Vehicle Description
West Coast Classics are proud to present this very rare and
striking 1978 Aston Martin AM V8 Series 3 Coupe, the last year of
production with the most desirable 4 Weber carbs and hood bulge and
in superb condition throughout!Chassis no. V8/11886/LCAEngine no.
V/540/1886/LFA Delivered new to the USA4 x Weber carburetor
modelAutomatic transmission1 of 970 Series III's builtStriking
'Silver Green Metallic' color over Red leatherOriginal tools amp;
spare wheelPost David Brown, Aston Martin entered the most
turbulent period in its history, but somehow it pulled through.
Nothing epitomised the fighting spirit better than the AM V8 Coupe.
The Aston Martin V8 is a GT coupe built from 1969 to 1990. As with
all traditional Aston Martins, it was entirely handbuilt with each
car requiring 1,200+ man hours to finish. From 1969 through 1972,
Aston's flagship model was the DBS V8. Though the body and name was
shared with the six-cylinder DBS, the V8 sold for much more. The
body was a modern reinterpretation of the traditional Aston Martin
look, with a squared-off grille and four headlights. The
acquisition of Aston Martin by Company Developments in 1972 brought
with it a change of name for the V8-engined cars: out went DBS V8,
in came AM V8. This new Series 2 was based on the DBS chassis but
readily distinguishable by its restyled front which now featured
two instead of four headlamps, a large hood scoop, front spoiler
and recalled the looks of the earlier DB six-cylinder cars with a
virtually unaltered rear end. Electronic ignition and air
conditioning were now standard and Aston Martin increased the price
by more than 25%! Introduced in 1973, the Series 3 dumped the
unreliable Bosch fuel injected 5340cc DBS engine and employed a
quartet of Weber 42 DCNF carburetors instead of the previous Bosch
mechanical fuel injection; the change bringing with it increased
torque and necessitating a larger hood scoop to house the
carburetor air box! Despite the switch, fuel economy improved and
even in automatic-transmission form the Weber-equipped car proved
almost as quick as the preceding manual version. The result was a
powerful V8 that was possibly over engineered but with the benefit
of being rugged and reliable if maintained correctly. From around
1978, each engine proudly carried a brass plate, such as this
particular example, with the name of the engine builder, in this
instance a certain Mr Fred Waters. This 1978 Aston Martin V8 is the
last year of one of a claimed 970 Series III units produced in
Newport Pagnell between 1973 and 1978. The car is a left-hand-drive
unit and finished in a super striking 'Silver/Green Metallic' color
over a 'Dark Red' leather interior, it is powered by a 5.3-liter V8
paired with a three-speed automatic transmission.Additional
equipment includes four Weber carburetors, original 15" Lagonda
Alloy wheels, hood scoop, heater, and power windows and door locks.
The car is equipped with speed-sensitive power steering, and
stopping power is provided by four-wheel disc brakes with
inboard-mounted rear units. The all aluminum twin cam Tadek
Marek-designed 5.3-liter V8 is equipped with dual overhead
camshafts and four downdraft Weber carburetors. Factory rated
output was 310 horsepower and 320 lb-ft of torque with blistering
performance of over 160mph! Only some 1,600 cars were built in
total during the 1969-90 5340cc V8 production run! The large,
thirsty and very expensive V8 was to prove to be a rare breed with
enormous appeal for collectors today for these handsome high speed
British brutes!In 1978 a new fuel injection system developed by
Weber which proved far more reliable than the earlier Bosch system,
with these later '78 models having once again flat hoods without
the required bulge and scoop to contain the four Weber carbs. This
particular model is therefore one of the very last and most
desirable Series III four Weber carb models with the hood scoop.You
will look long and hard to find a finer example of this
extraordinarily striking in this rare color and very rare last year
(1978) of the 4 Weber Carbs AM V8 Coupes with hood bulge/scoop and
original aluminum Tadek-Marek 5.3L V8 engine with a recent full
service at renown marque specialists performed in September 2023
which included a full tune up including rebuilt carbs, new plugs
and filters, included rebuilding the alternator, cleaning the
distributor cap, and replacing the battery. The car will be sold
including its original spare wheel and factory tools.
