Índex per Issue 13 a Vantage

UNLESS YOU’RE LIVING stateside, you probably won’t have seen this car before. Built for the north American market only, the 190mph vantage GT is the Us equivalent of the UK-market n430, with a pared-down specification that keeps the starting price under $100,000. Does it suffer for being the cheapest Aston that dollars can buy? not at all. in fact, the vantage is arguably at its best when the deliciously raucous 430bhp 4.7-litre v8 is mated to the six-speed manual transmission rather than to the pricier (by $5000) and rather clunky sportshift automated manual. In manual guise, the GT feels like the last of the great British sports cars. it’s the most analogue of any of the current Astons, and arguably of any GT currently on the market, and with that…

AS THE WORLD’S MEDIA has doubtless made you aware, at its rétromobile sale in February, artcurial hammered a red italian thing (it’s always a red italian thing; this one, more specifically, was a 1957 Ferrari 335 sport) for €32,075,200, setting a new record for an auction car in euro and sterling terms. Just as much ink has been spilled writing about all the cars that have performed less spectacularly at the block in the past three months. so what is the reality of the market at the moment? and, most importantly, how are astons faring? Results from rétromobile and the annual frenzy of activity across the pond in scottsdale seem to suggest that the market is finally cooling off (consolidating, if you prefer) at the top end. some estimates arrived…

So this is it. The moment we’ve all been waiting for: our first look at the new DB11. Not since the DB9, more than a decade ago, has a new Aston carried the weight of so much anticipation and expectation. The first fruit of the so-called ‘Second Century’ plan, DB11 is the car to break the period of stasis in which Aston Martin has survived by garnishing its staple dishes with increased performance and upgraded equipment levels. It’s been a challenging time for all concerned, but now the eagerly awaited new model is here and there’s plenty to shout about. Things like it being the fastest, most powerful and most fuel-efficient ‘DB’ road car ever. Thanks to the technical partnership with Daimler, it’s the most advanced, too, with much-improved (and…

‘It never feels unwieldy but you are always conscious of that extra length in the wheelbase’ Funny how attitudes change. Twenty years ago, car companies didn’t pay much attention to their heritage. A colleague on this very magazine, who back then was editing the customer mag for a well-known French car maker – a company renowned for its revolutionary, iconic designs – was forbidden from even mentioning its former classics, on the ludicrous pretext that ‘we look to the future, not the past’. Thankfully, that arrogant attitude is long gone, and manufacturers these days are only too eager to trade on their previous glories. But it’s still rare for a modern car company to launch a new car that is a deliberate homage to a past model, as opposed to…

‘I’M PRETTY SURE these weren’t like this.’ Jamie Boot is pointing a mildly accusatory finger at the metal spar on one of the DBS’s wing vents. He’s right, too. The original spars carried the legend ‘Aston Martin V8 DBS’, whereas these say ‘Aston Martin FI DBS’ (the ‘FI’ standing for fuel injection). Jamie clearly has a keen eye for detail, not to mention an astonishingly good memory; this is the first time he’s seen the Aston in more than 40 years. Current owner Steve Prevett is suitably impressed. He confirms that he picked up the spars at a sale of Aston automobilia. ‘They’re genuine period Aston items,’ he says, ‘but they never made it onto the production cars. I also picked up some driving lamps, as originally fitted. They’ll be…

MALDON IN ESSEX ISN’T QUITE MECCA, but, if you really love classic cars, this is about as close as you’ll get. Maldon is home to JD Classics, and even if you don’t have a car in one of its workshops, or a project undergoing restoration in its bodyshop, even if there’s nothing that takes your eye in one of its eight – yes eight – showrooms (unlikely), you simply have to find an excuse to visit. You won’t regret it, though your other half might. Astons are only one facet, of course, although they’re an important and rapidly expanding part of the business. So you’ll find yourself face to face with classic Jaguars and Ferraris too, as well as the odd 1980s BTCC car, but we’d like to think Vantage…

WE MIGHT BE A LITTLE BIASED, but in our humble opinion the V8 Vantage has long been the most handsome car in the World endurance Championship’s gte category. One of the quickest, too, with class podiums at le mans since the gte class was introduced in 2012. However, the front-engined Vantage found itself increasingly under pressure from the mid- and rear-engined Ferrari 458s and Porsche 911s last season. For 2016, that battle is set to intensify with the arrival of the spectacular Ford gt. another mid-engined machine, it is the most extreme interpretation of the production-based gte regs yet, and – interestingly – the work of a team headed by former Prodrive and aston martin Racing man george howard-Chappell. Thanks to a series of changes in the regulations for 2016,…

For many Aston Martin aficionados, it’s the Zagatobodied GT that’s the most seductive of all the DB4s. It’s certainly the most glamorous and, of course, the rarest and consequently the most valuable. But unthinkable though it is to imagine looking the siren-like Zagato in the headlights and resisting its beguiling charms, I have to confess it’s the earlier DB4 GT that’s always had me under its spell. Maybe that’s because it’s the less obvious choice. Perhaps it’s because the shortened Touring bodywork placed its emphasis on function – albeit perfectly proportioned – over Ercole Spada’s more indulgent, sculptural swoops. Whatever ‘it’ is, there’s a deliciously pugilistic aura about the GT. Something about its stance and squat form that betrays its purpose as a no-nonsense road-racer. A dagger to Zagato’s sabre.…

