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| Aston Martin V8 Vantage Volante (Prince of Wales - POW) (1986 - 1989) |
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When Aston Martin unveiled the bespoilered Vantage
Volante, the skirts and body enhancements were not to everybody's liking. One particular customer, HRH, The Prince of Wales obviously wasn't keen on the new additions, and took delivery of a Volante
with Vantage performance but a much more subtle look. Whilst the wheel aches were slightly flared and the
larger 16 inch wheels and tyres of the Vantage coupe were fitted, otherwise the car looked like a series 1
Volante. During the late 1980's a total of 27 cars were built in this fashion and became know as 'POW' specification cars.
Of these 27, 22 were RHD for the UK market, and the other 5 were LHD
destined for the US. The US cars are somewhat difficult to 'pin down' as
they were not built with a European tune Vantage engine, but do feature the
smart Ronal wheels.
Each car was slightly different since the POW was not really a model in
it's own right.
This car was photographed at Stonor Park during the AMOC concours in May 2000. By coincidence, that this was a location for the James Bond film, The Living Daylights, where Timothy Dalton drove a V8 Volante (with a Vantage engine) very similar to this car. |
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| These two examples are absolutely typical of the POW cars; subtle and restrained yet bursting with presence. They are the most highly sort after variant of the V8 with the combination of convertible coachwork, subtle yet elegant lines with tremendous performance. Spotting the POW's are difficult as they are so similar to the series 1 Volantes. All I can suggest is to look for the subtle front air dam, large flared wheel arches, flat boot without a lip, 16 inch (usually Ronal) wheels, Vantage bonnet bulge with the late spec wing mirrors and side indicator repeaters behind the front wheels. Just to make things even more difficult, there are some standard Volantes converted to appear like POW's - and I've been fooled more than once. | |||
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The AML/Brooks auction in May 2000 saw two 'POW' Vantage Volantes on sale. This car, presented in Rolls Royce Graphite Gray, features a Burgundy Hide interior and sold for almost £100,000. A really decent car in an interesting and unusual colour combination. |
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The interior of the POW specification cars typically features a leather covered central arm rest, walnut covered oddments box, recessed switches and a wood rimmed Nardi steering wheel. The oddments box replaces the ashtray and cigar lighter, as Prince Charles is a non-smoker. Not all POW cars feature these specific features. These are pictures of the interiors of two different cars. | ||
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For more information and pictures of the exclusive POW cars try www.v8vantage.com POW gallery |
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| Page Updated Montag August 25, 2008 |
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