They are amazing cars, so versatile... Mine is the best long-distance cruiser or a very sharp (for 1750kgs!) spors car! Would you go coupe or Volante? I really do think the Volante gives the best of both worlds and would be a good foil to the 550. The car is so absurdly stiff as a coupe that even chopping the roof off kept it as the stiffest cabrio ever made. Suspension, throttle response, can all be dialled up for the same sort of money as a 4200/QP. And of course you have heard one with a sports exhaust
Have seen a sports pack manual coupe for £50k recently, also another manual Volante, rare but one comes up once or twice a year. Looking forward to chatting about it on Sunday!
You need to have a drive in mine ASAP, that will make your mind up even further. Rick at DMS (the Aston equivalent of Emblem) recently posted on Pistonheads mine is the best DB9 he's ever driven - H&R springs, his own personal geo settings developed for Works Service, lowered 25mm and spacered 15/20mm transformed the handling. The cost of that 'handling', about £1500, it will outrun most things now and feel safe doing so, that's the important part.