Over the last few years you may of noticed an influx of Aston Martins appearing in auctions, all these cars have been missing in action for 10+ years. The cars were the property of a singular middle eastern collector who decided between 2008 and 2015 that he would purchase as many cars as he could and place them in what was undoubtedly the largest single make collection of recent times.
Fast forward to today and potential buyers will have their eyes widened by the prospect of owning “DB” Aston’s available at prices that you wouldn’t of thought possible 5 years ago, but are these cars really the bargain they appear to be and what is needed to transform these cars from the static display pieces they once were into something you can enjoy in the way it was meant to be used.
Here at Desmond J Smail we have now carried out varying levels of work to many of these “no reserve” museum pieces, this work ranges from basic recommissioning to full restoration. Of course there is no one size fits all approach and each car has to be taken on its own merit however there are common aspects to all the cars we have seen come through our workshops, these cars are all suffering from the long lay up periods they have endured.
Fuel System
We have found that the fuel system in particular has suffered from the long static storage, the fuel tanks are usually found to be vary badly contaminated. The fuel tank needs to be removed from the car in most cases and cleaned thoroughly to ensure that the contamination is removed. If this is not done then as soon as the fuel tank has fuel added this has a habit of loosening the contamination and then dragging it through the fuel lines into the carbs causing futher issues down the line. The carburettors need to be fully stripped and cleaned along with new jets, needles etc as once again the extended lay up has not been kind.
Brakes
In most cases we have found the seals in the brake master cylinders to have dried up and perished, this shows itself the first time you attempt to fill the now bone dry hydraulic system with fluid, you are generally greeted with a nice puddle on the floor and no brake pedal what so ever. Replacement seals are usually all that is required to resolve this but on occasion complete new master cylinders have been needed due to the pitting in the cylinder.
Tyres
15 years sitting in the same spot is not an ideal environment for tyres, nearly all the cars that we have dealt with have severe flat spots and the tyre compound is rock hard. Tyres are the only part of the car that connect you to the road so this is something we deem as an absolute must when you are factoring in costs for your new purchase.
Pipes and Hoses
As with the tyres, anything made of rubber has not had an easy time of it, you will find cracks and perishing on cooling, vacuum and more worryingly fuel hoses, while they might hold fluid initially with heat and vibration from and engine that hasn’t stretched it legs for many years these are not going to last long.
Over the last few years you may of noticed an influx of Aston Martins appearing in auctions, all these cars have been missing in action for 10+ years, the cars were the property of a singular middle eastern collector who decided between 2008 and 2015 that he would purchase as many cars as he could and place them in what was undoubtedly the largest single make collection of recent times.
There are of course many other things that need to be checked and attended to when waking these cars up from their slumber, if you are thinking of treating yourself to one of these cut price Aston’s then we will be happy to talk you through the process of getting them up and running again.
So is there such thing as a cheap Aston? As long as you have proper advice on what you are letting yourself in for and understand that these cars will require some investment then we believe that this collection of cars provides an excellent opportunity for people to get the car of their dreams at much lower price than a decade ago.
Please get in touch with our workshop team to discuss your requirements.
