by David Finlay (21 Jun 03)

Within Aston Martin it's referred to as "the small car", but these things are relative. When the new V8 Vantage (pictured below) goes on sale in 2005, it will be aimed at customers who might otherwise consider a Porsche 911. Not exactly a people's car, then. On the other hand, the company forecasts that it will cause a doubling in annual sales figures from 2500 to around 5000.

Five thousand a year! This is approaching mass production. Aston Martin has never built anything like as many cars in as short a period. Let's not forget that this is the same firm whose factory, from the beginning to the end of 1992, emitted just 43 new machines.

It was one of many crisis periods in the company's history. Ford already owned three-quarters of the shares, but was two years away from buying the rest. Two years away, also, from introducing the DB7, the car which to all intents and purposes saved the firm.

But there had been other moments of anguish too. What is now Aston Martin began as Bamford and Martin Limited back in 1913, when Robert Bamford and Lionel Martin went into business with the idea of selling - and race-preparing - Singers. The change of name happened a year later, and the reason for it is sometimes misunderstood. The "Aston" part of the title refers not to the village of Aston Clinton but to the nearby Aston Hill, which in those days was a popular hillclimb venue, where Lionel Martin competed with considerable success.

Half each of the hillclimb's name and that of the company's lead driver were used to create the new title. Another year on, the first road-going Aston Martin was registered, and works competition cars began to appear in 1921.

Often On The Brink

The first major calamity took place in 1925, when Aston Martin was briefly forced to close. It reopened the following year under new ownership, having embarked on a cycle of enthusiastic ownership and financial disaster which continued for most of the 20th century.

It's difficult to avoid the conclusion that Aston Martin survived because people wanted it to rather than because it made any financial sense for it to do so. Part of the reason is that, during its sporadic periods of health, the company kept on adding to its own heritage with landmark road cars and equally landmark motorsport achievements. It is still a major deal, for example, that in 1959 Aston Martin won both the Le Mans 24-Hour Race and the World Sports Car Championship with the DBR1.

And it helps that, with only a few exceptions, Aston Martin has generally built very beautiful cars. Purists may shiver even yet at the American-influenced DBS of the late 1960s, but there can be no argument about the quality of design in the DB7 GT and Vanquish models which CARkeys drove recently at the Millbrook test centre, just a few miles away from the Newport Pagnell factory which has been the company's home since 1954.

Actually, although the Vanquish is built in Newport Pagnell, the DB7 isn't. It's constructed in a quaint rural setting near Bloxham, though not for much longer. A much bigger factory is being completed at Gaydon, on ground formerly used by Land Rover (shared ownership with Ford, you see). Newport Pagnell will continue to operate as before.

I'm not much of a fan of factory tours, but Newport Pagnell is definitely worth a look. There are no massive presses walloping sheets of metal into shape. Instead, skilled craftsmen take hours to fashion each individual wing and lid on jigs before passing them on to colleagues further down the line. From the first beat of the first hammer to the emissions test of the completed vehicle takes several weeks, and owners have been known to come along and lend a hand. In the near future, they will be able to watch how their cars are progressing thanks to a webcam system.

More Miles Later

There was no opportunity to drive either car on the road, so we're not going to publish a road test at this point. I mean, the very idea. We are, however, planning to spend a few days in at least one of them later this year. In the meantime, we can report on what the cars are like to drive on the various courses in the Millbrook complex.

Well, to start with, I can confirm that within three-quarters of a mile a Vanquish will accelerate from rest to 150mph - my personal speed record, if you're interested. And the DB7 GT will haul itself all the way from 40mph to 130mph in fourth gear without the slightest complaint. Impressive stuff, though frankly this is the sort of thing one would expect of such cars in this day and age.

The Vanquish had Aston's F1-style electronically-controlled manual gearbox, in which you change gears by pulling on paddles behind the steering wheel. Not my favourite method of going about the job, but it does mean you don't strain the muscles in your left leg as you try to operate the clutch pedal (which, in the DB7 GT, is monstrously heavy).

Various clever tricks are incorporated in the system, including a slippery-surface mode which forces the box to change up at little over 3000rpm, and a 0.2-second gearchange which only comes into play if you press the correct button and keep revving beyond 6500rpm. This is quite an impressive toy, though since the change from third to fourth can't happen below 110mph I'm not sure of the relevance.

I had more fun on Millbrook's Handling and Hill courses, where both cars showed themselves to be surprisingly nimble. The steering in each case is very light (another reason to complain of the heavy clutch in the DB7 GT) and you're not conscious of how heavy these cars are unless you really push hard.

Factory Visit Shows Why

When you do, you're aware of something that can be seen two-thirds of the way through the Newport Pagnell production process. At this stage the bare Vanquish bodyshell is placed over most of the drivetrain. The latter consists of the engine and gearbox (supplied complete by Cosworth Technology, though their manufacture will be brought in-house to a dedicated plant in Cologne within the next two years) plus the suspension and the back axle. Not, however, the propshaft, which has to be fitted inside the shell.

This semi-finished drivetrain accounts for 62% of the total weight. That's an awful lot of metal - the engine on its own is colossal - and it's easy to imagine just how much this mass will dominate the handling. Easy to feel it, too, when your enthusiasm threatens to overcome your wisdom on a test track.

Still, I doubt that this will affect most owners (though those who want to explore the territory can also go to Millbrook for professional coaching). The more important factors, as I'm confident a proper road test will demonstrate, are the feeling of immense quality, the refinement, and the unleashing of spectacular ability as and when it is needed or wanted.

Just as important are the sharing of the heritage and the feeling of being part of this often troubled but still evocative company. Individual dealers can service cars, of course, but many owners want this to be done in Newport Pagnell. This can make a visit to the service centre quite an experience in itself.

On the day I was there, cars lined up for refettling included 2 VEV (the racing car caught in a fabulous photograph as Graham Hill slid it round Goodwood at incredible angles), the unique Bertone-bodied car created for John Tojeiro, and the Zagato which Rowan Atkinson races in club events. In a nearby building sit other famous cars including the DB6 owned by Paul McCartney, who reputedly recorded an improvised ditty which later became the Beatles hit Hey, Jude while sitting at the wheel.

So much for the past. The future seems to be assured by Ford's ownership, which has led to other companies in the group lending a hand. Mazda, for example, assists with developing air-con systems, Volvo provides crash test expertise and Ford itself supplies engine calibration, materials and the potential use of up to 35,000 engineers.

The new Vantage should take Aston Martin to a new level of volume. The engine is large and placed at the front, the driven wheels at the rear. There is no likelihood of forced induction, or all-wheel drive, or a mid-engined layout. Suggestions that a diesel option might become available were met with a pained stare and a short "no". Lagonda, which has been part of the company since the David Brown era, might make a comeback, but probably not for a while yet - a return to motorsport is likely to happen sooner, though again there are no immediate plans.

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