One is a great British brand… the other is a great British brand, neither can claim to be British because one is owned by an Italian/Kuwaiti VC firm and the other is owned by a developing nation, who used to be owned by the British so by proxy (technically speaking) you can say Jaguar is British. At least the Indian’s won’t enslave its prize as the British did to its Indian subjects back in the days of the so-called British Raj which is a historical term coined to cover up civilized Christian terrorism enacted for King and country.

Both Aston Martin and Jaguar used to be owned by the E’mericans when under Ford ownership, during this period of occupation both brands were whipped and starved of any creativity. But credit where credit is due, and while we here at DCB Towers dislike Ford intensely, Ford didn’t starve and waterboard the Britishness out of Aston and Jaguar.

The Aston Martin V8 Vantage is based on the same platform as the DB11, a few minor changes are made, but its construction is all riveted and bonded with a mix of aluminim and carbon fiber.

The F-Type uses an aluminium monocoque chassis, again riveted and bonded, however, it’s a shortened version of the XK (remember that?) which makes the F-Type’s chassis over 12 years old.

This is where it gets interesting, the V8 Vantage uses a Mercedes AMG made 503bhp V8 twin-turbo. That’s German don’t you know.

Aston purists may spit and foam at the mouth at such a collaboration but such a collaboration has existed for some time. Don’t you know?

Aston’s previous engines were actually sourced from Ford’s German engine plant. So from a nationalistic point of view, Aston’s engine supplier is still ze-Germans.

Jaguar still uses Ford units for its V8 family of engines, the F-Type’s 5.0-litre supercharged V8 develops between 340 bhp and 550 bhp depending on model variant.

Now, we do prefer the Aston Martin V8 Vantage, but something was bugging me about it, it was as though I had seen it somewhere before.

And then, like a bolt of lightning, I was struck by how similar the exterior design of the V8 Vantage and the F-Type appear to be.

If the F-Type had a more pronounced rear spoiler built into the bodywork then it would look almost identical to the V8 Vantage.

The V8 Vantage was designed by British automotive designer Marek Reichman, the F-Type was designed by a Scots man.

So if you want to know what the future V8 Vantage convertible will look like, just take a look at the current F-Type convertible.