NEW FOR 2008

Aston Martin is readying a revised, more powerful V8 Vantage for summer 2008, CAR has learned. Its smallest car was launched in 2005 and is in line for a mid-life spruce-up, with a body polish here and some engineering tweaks there. They promise to iron out the small glitches that prevent this mouth-watering coupe and soft-top from entering the ranks of the greats.

Our man with the long lens up in Sweden has seen a brace of Vantages on winter test – and, tellingly, they are registered with a bigger 4733cc V8. We hear the company is launching a new, more powerful model to slot above the regular 4.3-litre Vantages and give the V8 the performance it needs to take on the sportier 911s.

CAR recently tested the new V8 Vantage N400 and came away captivated – but ruing the details that let down an exquisite package. Happily, the newly independent Aston is about to fix many of the glitches – such as the Nineties-era Ford flat-barrelled key that hardly sits comfortably with an £83,000 Aston Martin.

Aston Martin V8: the facelift

Our sources say that the whole cabin will be improved with a series of detail changes, so hopefully Aston will upgrade much of the Volvo switchgear that grates in an otherwise classy cabin.

We should point out that this spy photograph above isn't hot off the press - it's from when the first-gen V8 was developed for its 2005 launch. The revised V8 will be launched in May 2008. The Sport pack launched on the N400 will be made available on the rest of the Vantage range at the same time; its revised springs and dampers herald a welcome improvement to the sports car's handling