One kilogram. That’s how much weight you add to a Lagonda Taraf if you go YOLO and tick the precious metal options for badges and brightwork. Available in solid sterling silver, solid rose gold or solid 18ct gold, all the badges carry the official Aston Martin hallmark. At current gold prices, that’s not far off £25,000 in raw materials alone. And that’s before Aston Martin Lagonda’s trusted badge-makers, Vaughtons, work their magic to turn ingots of precious metal into exquisitely detailed automotive jewellery. Aside from the styling, which is clearly referential, solid gold detailing is one of the Taraf’s few nods to its fabulous forebear, the iconic (or should that be ironic?) ‘wedge’ penned by William Towns using his trusty ruler. With Lagonda’s recent brand image rooted as firmly in…

THE EARLY 1970s weren’t the best of times for aston Martin. the David Brown era had ended when Sir David sold up in 1972, and new owners Company holdings were, by their own admission, ‘not car people’. as if to confirm their lack of empathy, when the DBS V8 was relaunched under the new regime, it was to be known simply as the aston Martin V8, the ‘DB’ part having been dropped ‘for marketing reasons’. Doh. To be fair, boss William Willson and his team kept the factory open at a time when political and economic forces were conspiring against makers of expensive high-performance motor cars. But at the end of 1974 they were finally forced to throw in the towel, the company went into receivership and the factory closed.…

ASTON MARTIN RACING’S twelfth season of competition is shaping up to be its most exciting yet. With a revised V8 Vantage GtE sporting an all-new aero package, an exclusive tyre partnership with Dunlop, dynamic new driver line-ups and a classy new colour scheme to suit a fresh group of title sponsors, no-one could accuse the crack Banbury-based squad of losing its hunger for success. Which is just as well given the strength of the opposition in GtE PRo, with the might of Ferrari (with its new turbocharged 488) and Porsche being joined by Ford and its incredible-looking Gt supercar. Indeed it’s Ford’s arrival that has prompted at least part of AMR’s driver reshuffle, the defection of Stefan Mücke bringing his long-term racing partnership with Darren turner to an end. For…

email us eds@vantagemag.co.uk write to us Vantage Magazine, 5 Tower Court, Irchester Road, Wollaston, Northants NN29 7PJ The name’s Woodhouse… Following your Bond Astons special (Vantage issue 12), I thought your readers might be interested in the attached photo and the story behind it. I was the service depot manager at the Newport Pagnell factory at the time, and the photo came about when I got an urgent telephone call from Steve Heggie, the new managing director of Aston Martin Lagonda, to drop everything and get the Goldfinger DB5 down to Hyde Park as fast as I could, as pre-premiere publicity photographs were needed. The photograph was taken by Barratt’s Photopress Ltd, of 20/21 Red Lion Court, Fleet Street on September 14, 1964. Having duly met up with the photographer…

WHEN THE BRILLIANT DB4 was first revealed at the Paris motor show in September 1958, Marcel Blondeau, the French importer, famously implored Aston Martin to make a more ‘sporty’ version, one that might excel on the track as well as the road. General manager John Wyer replied that they would be happy to oblige. In fact, such a car was already under way. The DB4 was itself, of course, a huge leap forward for Aston Martin: an all-new car built in-house in its entirety. As a road car, it could stand toe-to-toe with the greatest of the era. But it wasn’t a racing car, and racing was deep in the blood of Aston Martin in the late 1950s. By 1958 the company’s sports prototypes had for some years been among…

Aston Martin’s ‘Project cars’ have always had an aura about them. Emerging from Aston’s hallowed inner sanctums at Feltham and Newport Pagnell, they included those fabulous Le Mans racers, DP212, DP214 and DP215. They also included an even smaller number of machines built for both road and track. The first was the DB4 GT prototype, DP199. The last was the car you see here, DP2155. In fact DP2155 started life as a well-used DB4 and its reincarnation as a Design Project car didn’t begin until the early 1990s. But while it may not have the period racing provenance of its forebears, it too was designed from the outset with competition very much in mind, while being equally suitable for road or track. Project 2155 is also very much a car…

Mike Loasby is in fine, combative form. ‘Some of the things I see in the press make me so cross,’ he opens. ‘There was a piece on the Lagonda in one of the magazines, can’t remember which one, and the journalist wrote that underneath the bodywork it was just an Aston V8. ‘Now that’s interesting, because I was chief engineer at the time and I can tell you that there were virtually no carry-over parts. Everything, apart from the gearbox, differential and the middle part of the engine, was new.’ To reinforce the point, he shows me a photo taken at an AML Christmas party from that period. ‘That’s Jess Line, who was chief draughtsman on the Lagonda, and that’s Laddie Bunker [surely a contender for the best name in…

So, we have an Aston Martin V12 Vantage S Roadster, a tankful of fuel and a fistful of dollars. Where to go? Everywhere! Where first? To The Rock Store! Not the most obvious of destinations, perhaps, when you’ve a 200mph, $200,000 sports car at your disposal for the day. But there’ll be time enough later to exercise its quad-cam 5.9-litre engine, and exorcise my devilish need for speed. Time enough, too, to visit some more conventional tourist sites. Before all of that, I want to seek out the legendary biker hangout that I first read about 35 years ago, when I was 12 years old. First, though, magazine reality hits: I have to collect photographer Evan Klein at 6am. So I stumble grumpily out of my scruffy hotel on Wilshire…