Aston Martin Vantage N24 (2008) CAR review

We at CAR have a soft spot for the Aston Martin Vantage N24. Back in 2006 we sensed there was a story brewing when Aston Martin announced that it would enter a road-legal V8 Vantage in the legendary Nurburgring 24-hour race. We followed Aston to Germany and even mucked in with pitstops during the race weekend, but little did we know that the V8's success (24th out of 220) would morph into something much, much bigger.

Since 2006, the N24 has been back to the 24-hour race at the 'Ring, spawned a one-make championship (the Aston Martin Asia Cup) and this year the car is eligible to compete in the new GT4 category of sports car racing, the Britcar series, the Dutch Supercar Challenge, the Australian GT Championship and the US Grand-Am Cup. At the time of writing, Aston Martin has built 47 N24s at Gaydon… the British company only planned on building 24.

Hang on. Are we talking about a race car or a road car?

Well, this is where it gets interesting. The N24 is a stripped-out racer with modified suspension and engine parts, but Aston Martin is, in their words, 'pleased' to offer Single Vehicle Approval as an after-market option. The SVA process homologates the car for road use, meaning the customer gets a bonafide racecar for the road. Just think about it: from Sainsbury's to Spa...

So what's involved with the SVA process?

It's effectively 're-speccing' the car for road use. This includes supply and fitment of a handbrake, number plate lights, indicators, a horn, a standard steering column including security lock, fixed driver's side window (rather than a sliding Perspex item), fuel filler restrictor, and some catalytic converter tweaks to make it meet noise and emission regs.

The standard N24 fully hand-built at Gaydon costs approximately £100,000 depending on options; the SVA conversion (by Works Service or any dealer) costs another £9000, including the various paperwork and transport costs.

Click 'Next' below to read the rest of our Aston Martin Vantage N24 drive

Click here to see a preview of the May 2008 issue of CAR Magazine where we take an exclusive look at Aston Martin's Paul Ricard test session with the company's LMP1, GT1, GT2, GT3 and GT4 racers