Went for my first real cruise (~100 miles or so) w/ the Vantage AMR this past weekend, with a buddy in his Miami Blue Cayman GT4. We're in LA with nice cars everywhere, so wasn't really expecting a crazy amount of attention. My wife was with me and said she hasn't felt so ogled since high school 😂

A few particularly fun moments:

• We're stopped at a light. Some younger guys sitting outside at at a restaurant in Manhattan Beach sees the Cayman and they all start noticeably checking the car out and chatting with each other about it, until one them turns and sees the Aston and visibly mouths "holy ****!" and starts gesticulating to get his friends' attention
• Pulled over at an overlook in Palos Verdes to get some drone shots. We're not near the car, but see a wedding party pull up in a bus for some and one of the girls runs over to get a better look at the Aston, makes a "I'm fainting" gesture before rejoining her group for photos
• A jeep full of high school / college boys on the way home pass by and literally every one of them turns to look back and starts pointing/waving

 

Nice Porsche and AMG, l mean AMR…

 

i'm fortunate enough to own a vantage and a cayman. don't envy me too much they are both 2007 manual models. aston's got 20,000 miles on it and is meteorite silver w/black interior. the cayman's got 30,000 miles and is guard's red with tan interior. the paint on both is immaculate (not my doing, they were like that when i bought them. the cayman catches everyone's eye while the aston is easily overlooked (although i've gotten some double-takes once they see the grill...). i get questions on "what kind of porsche is it?" on the cayman and questions on "what kind of CAR is it?" on the aston.

short take on both: the handling on the cayman is remarkable and will not be all that noticeable until one takes it on a couple of two-lane country roads at speed. then it becomes immediately apparent. the aston, OTOH, is a nicer place to be due to its opulent interior. it feels slightly more powerful too. i find them both to be extremely attractive automobiles. their only rival being, IMO, the ferrari 360 modena coupe. oh, and even though porsche people complain about the cost of parts and service, well...compared to the aston, they know not of what they speak.

 

Well, it's "over" for me. A gentleman rolled down the window at a light the other day and said "Excuse me Sir, is that a Genesis?"... Done. Well, until the next upshift.

 

Twice recently when looking at new cars for my wife, I was asked if I would be trading my Chrysler in ,,... I told them to look again..(its a DB9)

 

ouch!...that's gonna leave a mark.

 

I've only had my Vantage Roadster for a month and my wife asked the other day if it gets any attention. I told her not really. I appreciate the beauty of the car but it is not as distinctive as a Porsche, Ferrari, McLaren, Lambo, etc. I also have a 1978 VW Thing. Orange. That car gets 100x the looks of my AM or 911.

 

Yeah, I've had two different neighbors walking by see my Vantage and say, "That's a beautiful car. What is that? A Chrysler?"

I never know how to answer that...

 

"Is that a new Genesis?" Got that one the other day in the Market Basket parking lot.

 

I've had my DB9 about a year now and it gets attention just about every time I drive it (which for a while, was daily). It gets tons of smiles, thumbs up, "beautiful car man!" from passersby, etc. The attention is almost exclusively positive.

I took it through Colorado on a road trip and pretty much any time I stopped for gas, I would have a conversation with someone who wanted to compliment or know more about the car.

However, this car basically disappears whenever I am on a group drive or at a meet with some of the more exotic brands. Following my buddy's orange C8 through town resulted in tons of heads turning and fingers pointing...at the C8. I don't mind that though, since to me, that's a totally different kind of attention and not really the kind I am after.

People notice the DB9 because of it's shape and likely the James Bond ties. I've enjoyed how this car serves as a conversation starter and ice breaker. Sharing the experience with people was always my goal when deciding to buy it, so I am always happy to stop and talk to people whenever they want to know more about it.

Oh and there's also a local Vantage, also with V Collection bits, that is regularly spotted on the local car spotters page.

 

an old codger (older than i am) stared at me and my car the other day after i backed into a parking spot (i've only got the REAR parking assist on the 2007 vantage and that front spoiler sits pretty low and i've already replaced it once already). turns out he wanted to talk about the car. it seems he leased one for about four years, back in '07, and wanted to reminisce a bit...i obliged him.

BTW, is that a badminton shuttlecock in the background of the pic above?

...never mind, i googled it and the pic is taken on the grounds outside the Kansas City museum, where they serve as artwork.

 

Since I have had my Vantage I have had one guy come up and ask about the car. Another gentleman at a gas station looked the car over but did not seem know it was an Aston Martin until he saw the AM badge on the hood. Other than that not much else other than a couple of looks here and there from people driving a Porsche, Alfa and something else that is fast. The most attention I got was a trip on the highway but that may because I was cruising about 90 mph.

 

Took mine to the gym near me this week. A guy told me it was a beautiful car and that he didn’t know that
they were still making Austin Martins.

 

I would consider this a backhanded compliment... while genesis is no Aston, they are designing some nice looking vehicles and shows the timeless design of our cars

 

You should've confirmed his suspicion, "Yes, they don't make Austin Martins"

Edwin