‘Pristine’ Aston Martin supercar owned by Jamiroquai's Jay Kay set for auction

A rare Aston Martin once owned by Jay Kay from Jamiroquai is set to turn 'petrolheads' when it goes under the hammer at auction this weekend.

The jet black Aston Martin V8 Vantage X Pack – believed to be one of just 95 ever built – is estimated to set a lucky bidder back between £355,000 to £400,000.

It is being sold by Iver-based Historics Auctioneers at the Ascot Racecourse Pace of Autum event on Saturday (September 14).

Mathew Priddy, head of auctions at Historics, said the X Pack was a ‘pristine’ example of a vehicle offering ‘cross over between a rare car, provenance and quality’.

“The X Pack is a sort of suped-up GT convertible that Aston Martin made,” he added. “It genuinely is a very powerful car.

“This one is tight. It feels new. it gives you a real feel of what a top-end 1990s sports car is like.”

'Suped-up': the interior of the Aston Martin X Pack

Jay Kay, frontman of 90s chart-topping disco-pop outfit Jamiroquai, sold the car to another private collector last year.

Discussing the famous connection, Mathew said: “It does mean it attracts more attention.

“I would say the value is probably still more in the car and its rarity, but having an owner like Jay Kay just gives it that little boost.”

The 1990 Aston Martin has just 37,594 miles on the clock and packs 432 brake horsepower.

Several ‘high value individuals’ had shown an interest but Mathew said there was more interest in the car itself, as opposed the connection with its former owner.

“When they produced the X Packs they increased the power giving it near supercar performance of its time,” he said.

“They also flared the [wheel] arches - made it much more aggressive - and for that reason it was incredibly popular for its time, but also very expensive.

“Those are two ingredients that resonate as we get further into cars being classics.”

Historics sells more than 500 vehicles at auction throughout the year.

And lots like the Aston Martin, Mathew said, were in the ‘top five per cent’ of its sales in terms of the quality of the car.

The firm sold an eye-catching 1972 red Ferrari Dino for nearly £300,000 earlier this year, as well as a ‘gullwing’ 1957 Mercedes Benz 300 SL Roadster for a cool £1,000,065.

Historics has also sold several Jaguars with connections to Royals King Charles III and the late Queen Elizabeth II.

“We [had to] ultimately track down, trace and chase to bring it [the Aston Martin] to public auction because [cars like this] they have that recipe,” he said.

“One of our consigners was aware of the client who owned it. He knew about the purchase direct from Jay Kay and - prior to this auction - he decided to see if he was ready to sell it from his collection.”  

Mathew said the seller was ‘reticent’ at first but ‘with some gentle persuasion’ was convinced to offer it up for auction.

For more information on the Aston Martin visit https://www.historics.co.uk/auction/lot/106-1990-aston-martin-v8-vantage-x-pack/?lot=16901

Pre-auction viewings are available for interested bidders.