9 Total Astons, A DB11, older Vanquish, two 2015 V12S, 2 Vantage Softtops, the rest V8 Vatage Coups. An interesting thing, I was talking to the owner of the China Grey V12S and said according to Aston, mine was made in 2013. He said the build date is on the door plaque on all the cars -so we checked his build date - his was also built in 2013! When we looked at mine, there were no stickers or plaques anywhere, not tire pressure, the typical stickers, not even who built the engine, so mine must be an early or pre-production car - serial# 1391... anyway it was interesting to see that the 2015 V12S could be manufactured in 2013, and finding another local one.

Below are picts.

 

It is my understanding that all US cars are required to have a sticker listing the VIN, date of manufacture, etc.
I also believe that a tire info sticker is required.

 

I'd be suspicious of a re-spray if my car was lacking the door jam stickers...

 

According to the dealer and records as well as CarFax - accident free, and it was an AM certified car... the paint and finishes look factory...

 

All you have to do to never show up in a Carfax report is pay for it yourself. [Or if you're a dealer never report it] Only insurance claims [for the 99.9%] are reported to Carfax, from the insurance companies. I would contact Gaydon directly and ask if it's possible your car could have left the factory without one.

 

my first thought also (respray)

 

I've done cash repairs to keep CarFax clean, but minor costs - while I can't imagine the damage to repair a Vantage to the point no stickers are on it - it would seem to have been totalled, I did buy a V tail Bonanza once that was faked so well, it fooled the FAA for years and mechanics for over 25 years - I sued and got a $100K settlement (the plane cost me $60K) but they went backrupt to avoid payment. Sometimes life is not fair, but if this no accident car represented by the dealer, not just the CarFax, was in fact repaired, I'll demand action. I asked the dealer salesman to find out the story. So hopefully on Monday I'll have an answer.

 

I am not very surprise to see a 2015 with a build date of 2013 as Aston Martin had to asked to be allowed to keep selling the Vantage (and possibly other) passed a certain date due to new compliance law in the USA and Canada. They were granted rights as long as the car remain the same as the previous year, no change what so ever. That is one of the main reason as to why we can't get the GT8 or GT12 over here. I would also be a little suspicious if my driver door sticker with VIN and build date was missing...

 

I'm assuming that this was a very early car and possibly a press car or one that went between the dealers - hopefully that's why no required stickers, and working with Napleton AM first for an answer and if none, quickly, Aston direct, we can get a satisfactory reason and the correct data plates, as well as the plate of the engine builder installed. I can't imagine an AM Certified Used V12S would have a deceptive history - that would place AM in a bad situation they would not want to be in - as on their website they state certified includes Vehicle History Checks.

I'm not assuming I have a repeat of the Beech Bonanza situation where I had a plane with a valid data plate and log books (from a totalled plane that was apparently stolen) and faked V35B upgrades on a plane made entirely of junk yard and stolen parts (the trial was pretty quick and easy with the evidence I gathered). When Air Grand Canyon had the plane for 25 years, they and their mechanics suspected nothing. When they placed it for sale, someone incredibly sharp say that the trim tab on the tail was in line with the rudder, and on the 1960 certification the trim tab would have been about 1/2 inch jutting from the tail. In 25 year nobody caught that! The FAA was called, and demanded a partial tear down of the plane. The V35B upgrades included 80 gallon wing tanks which the stringers and ribs were cut and the FAA Red Tagged the plane for the scrap yard. The local small dealer I bought from - bought it from a dealer who bought from the scrap yard. It was never clear if one or both simply looked at the logs and said they could resell the plane as good. I had a complete pre-purchase inspection and flew the plane about 2 years. I got a call from Air Grand Canyon who checked (eventually) that the plane was indeed scrapped and was astonished to find out it was still flying! I immediately called the local FAA who said the plane had been in service almost 3 decades so they at first said they would work with me for re-certification. That lasted a few days till Beecraft made it clear the wings were compromised structurally and that it was a miracle the plane had not broken up in flight. I kept the plane a few years in a hangar as 'evidence' till the trial. In that time I did my own sleuthing and discovered a short novel worth of interesting history, but never who instigated the actual crime. The local dealer did however commit a crime as it became apparent he knew about the fraud, but I felt someone in prison would have a hard time paying the damages, so I instead went under a civil trial, not criminal charges, not figuring that a small time dealer could easily file bankruptcy - should have just gone after criminal charges.

The big difference between the plane and the V12S, is that it's expected on a plane four decades old to have just about everything - un-perfect, or worn in various ways. This V12S looks immaculate inside and out, so I'm hoping soon to find a viable story behind the history and lack of data plates and stickers.

 

LOL and with any luck a V12VS, no matter what its provenance, won't be breaking up in mid flight.

 

There's no reason to remove the tags for a respray, they'd stop under the weather stripping. But I didn't think a car would even pass US customs without the data tag. And I see no way any press car or anything else, still isn't a finished car off the line, and finished means it has it's data tag.

 

The pictures show me how much more I like the red tail lights over the white. Especially on the slate car, which is the color of mine.

 

What I found out so far - the previous owner was Aston Martin Corporate out of CA, and AM is sending ALL of the plaques, stickers, etc., that should have been on the car out of Graydon. They are investigating the history and how the car had no stickers anywhere.

 

You might be the owner of "The one that got away" I wish you good luck, cheers

 

Keep us up on what their investigation finds!