The Virage was memorable with a 5.3-litre V8; the conversion made it a legend.
It can't have been easy to sell supercars in 1992, with the boom years of the 80s firmly in the past and financial meltdown looming. Which makes the decision of Aston's Customer Service Decision all those years ago even more remarkable - to help the popularity of the Virage, it offered a 6.3-litre conversion. More money, more engine, more power, just as the world was starting to row back from that sort of excess. Which eventually became one of Works' most revered creations.
The Virage 6.3 really was an outrageous piece of work, even by the standards of modified Astons. The Group C cars of the 1980s had evolved the familiar 5.3 V8, first to 6.0-litres and eventually to 6.3. So, obviously, it ought to go in a road car. The Virage wasn't doing badly as standard, with 335hp and 350lb ft, but the 6.3 elevated performance onto another plane, with 500hp and 480lb ft thanks to racing pistons from Cosworth, new heads and new cams, amongst other changes.
Works overhauled the rest of the Virage package in an attempt to contain the power, with bespoke dampers, better springs, a larger front anti-roll bar and one at the back for the first time. Brakes were the biggest in the world at that time, with 14-inch diameter front discs, and new Goodyear Eagle tyres were fitted to try and get all that performance through the rear wheels and to the road.
Still, it proved popular, all things considered. This being the 1990s , there aren't exact records of how many 6.3s were made; the number is believed to be around 60 over the two years they were made. Though eventually overshadowed by the twin-supercharged Vantage, the 6.3 Virages deserve recognition - how could a car that looks like this and uses a race car V8 not be admired?
Paul Spires, President of Aston Martin Works, was involved in the 6.3 project; he said:"The Virage 6.3 conversion was, and remains, a superb example of the capabilities of the department that is now Aston Martin Works... The car was comprehensively re-engineered, and restyled, right here in Newport Pagnell.
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