Officially, the V8 Vantage Le Mans was the very last production V8 to come from the Newport Pagnell factory. Unofficially, there were in fact a further small batch of cars which have become virtually legendary despite their relative youth.

To finish the production of the V8 engine after 30 years, AML offered a very special motor car to their most loyal customers. The V8 Vantage Volante matched the standard length Volante chassis with either the 550 or 600 bhp twin supercharged engine from the Vantage. The production of these cars was the very pinnacle of a special era of hand-built Newport Pagnell cars that never could or will be repeated again. Principally built by the Special Projects Division of Works Service lead by Steve Bolton and Shaun Rush; all cars were fully homologated and type-approved.

And each of the nine cars was built to a completely individual and unique specification. Whilst eight were built on the standard chassis, a single V8 Vantage Volante was built on the longer V8 Volante chassis. Just to confuse things a little more, a single long chassis V8 Volante (with a chassis number in the long chassis range) was built with a supercharged engine. Of the eight on the standard chassis, three were built to European left hand drive specification, the remaining five to UK right hand drive.

I would like to note that there is a little conflict as to how to describe this particular model. Officially they are V8 Vantage Volante special edition but often added to this is the term 'short chassis' to differentiate them from the long chassis V8 Volante. Strictly speaking, the cars sit on a standard length chassis and the AMOC register advises against calling them 'short chassis'. Problem is that adding 'short chassis' is an easy way to separate these cars from the 1980's V8 Vantage Volante and long chassis cars.

This is chassis 002,  It was finished in September 2000 and subsequently road tested by Autocar before delivery to it's very lucky owner. The car is of course, unique, with a V600 specification engine, 'Le Mans' style bodywork enhancements, traction control and a five speed gearbox. The white faced instruments are dominated by a large rev counter almost dead ahead of the driver.

One small but interesting fact about the last car. A sample of oil contained in a  small phial used when the engine was being bench tested was auctioned at the AML/Bonham's sale in May 2001. It was sold for a massive  £800.

Basic list price for each car was £230,000 although most cost considerably more as each owner had the car personalised. An example was sold at the AML/Bonham's auction in May 2002 for £254,500 including buyers premium.

Special thanks to Kean Rogers for assisting with this particular page.

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