Just had a look on Autotrader and Ebay and between the two sites there are 4 Cygnets for sale. The cheapest is £27999 and the most expensive is £45000!.

Just to clarify just how expensive that is, the cheapest Aston on Autotrader, if you include insurance write offs, is a '96 cat D DB7 for £13950, pretty much exactly half the price of the cheapest Cygnet!. Cheapest V8 Vantage (with low miles) is a 2006 4.3 manual with 46k miles for £25995, which is surely a bargain for a car like that?.

Is it likley that someone considering an Aston Martin V8 vatage would also be considering an Audi A8, regardless of how much power it has?.

"Bargain? The ancient Cologne 4.3 with manual box?, You must be joking!".

The use of the term bargain here is more to do with the likelyhood of the Aston's value increasing (very). It is very doubtful they will ever get any cheaper. As for the "ancient" engine, that was (loosely) based on the Jaguar AJ-V8 which was introduced in 1997, only four years before the Audi W12.

"much better engine"

Surely that depends on what you want from said engine and where it is located?.

"lots more power"

The Audi, far from having lots more, actually has 16.5% more power (from an engine 40% bigger), but it weighs 27% more (around 425kg heavier). This gives it a power to weight ratio of 222bhp per ton vs 242bhp per ton for the Aston.

"I'd bet it would be more reliable"

I wouldn't!. From what i have read, the V8 Vantage is a very reliable machine. Here are a couple of quotes from the buyers guide on the Evo magazine website:

• Engine The V8 frees up noticeably with miles and is at its best once past the 10K mark. Virtually bomb proof, higher mileages are fine. Sometimes the alternator belt can squeal from cold but there is a fix using a revised idler pulley. The only notable failures have been due to the engine being revved to the limiter when cold.

• Transmission Again, very strong. It’s not unusual for first and second gear to be difficulit to select on the manual ’box when it’s cold. A revised oil spec can help, but its usually best to just take it easy until things have warmed up a bit. Abused clutches can require early replacement. If treated properly they should last for 40K miles, but if ridden they may only last 10K.

The only 'limo' i'd be thinking of in the same breath as the Aston would be the Bentley Arnage. And while (unlike the Aston) it really does have an ancient engine, that doesn't stop it comprehensively humbling the A8 W12 on torque (surely the most important figure on a limo?) with 616lb/ft @3250rpm vs 428lb/ft from 4000-4700rpm. Available from around £15k for the 400bhp model, or from around £18k for the 450bhp model (which has even more torque)

Looking back at the Panther Rio Especial, in 1975 It cost over £9000, if you added extras of Aircon and and electric sunroof. More expensive than any Jaguar at the time. An Aston Martin V8 was around £12k . A humble 1600 Cortina could be bought for around £2k .

According to Wikipedia there were 38 of them made between 1975 and 1978, so it certainly is a rarity!. It states that the Jag XJ12, at £7496 was nearly £2k cheaper than the Rio (£9445), and that the Dolomite Sprint, upon which the Rio Especial was based, was £3283.

A friend's Aston DB2/4 has a truly ancient engine, made circa 1956. He still wouldn't sell it for 6 figures he has been offered!

Beautiful!, i much prefer these to the later DB5 and DB6.

And while that engine is ancient, it was designed by W.O. Bentley.......