Innehållsförteckning för Issue 14 från Aston Martin Driver

AMAZINGLY, 2024 marked the 53rd appearance of an Aston Martin at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. That’s many more than most other winners including Bentley, Jaguar and Mercedes Benz. The influence Le Mans has had on its cars over the decades means the famous race has become part of the company’s DNA, arguably just as much as Newport Pagnell or Feltham. Aston Martin might have won the GT class several times over the last two decades, but its sole overall victory in 1959 remains the company’s greatest achievement. To celebrate the 65th anniversary of that success, our full length feature on page 30 explains how if it didn’t happen then, it never would. We also look at one of those race influenced cars I mentioned earlier, the magnificent Vantage…

As well as teas/coffees, cakes, bacon rolls plus a live band, it gives the company’s two directors, Jordan Holmes and Antony Jones, the opportunity to show the services it can offer their current plus potential clients. “We have been meaning to host a coffee/open morning for months however we just simply haven’t had the time,” said Quantum’s Jordan Holmes. “We have finally decided to organise one as a one-year anniversary from when we first opened our doors.” To learn more, head to www.quantumworksltd.com or call 01622 431177.…

THE 1959 Le Mans 24 Hours was the last roll of the dice for Aston Martin. Not only had the team failed to win this prestigious race after 11 previous attempts, but the company’s owner, the industrialist (Sir) David Brown, was wanting to concentrate on its burgeoning Formula 1 effort from 1960 onwards. Therefore, if it didn’t win in 1959, it never would. Although by finishing third in 1951 plus second in 1955, 1956 and 1958 it got close several times in the past, Aston Martin’s cars – the DB3, DB3S and DBR1 – never had the speed nor the reliability of the three-timewinning Jaguar D-type that had ruled endurance racing throughout the mid-Fifties. However, now in 3.0-litre form to meet regulations introduced in 1958, the once successful car was…

THERE WAS to be no fairy tale ending for the two Vantage GT3s at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans on the 65th anniversary of Aston Martin’s sole overall victory. Despite the still-new racing model showing genuine speed, a horrific accident brought the race of one of the two cars to a sudden and violent end while mixed weather hampered the other. The two Vantage LMGT3s were entered by a pair of independent teams, America’s Heart of Racing (27) plus D’Station Racing from Japan (777). Although this would be the Vantage GT3’s Le Mans debut, thanks to the combined experience of the two teams, there was still a high expectation beforehand that the car would fare well. “The 24 Hours of Le Mans is among the most iconic races…

The DBX707’s interior has received a series of comprehensive upgrades which include the adoption of Aston Martin’s state-of-the-art, in-house developed infotainment system plus a striking new cabin architecture design. Said Marco Mattiacci, Aston Martin’s global chief brand and commercial officer, “With its best-in-class performance and dynamics, world-class design and the highest levels of luxury, the DBX707 immediately established a new ultraluxury SUV benchmark. Now upgraded with state-of-the-art technology and a completely new interior the DBX707 moves the game on once more, further elevating the standard by which all competitors are judged.” Aston Martin’s next-generation infotainment system features a bespoke, fully integrated multi-screen system and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto plus full online connectivity supported by the Aston Martin customer app. The information is displayed on a 12.3in touchscreen –…

Aston Martin has created and patented an innovative perforating and quilting technique that produces decorative finishes and promotes the cooling function on its ultra-luxury leather seats. Supporting the ability for customers to create their own intimately personal car, Aston Martin’s proprietary manufacturing technology has enabled perforated holes to be crafted in bespoke patterns to a customer’s specific design, which is impossible with traditional tooling. “As a company with a commitment to innovation, we are incredibly proud to be honoured with this King’s Award for Enterprise, which celebrates both the ingenuity of our craftspeople and the quality of Aston Martin’s bespoke interiors,” said Lawrence Stroll, the company’s executive chairman. “Recognising our combination of handcraft and cutting-edge manufacturing technology, this award highlights the unique composition of our ultra-luxury interiors and how our…

AMR23 & VANTAGE SAFETY CAR MODELS Boys and girls aged nine years and older can now fulfil their Aston Martin F1 fantasies with this recently released two-car Lego set comprising last year’s Formula 1 car, the AMR23, plus a Vantage safety car. Two highly detailed models, the F1 car has a safety halo, rear wing and sponsors’ logos while the Vantage features a roof-mounted light bar, a lights control button sticker inside the cockpit and taillights. The set also comes with two Lego minifigures that fit into both cars. Price: £44.99 Website: www.lego.com RATCHET SET New from Sealey is this set of three ratchet drives for ¼in, 3/8in and ½in sockets. With 90 teeth inside each ratchet mechanism, only four degrees of movement is needed before you can continue tightening…

