Click on car for V540
Vantage picture gallery
Once production had begun in early 1977 on the first V540 V8 Vantages a dedicated Vantage build area was created where cars were hand finished to the uprated specification. Partially complete vehicles were transferred from the production line and received extra attention and fettling to bring them up to Vantage specification. On the engine side carbs specially modified by hand with the choke removed and altered throttle plates were fitted to special manifolds, distributors rebuilt with revised timing and higher lift camshafts were set with more overlap. Aerodynamic aids were bolted on (only the first 16 cars) and the suspension tuned and reset. The cars were then tested on a rolling road with 300-bhp output at the rear wheels being the goal. Only then were they released to a few select customers. V8/11640/RCAV was the first production car, built specially for George Minden, one of Aston’s saviours in 1975. |
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
To meet emission regulations a single belt driven pump with air injection became standard on all V8 engines. It accounted for a horsepower drop of 10 bhp but helped meet more stringent "smog" regulations introduced throughout England and Europe.
|
V540 V8 Vantage build data
Year |
Model |
Engine |
Body |
Built |
RHD |
LHD |
Manual |
Auto |
1977 |
AM V8 VANTAGE |
V540/…../V |
Bolt on |
16 |
14 |
2 |
15 |
1 |
1977 - 1978 |
V540/…../V |
Flip tail |
23 |
16 |
7 |
23 |
- |
|
1978 |
V540/…../LF. |
Cosmetic |
11 |
- |
11 |
10 |
1 |
Works preparation completed at The Kangaroo Stable
Copyright August, 2001