I drove a '91 Aston Martin Virage this past Monday, actually make that two Virage's. The first car I drove was Salisbury Blue with Magnolia leather and had an automatic trans. This car is one of only 54 Virage's officially imported into the U.S. The first car was a bad example, in a few words the suspension was wollowy, the steering numb, and the pedals devoid of feel. It certainly wasn't what I expected of a Virage. The transmission was reluctant to kickdown a gear or two, even with my foot flat on the gas. The 330 hp that Aston claims of the V8 felt more like 200 hp on this car. The car was nimble on the beautifuly curvy Long Island roads, which was a surprise since the Virage is a massive car. My overall impression of the first car was that it's a decent GT car but it reminded me a bit too much of old-school American cars.
The second car that I drove was British Racing Green with Magnolia leather and a 5-speed ZF transmission. Things were looking good right off the bat. The car was in immaculate condition inside and out. There were only 14 manual transmission Virage's made for the U.S. market and currently there are only 2 in the U.S. This particular car had the Aston Works stainless-steel exhaust and stiffer suspension. The car felt great right away and I was glad to find out that the Magnolia Blue car wasn't a true representative of the Virage. The shifter was nicely weighted with a decent self-centering action, the only let down for me was the dog leg box. The clutch was a tad on the heavy side but nowhere near Diablo heavy. The brakes hauled the car down in a very progressive manner and the pedal displayed good feedback. The biggest shock came from the suspension which was taught yet very supple over rail-road tracks at speed, it reminded me of the ride and handling balance of the Lotus Esprit. The steering wasn't exactly beaming with feedback but was quite accurate, unlike the one on the first car which didn't seem like it had a connection with the front wheels. On standing starts the car would squat down like a Pontiac GTO, which added a bit of character and was actually quite fun. The suspension tuning and proper maintenance really transformed the BRG car and also added $30k on top of the $55k asking price for the Salisbury Blue car.
Salisbury Blue Virage
