Finlay Beatson

Aston Martin Vantage owner – at 21

David Milloy

For many car enthusiasts, owning an Aston Martin sits high on their automotive wish list. And rightly so, for the marque has a proud tradition of producing powerful hand-built sports cars with styling that somehow manages to retain its beauty in spite of the passage of time and the changing tides of fashion.

Alas, the nearest that most of us will come to having an Aston Martin parked in our drives is in our dreams. That isn’t, however, the case for Finlay Beatson, who has made his dream become real at the tender age of 21. We’ve met Finlay before – back in AM #48 we did a feature on his car collection, which then included two Rolls-Royces, a Daimler limousine, a Cadillac Fleetwood, and two MGB GTs, one powered by a Rover V8 engine.

Since then, he’s continued to chase his dreams of automotive utopia, selling some of his cars and saving up to fund his next acquisition. He thought of buying a Ferrari – a high-mileage (over 100,000 miles) example of an F430 caught his eye but it needed a lot of work, including new cam belts, an engine-out job on that model. As Finlay explains, “Ferraris aren’t designed with ease of maintenance in mind, and although that car was very cheap for a Ferrari F430 it would have cost a lot of money to put it back into good condition. I wanted a car that was already in nice condition and that I wouldn’t be afraid to use in case it broke down.”

Having discounted a Ferrari, Finlay’s thoughts turned to an Aston Martin. He considered buying a DB9 but its size (it’s a big car) didn’t appeal nor did the reputation of earlier cars for developing expensive engine problems. He therefore turned his attention to the Vantage model.

Unlike the DB9, the Vantage is strictly a two-seater. It’s smaller and arguably even better looking than the DB9, and also costs a bit less to purchase and run. Just as importantly, its V8 engine doesn’t suffer from the same issues that have afflicted some of the DB9’s V12 units.

Finlay’s search for a suitable Vantage led him south to Market Drayton, where a garage was offering a 2008 Vantage with a manual gearbox. As it turned out, this wasn’t just any Vantage but a rare V400 model produced for Aston Martin main dealer HWM. Equipped with a slightly uprated engine (400 bhp rather than the standard 4.3 litre car’s 380), the V400 is fitted with a raft of extras including 19-inch lightweight alloy wheels and clear rear light lenses. Also, each of the 20 produced (10 coupés and 10 roadsters, the latter being known as the ‘V400 Vantage Volante’) featured individually numbered sill plates.

After some adventures when negotiating the very narrow streets of Market Drayton in a wide-bodied Jeep, Finlay was delighted to learn that the Vantage had been meticulously cared for – not only having a full service history but also benefiting from having recently been treated to a new clutch as well as (at an eye-watering cost of £3500) new brake discs and pads. A deal was struck and Finlay had his Aston Martin.

So what’s it like?

“So far it’s been brilliant”, says Finlay. “I’ve driven just under 1000 miles so far and the thing that really impresses me is just how comfortable it is. It rides better than most saloon cars I’ve driven. It feels special too – it looks wonderful and drives beautifully. It’s not a car that I’ll use every day but it’s one that I’d be happy to use on any given day.”

That leaves us with one final question for Finlay: what’s his next purchase going to be?
“Ah,” he says with a smile, “we’ll just have to wait and see…”