I think I've made it pretty clear over the years that right now my favorite car company is Aston Martin. While there's no question it is far from the perfect auto builder, what I do love is the attention to detail and the way they drive.
There's no question you can get exotica with better technology and probably better reliability, but there's something about the way Aston's vehicles look and the way they're built I just dig. The sound doesn't hurt either.
Aston Martin Works
You know when you hear one coming a mile down the road.
To celebrate the company's operations out of its Newport Pagnell facility, it has come together with its personalization division, Q, to build six bespoke Vanquishes to represent each decade. If you were expecting mechanical modifications or a completely new model, sorry to let you down.
The Aston photographed below features exclusive paint, trim and special wide weave carbon fiber. In addition, you'll note the unique application of color that hasn't been done before — at least from what I've seen. For Aston though the big news is how it made sure to bring its old cars along for the ride. This is the stuff of car geekdom.
It used the pistons from cars built at the facility to create the vehicle's center stack controls. Like I said, super geeky stuff.
To learn MORE about the all-new limited edition Vanquishes, check out the press release below.
Aston Martin Works
Aston Martin's press release follows:
ASTON MARTIN WORKS 60TH ANNIVERSARY LIMITED EDITION VANQUISH
- Six bespoke models celebrate Aston Martin Works' 60th anniversary
- Cars incorporate aluminium from Aston Martin pistons of relevant eras
- Unique colour and trim treatments ensure ultimate exclusivity
Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire: Aston Martin Works – which marks its diamond jubilee in 2015 – is celebrating 60 glorious years at Newport Pagnell with the commissioning of six limited edition sports cars.
The first of the cars is being revealed today, Friday December 12, at the Buckinghamshire-based firm's customer Christmas celebration, which also forms the start of 12 months of exciting anniversary activity at Aston Martin Works.
The six bespoke cars, all versions of the current Vanquish super GT in either Coupe or Volante form, are being created in association with the luxury British brand's Gaydon-based design team, and its ultimate personalisation service: Q by Aston Martin.
Each of the six cars is subtly different, and each is tailored to reflect one of the six decades being celebrated. The result is a collection of rare and ultra-desirable sports cars that will be instantly recognisable as 'Works 60th Anniversary' models.
A number of elements distinguish the Anniversary cars including trim and paint colour treatments. But, perhaps, the most emotive part of each car comes in the form of a fine detail: bespoke rotaries around the major controls in the centre console of each Vanquish.
Each rotary has been cast from metal that, previously, had formed a piston in an Aston Martin engine of the relevant period. These rotaries are then carefully laser etched with Works' Anniversary wording.
The six pistons have been drawn from engines in the following Newport Pagnell-built sports cars:
1955-1965: DB 2/4 Mk II saloon
1965-1975: DB5
1975-1985: V8 Coupe
1985-1995: V8 Vantage X-pack
1995-2005: V8 Vantage supercharged
2005-2015: Original Vanquish
In each case, the relevant piston has been sourced from an engine that has been rebuilt or reworked at some point in its life.
Design direction for the Works Anniversary cars came from the Aston Martin Design team, led by Chief Creative Officer Marek Reichman, while the bespoke elements of each car's construction have been delivered by the Q by Aston Martin personalisation team at the brand's Gaydon factory.
Aston Martin Works Commercial Director, Paul Spires, explained: "This project has been a harmonious co-operation across the whole business, developed uniquely to celebrate 60 years of Aston Martin Works at Newport Pagnell.
"I'm thrilled to be unveiling the first of these cars at our Christmas celebration, and look forward to seeing the remaining models being built and delivered to customers throughout the course of our anniversary year in 2015."
Collectors' items
The process of creating the bespoke Aston Martin Works 60th Anniversary Limited Edition Vanquish models began way back in July of this year, as the Works team met with designers from Aston Martin's Gaydon HQ to scope out their plans.
Working closely with Marek Reichman and his team, and the brand's bespoke personalisation branch – Q by Aston Martin – the Works staff carefully developed and refined their ideas for the ultimate 60th anniversary collectors' item cars.
Dr Matthew Bennett, General Manager of VIP and Q by Aston Martin Sales at Gaydon, said: "The colours of these six unique cars have been very carefully chosen to reflect and celebrate the progress of Aston Martin Works over those six decades.
"Celebrating the past, but pointing very much toward a bright and exciting future, too, these Vanquish models will, I'm sure, very quickly become a notable feature of the brand's history at Newport Pagnell."
Instantly identifiable as Works Anniversary cars by features such as their Anniversary Yellow side strakes and alloy wheels, the six Vanquish also feature the new Aston Martin Works 60th Anniversary logo which, like the cars' colour schemes, has been designed by the team at Gaydon. The vibrant and distinctive logos are etched into each car's sill plates.
Paul Spires added: "We certainly gave ourselves some challenges with this project. Coloured side strakes such as these have never been attempted by Aston Martin before, and sourcing pistons from the correct engines in the correct decades was, of course, no small feat either."
"However, we're all very happy with the end result and we've already taken a number of orders from collectors keen to own a piece of the brand's history."
Unique features in the Anniversary cars include: rotaries made from worked metal of a heritage model piston from the relevant era; distinctive Anniversary Yellow accents on the side strakes and alloy wheels; White/black Duotone seat centre panels; unique sill plaques depicting the era the car relates to and featuring the Works Anniversary logo; distinctive colour and trim treatments that include features such as contrast yellow stitching in the leather, and new heavy weave carbon fibre.
The cars of course retain the standard technical features of the Vanquish super GT such as its 6.0-litre V12 petrol engine mated in a pioneering transaxle layout to the latest generation Touchtronic III eight-speed automatic gearbox. This provides the Vanquish with genuinely spirited performance: the 0-60mph time is a mere 3.6 seconds and the maximum speed tops 200mph.
Prices for the six cars are available on application at Aston Martin Works.
Aston Martin Works