SYNCHRONICITY WAS the word given by the Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung in the late Twenties to describe the occurrence of meaningful coincidences that seem to have no cause or connection. The result of two different projects happening at the same time meant it was definitely synchronicity that was behind the magnificent Vantage Le Mans. A rare yet important limited edition, it paid homage to two important moments in Aston Martin’s history: its sole overall Le Mans victory and the end of the original V8 models. In the late Nineties, Aston Martin’s principal engineer for Special Vehicle Operations, Steve Bolton, was wanting to build a car based on the 600bhp upgrade for the Vantage (later called the V600), which he’d call the V200 after top speed the engineers had achieved in…

THE SEMI-automatic six-speed transmission fitted to the first generation of Vanquish is very much like Marmite. Some like it, others hate it. Personally, I can take it or leave it, which again is how I feel about the aforementioned yeast spread. One person who clearly hates it is a customer of Aston Workshop who instructed the established marque specialist to develop a way to make the transmission a traditional, old-fashioned manual ‘box complete with a gearlever instead of the original paddles. Although a complicated and timeconsuming modification to get right, the company has achieved this goal. Not only is the Vanquish now arguably easier to drive, but by giving the driver better control over the V12’s sizeable power, it makes it more of a genuine driver’s car too. Aston Martin…

IT’S NOT unusual for a car as beautiful and valuable as the DB6 to be surrounded by several ‘Please do not touch’ signs when parked in a dealer’s showroom. But instead of keeping this 1967 example free of grubby finger marks like they do for most cars, they’re to stop this one from becoming clean. After spending four decades in a shed, it is covered in a thick layer of dust which its current vendor, Aston Martin Works, is very protective of. Not only is the grime proof of it being a genuine barn find but also that it remains untouched. But if the dirt was to be washed away, what lies beneath is a totally original, one-family-owned and therefore potentially unique Aston Martin DB6 saloon. Chassis number 3244/R was…

WE ALL love Aston Martin, but its marketing doesn’t hold back on hype and hyperbole. The new Vantage, we are told, was ‘forged in the fires of the limit’ and ‘makes a stand for disenfranchised devotees of breathtaking power.’ That’s before you get to ‘tyres shooting traction into your ear canal’ (yes, really) or the car’s ability to ‘grip tarmac and send it running through every inch of aluminium, carbon and steel reverberating through your senses.’ Apologies if your eyes are already glazing over. The last line of the Vantage press release jolts me back to consciousness, though. A concise kicker, it says simply: ‘Engineered for real drivers.’ Now, I don’t claim to be any handier than the next man or woman behind the wheel. I’m not one of those…

THERE ARE plenty of cars in Aston Martin’s back catalogue that were influenced by the company’s long involvement in motorsport. The Vantage Le Mans in this issue and the GTE-based Vantage GT8 in the previous issue are just two examples. Yet these weren’t anything new. The 1934 Ulster is named after the cars that took part in that year’s Tourist Trophy held at the Ards Circuit outside Belfast. By having the same mechanical specification as the works cars, they have an even stronger link to Aston Martin’s competition cars than the aforementioned modern models. More often a two-seater like the works racing versions had been, a tiny handful were given a handsome four-seater body instead, cars like the 1934 example that’s been part of the Aston Martin Heritage Trust since…

The 92nd 24 Hours of Le Mans was always going to be a good one. Not only was the grid full of 62 cars, but thanks to the still-new Hypercar class, the overall winner wasn’t a foregone conclusion like in previous years. Ferrari, Porsche and Cadillac were all contenders while the French Alpine and Peugeot teams gave the locals something to support. Same with the GT3 class with Aston Martin taking on Chevrolet, BMW, Ferrari, Ford, McLaren and Porsche. As soon as the flag dropped at 4pm on the Saturday, it felt more like a sprint race than endurance with all cars in all classes flat out from the outset. Mix in often wet conditions – not always across the 8.5-mile-long track – and it resulted in some fabulous and…

BOB DOVER BIOGRAPHY As Aston Martin’s chairman between 1997 and 2000, Bob Dover (far left) was instrumental in the Vantage and Vanquish reaching production RAPIDE AMR With its spacious, four-seat interior but more powerful V12, is the Rapide AMR the ultimate Aston Martin from the last five years? SUBSCRIBE TODAY SEE PAGE 12…