Indholdsfortegnelse for Issue 11 i Aston Martin Driver

WITH THE introduction of the DB12, a highly successful season in Formula 1 (see Motorsport, p80) plus confirmation the Valkyrie supercar is to enter international endurance racing from 2025 onwards, 2023 really was a positive year for Aston Martin. But as I put this issue together it was made clear to me there’s been too few of those in its 111-year history. From going bankrupt in late 1974 before being saved by a consortium led by Peter J. Sprague (see more on p46) to being offloaded by Ford during 2007, it’s obvious Aston Martin’s past has been chequered to say the least. Yet something else was obvious too; no matter what the company was going through at the time, the cars it has produced have always been nothing short of…

Aston Martin has announced that Joseph Loake is the 2023 Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award winner. The 18-year-old Briton from Macclesfield was awarded the most prestigious honour in junior motorsport during the gala Autosport Awards ceremony held at the Grosvenor House Hotel, on London’s Park Lane, on Sunday 3 December. Loake, who was a GB3 Championship race winner and consistent front-runner in 2023, earns a test in an Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team car on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit. He also received a cheque for £200,000 on the night plus a full membership to the BRDC. To win the Award, Loake had to outshine three other outstanding finalists in what was considered one of the most closely contested shoot-outs in the Award’s…

WHAT WOULD you say to owning a second-hand GT-styled supercar with 460-520bhp at the flywheel of a 5,935cc V12 engine mated to a six-speed automated manual gearbox (with paddle shifts) that will hit 60mph from stationary in under five seconds and goes on to a maximum speed of 190mph or more? And all for around £50k or more. Manufactured between 2001 and 2007, the V12 Vanquish and the V12 Vanquish S (introduced in September 2004) had a reasonably short production life with a mere 2,588 sales. The reason for such a low volume wasn’t down to poor demand, but as Guy Jenner who’s the CEO of HWM Aston Martin explains, “In a world of higher volume supercars, Aston Martin continued their tradition of intensely handcrafted cars. V12 Vanquish had a…

OTHER THAN hopefully staying safe, how did you pass the many Covid-19 lockdowns during 2020 and 2021? Bake endless banana breads? Learn to play the ukulele? Or, like me, try to take up cycling? Not John McGurk. He and the team at Warwickshire-based Aston Martin specialist McGurk Performance Cars spent their time restoring a DB5. “Any restoration is a challenge,” says John now, “but to return a car to such immaculate condition while the rest of the world stopped turning is testament to the dedication and passion of all of those involved.” The car, a Californian Sage coupe in left-hand drive with a four-speed manual ‘box, rolled off Aston’s Newport Pagnell factory in 1963 making it a reasonably early example. It was immediately exported to the US and delivered to…

A British specialist in transforming classic cars into electric vehicles, Lunaz, has announced a concept for an electric-powered DB6 with an interior that features eco-friendly materials. While the concept is currently a design study, all the innovations are production-ready, many of which have already been used on previous classic cars electrified by Lunaz which include a Jaguar XK120. Like all classic cars upcycled by Lunaz, the concept includes the company’s proprietary modular electric powertrain, developed entirely in-house and comprising the highest standard European-sourced Tier 1 OEM battery cells and motors. All current Lunaz vehicles’ battery capacity ranges from 80-120 kWh with Combined Charging System (CCS) fast-charging capability, a 255-mile range and 375bhp. The dashboard face, gear shifter and three-quarter glass handle are then finished in a unique, biodegradable composite material,…

Not only did the Aston Martin Formula 1 team enjoy a double points finish at the Las Vegas Grand Prix in November 2023, but the supercar of SUVs, the DBX707, took centre stage of the entertainment capital of the world. Thrilling fans with its unrivalled performance, the DBX707 lit up the Las Vegas Strip Circuit on the Saturday with an exclusive track takeover ahead of the first Las Vegas Grand Prix in 41 years. The DBX707’s display on the track was only matched by an accompanying 15-minute spectacle on Sphere’s Exosphere – the largest LED screen on Earth. Seeking to convey the intense sensations being experienced on track in DBX707, the immersive content featured real biometric visualisations of drivers experiencing the intensity of driving an Aston Martin at full performance,…

Note from editor  It couldn’t be easier to sign up for a whole 2 years of Aston Martin cars with a subscription to Aston Martin Driver, the magazine which loves our special cars just as much as you do. Join the Aston Martin Driver family and you’ll be part of the ever-growing community who love everything to do with our wonderful classic cars. Guarantee your copy every month have each issue delivered directly – while saving on the cover price with this great offer. 4 GREAT REASONS TO SUBSCRIBE 1 SAVE money on the shop price 2 FREE Meguiar’s car cleaning kit worth £99 3 DIRECT delivery to your door  4 Cancel at any time PLUS: RECEIVE A FREE MEGUIAR’S CAR CLEANING KIT Supreme Shine Microfibre-3 Pack The ultimate wipe…

