off the car park walls, sent us away with our ears ringing.

Few offered much in the way of criticism, though the infamous dashboard start-up message (“power, beauty, soul”) drew a few cynical remarks.

But the message was clear: if you want a car that will turn heads, you can’t do much better than an Aston Martin.

Aston Martin V8 Vantage (click to enlarge)