As someone who was there, what a time the ’90s was to be alive. Not only did we still have Brit Pop and Blockbuster Video but Freddos still cost a mere 10p. The decade then saw the introduction of important technology, including mobile phones, the internet and those infuriating Tamagotchi virtual pets.
It’s also when the British sports car market had a resurgence with several new and exciting models making their debut during the era. Two of most important were the Aston Martin DB7 from 1993 and the Jaguar XKR that arrived five years later. As big, powerful coupes, they ruled the roads like Pulp and Blur did the airways. Yet despite coming from two different manufacturers, they shared much of the same DNA, making them a comparable choice today.
To discover which of these handsome cars you should buy, we look at their relevant histories before trying an example of each.
ASTON MARTIN 3.2
Peel away the DB7’s beautiful curvaceous body plus the hype that surrounds the famous winged badge on the nose and the car hides a secret; the chassis and suspension both come from the Jaguar XJ-S.
This is because the car we now know as the DB7 started life in the early ’80s as a Jaguar project. The work of one of the company’s designers, Keith Helfet, the XJ40- based car was originally known as the XJ41 and was planned as the eventual XJ-S replacement. With Keith unashamedly influenced by Jaguar’s past cars – the E-Type especially – his design featured the sort of soft, flowing curves that made the model so famous.
But an overly complicated