DESPITE THEIR relative simplicity, it took a surprisingly long time before some highly successful products were developed. Take wheeled suitcases for example. Although neither part was a new idea, it wasn’t that a year after Neil Armstrong had stood on the Moon tat someone finally brought wheels and luggage together. Plus, knives and bread might both be centuries old, but it was as recently as 1928 that the pre-sliced loaf finally arrived. And then there’s the V8 Volante. The car it was based on, the DBS, might have arrived in 1967 and Aston Martin had previously produced convertible versions of its earlier models, but it was still the late Seventies when the company finally chopped the roof off th V8 saloon. But when it did, the result was one of…

ISSUE 10 COVER STORY Aston Martin Lagonda INSIDE DB2 Vantage, DB4 prototype, Rapide vs Bentley, Virage buying guide ISSUE 9 COVER STORY DB12 first drive INSIDE V8 Vantage X-Pack, Prodrive V8 Vantage, Zagato Vanquish Speedster ISSUE 8 COVER STORY DB5 at 60 INSIDE DB5 V8, DB5 vs Bristol 408, V8 Vantage buying guide, Vantage V600 ISSUE 7 COVER STORY 75 years of DB INSIDE DB4 at 65, Vanquish, DB7 buying guide, Ian Callum biog, V8 Evolution ISSUE 6 COVER STORY DB7 at 30 INSIDE V8 Oscar India, DB2/4 by Vignale, DB6 drive story, DBS buying guide ISSUE 5 COVER STORY Vantage & DB9 INSIDE Victor, DB MkIII, DB7 vs BMW 840Ci, V8 Volante Prince of Wales ISSUE 4 COVER STORY Virage 5.3 INSIDE Lagonda 2.6 show car, DB7 drive story,…

YOU DON’T stumble upon your heritage,” said the late musician Robbie Robertson once. “It’s there, just waiting to be explored and shared.” That’s certainly been the philosophy of the Aston Martin Heritage Trust for the past 25 years. With its remit to educate about the company’s long history, it makes the AMHT more than just a museum, but an active organisation involved with all aspects of Aston Martin’s past. “I think we’re a heritage centre, a resource centre, a knowledge centre and an educational centre that just happens to have a few cars,” Garry Taylor, the AMHT’s treasurer who is also one of its ten trustees, tells me. “We are here for all things about Aston Martin’s heritage and not just a museum, which is totally different.” The AMHT was…

Aston Martin and British bicycle manufacturer J.Laverack have come together to create a road bicycle; the J. Laverack Aston Martin .1R. Developed with input from high-performance automotive designers, the .1R is said to be the most bespoke, most advanced and most engineered bicycle ever created featuring a number of world firsts. To begin with, the J.Laverack Aston Martin .1R uses a fusion of parametrically designed, 3D-printed titanium lugs plus sculpted carbon fibre tubes. This ensures a frame that not only delivers an exceptional blend of response and comfort, but also sets new standards of elegance and beauty on two wheels. The saddle is from a British company, Brooks, and has been specifically commissioned for the .1R. Each seat can be trimmed in the owner’s choice of leather or Alcantara and…

IT’S A larger, harder and more complicated question than deciding which restaurant to eat at and whether to have a starter or leave room for dessert. If you’re looking for a handsome, powerful and now affordable Aston Martin, which should you choose out of a late DB7 Vantage 5.9 or an early V8 Vantage 4.3? With both being handsome, powerful and now highly sought-after modern classics, they have much in common. Yet their biggest similarity is price since they are now both worth between £25,000 and £35,000. But coming from separate eras in Aston Martin’s history and powered by very different engines, in terms of their history and personality, they’re equally poles apart. So like studying the menu, we drive an example of both to try and decide which one…

WITH JUST 15 produced between 1948 and 1950, there’s no such thing as an ‘ordinary’ Aston Martin 2-Litre Sports. Due to so few made, each one is unique with its own traceable history. But as the only example to have been sold minus a body and later updated with a larger engine, even by the standards of its siblings, car number eight is something special. The 2-Litre Sports was a development of the Atom, a prototype saloon that had been designed by Aston’s chief engineer Claude Hill and built between 1939 and 1940. How well it drove was one of the main reasons why (Sir) David Brown bought the company in 1947. “I decided to try the Atom and took it home and put it through its paces over the…

START WIDE, expand further, and never look back,” was the advice the former bodybuilder turned actor Arnold Schwarzenegger once gave. This was certainly Aston Martin’s approach when it designed a wider style of body update for the already sizeable Virage. Developed for a 6.3-litre version of the V8, the combination made the car much more aggressive. Yet a tiny handful of owners specified the body revisions but kept the standard running gear resulting in a rare and unusual model. These upgrades were to answer criticisms that, in terms of performance and looks, the Virage fell short of its still popular AMV8 Vantage predecessor. “We became aware that customers were coming to us saying that they needed more power and wanting to know how performance could be improved,” says the company’s…

THE BARE statistics of the 2023 Formula 1 season might well demonstrate that Aston Martin finished fifth in the constructors’ table, a result which marks the Lawrence Stroll-owned team’s best performance since it reentered F1 as a bespoke brand in 2021. What they don’t show was the giant progress made by the squad over the last 12 months. And it could have been more too as the outfit only missed out on fourth in the makes’ battle in the dying throes of the 22-race campaign. The ambition of Aston Martin was clear to see from the outside and there were two statement moves which demonstrated this which began to take effect in the build-up to 2023. The first was the completion of plans to build an all-singing, all-dancing, purpose-built new…