Yes, it was easy to criticise the DB7, but this Aston was one of the prettiest cars to come out of Britain in years – thank designer Ian Callum for that - and drove convincingly enough to deliver on the road. It utterly transformed the future for the famous Newport Pagnell marque, which by the end of the ‘80s needed the kind of rescue effort that would have needed the combined forces of James Bond, ‘M’ and ‘Q’ to mount (sorry, Miss Moneypenny) if extinction were to be averted. As Aston launches its new Vantage, it's time to look at the car that saved the company.