Aston Martin Virage Shooting Brake up for Grabs

Aston Martin may not be known for its station wagons, but every once in a while the bespoke British automaker could be persuaded to build a longroof or two. The company builds all of its cars by hand, after all, so a departure from the usual design was not that uncommon in the recent past, with each commission already consuming quite a bit of time.

In a couple of weeks one such rare longroof will head to auction, when Bonhams offers a 1992 Aston Martin Virage Shooting Brake at its Les Grandes Marques a Monaco sale.

The Virage arrived on the scene in 1988 to pick up the baton from the long-serving V8 model, which at its core was a 1960s design, one that had gotten the company through two decades but was in dire need of a redesign even before the decade of excess arrived. Work on the Virage started long before its debut in Birmingham in 1988, with the new coupe borrowing quite a few parts from the outgoing V8 model as well as a slew of parts bin items from assorted automakers.

The V8 engine received a thorough reworking from Callaway, with the Virage offering a choice of a five-speed ZF manual or a Chrysler three-speed Torqueflite automatic at launch. The coupe was a bit larger than it looks in photos, and also quite a bit heavier, with a curb weight of 3946 lbs, putting it alongside some German sedans of the day. The generous overhangs and the relatively short wheelbase made it a capable handler, while the interior was roomy enough for two passengers to travel in comfort, but certainly not extravagant when it came to cubic footage.

As with many exotic cars of the 1990s, work on the Virage began in one economic climate but arrived on sale in a markedly different one, with annual production remaining merely in the dozens of units throughout the model's production run. The 5.3-liter V8 was soon joined by a 6.3-liter unit to spice things up further, with Aston Martin offering conversions for existing owners as part of its factory Works program, but sales were still incredibly modest by today's standards.

In addition to the coupe and convertible versions of the Virage, Aston Martin built a number of three- and five-door examples, with this particular one believed to have been shown at the Geneva Motor Show in 1992. This car, finished in Aston green over a parchment leather interior, kept the wheelbase of the original model, and featured a hatchback greenhouse with C and D pillars, as well as a restyled rear fascia. Instead of single side windows for the cargo compartment, Aston Martin opted for two-piece windows leading to a curved pillar transitioning into a squared-off tail.

While the Virage coupes had featured taillights from the Volkswagen Scirocco (yes, really), the shooting brake apparently featured taillights from the European-market VW Vento (which we know stateside as the Jetta), albeit flipped upside down and featuring the same liberal panel fit. This particular example originally received an automatic transmission, which at some point was swapped out for a five-speed manual.