In our Catch it while you can series we look at the cars that are currently undervalued in the market but are set to appreciate in the near future. Interested in being ahead of the curve? This is the feature for you!

This week we take a look at the iconic Aston Martin DB7, a cult legend and highly sought after car that the market has all but forgotten about. If recent auction trends are anything to go by then now is the time to go and buy one of Aston’s most loved motorcars.

The Aston Martin DB7 was the first of the Ford era Astons and presented a leap forward in quality, reliability but also desirability for the brand. Production ran between 1994 – 2004 and the car soon established itself as one of the most in demand Astons and maintaining the brand’s cool yet emotive ethos.

During its 10-year life cycle 7,000 DB7’s were produced making it Aston’s highest volume production car at the time. The DB7 was offered with two engine options: a 3.2L supercharged inline 6 or a 5.9L NA V12.

 

In recent times DB7 prices have waned with the introduction of the DB9 and the market has shied away from the model due to the often-berated Automatic gearbox. Styling wise the car has aged fantastically with its lines and angles settling into the current design landscape with an elegance that only an Aston could possess.

Flash back to 2010 and a DB7 was looking like a very attainable proposition, with auction prices hovering around the £15,000 – £20,000 mark. With the DB9 and DBS receiving rave reviews and selling well plus the V8 Vantage establishing itself in the ‘Sports car’ sector there was very little love for the old Ford era Aston. From 2010 auction prices began to creep up as the V12 Vantage version became seen as a very cheap route to the heritage brand.

 

From the graph we can see that as soon as prices started rising it was the V12 car that was trading significantly above its jaguar engined counterpart. Reasons for the disparity in engine preference were numerous; firstly buyers would forego the Supercharged I6 as it had known reliability issues and moving parts were prone to failure. Secondly buyers were willing to ignore the V12’s reduced efficiency for the added value of owning a V12 Aston with obvious power gains over an inline 6. Plus, choosing an Aston Martin with an inline 6 over a V12 is almost sacrilegious.

Over the past six years values of the DB7 have been steadily rising, the average price almost doubling since our records began in 2010. In the classifieds the DB7 is selling for between £35,000 – £40,000 and are rising steadily. The auction room is the age-old place to find a bargain and in the case of the DB7 this definitely shows. From the graph there is no doubt as to how positive the market currently is for the millennial Aston. With values rising the way they are now seems the perfect time to buy into the brand at the DB7 level.

Top Tip: go for the V12 if you want to enjoy your car and watch it appreciate.