Makes / Aston Martin / V8
V8
Aston Martin · on record 1994 to 2025
The Aston Martin V8 name generally refers to the muscular hand built grand tourers developed from the DBS body during the 1970s and 1980s. These cars combined traditional leather and wood cabins with large V8 engines and substantial long distance performance. Volante convertibles and Vantage derivatives broadened the family, while their rarity and distinctive period character have made surviving examples valuable enthusiast cars.
Red List classification, from population, five year trajectory and survival against peak. Reviewed each census.
2025 census
100.0% of the peak fleet remains licensed
peak 526 in 2025 · +9 vehicles a year, five year trend
Population history
Licensed and SORN vehicles at each census. The filters below apply to the family population, MOT and registration figures. They do not alter the generation history above.
Inside the surviving fleet
AutoCensus parses every DVLA variant description, so the fleet can be read by fuel and specification rather than as one number.
First registrations by year
When surviving examples first joined the British fleet.
Recent UK first registrations
This family is no longer sold new. These figures are imports and historic vehicles joining the British register for the first time.
MOT reliability
DVSA test results for this family, 2005 to 2025.
| Failure reason | Failures | Share of all tests |
|---|---|---|
| The windscreen washers do not provide enough liquid to clear the windscreen in conjunction with the wiper(s) | 43 | 1.9% |
| The calculated parking brake efficiency is too low | 35 | 1.5% |
| Deliberate modification which significantly reduces the original strength, excessive corrosion, severe distortion, a fracture or an inadequate repair of a load bearing member or its supporting structure or supporting panelling within 30cm of any sub- | 35 | 1.5% |
| A stop lamp inoperative or less than 50% of the light sources illuminating | 31 | 1.3% |
| A direction indicator inoperative or less than 50% of the light sources illuminating | 25 | 1.1% |
| A wiper blade insecure, missing or in such a condition that it does not clear the windscreen effectively to give the driver an adequate view of the road (through the windscreen) to the left and right sides of the vehicle, as well as to the front | 23 | 1.0% |
| The calculated service brake efficiency is too low | 23 | 1.0% |
| Amalgamation of failures for all headlamp testers | 22 | 1.0% |
Counted across every recorded test, 2005 to 2025. Advisories are excluded.
Where the V8 remains
Based on MOT test locations, 2025. Test location is a proxy: a vehicle is counted where it was last tested, not where it is kept.
| Postcode area | Vehicles tested | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| KT | 9 | 100% |
| MK | 6 | 100% |
| OX | 3 | 100% |
| BS | 3 | 67% |
| DE | 2 | 100% |
| DA | 2 | 100% |
| HP | 2 | 100% |
| RH | 2 | 50% |
| B | 2 | 100% |
| LE | 2 | 50% |
| CV | 2 | 100% |
| EX | 2 | 100% |
| CA | 1 | 100% |
| GL | 1 | 100% |
| GU | 1 | 0% |
| BB | 1 | 100% |
| ME | 1 | 100% |
| SL | 1 | 100% |
| LA | 1 | 100% |
| SO | 1 | 100% |
| BN | 1 | 100% |
| SN | 1 | 100% |
| IG | 1 | 100% |
| M | 1 | 100% |
| SW | 1 | 100% |
| BH | 1 | 100% |
| SG | 1 | 100% |
| S | 1 | 100% |
| LU | 1 | 100% |
| PE | 1 | 100% |
| PO | 1 | 100% |
| NW | 1 | 100% |
| TF | 1 | 100% |
| NE | 1 | 100% |
How this record was calculated
Full methodology
Population history combines DVLA VEH0120 Q4 census observations through 2013 with the annual VEH0220 census from 2014 onward. Figures before 2014 cover Great Britain only. Historical VEH0120 is used only when its overlapping UK observations reconcile to the current canonical family definition. Vehicles are grouped into this family using the DVLA GenModel together with durable routing rules for known inconsistencies.
Variant figures are parsed from raw DVLA model descriptions and the original string is always retained. Configuration is only assigned where the model description explicitly identifies it; a blank configuration is not treated as a two door Wrangler. Blank transmission fields are shown as manual because DVLA records the field for automatic vehicles.
MOT figures count tests, not vehicles, and geographic figures count each vehicle at its most recent test location. The decline projection is a straight line fitted to the latest five years and is illustrative only.