To mark its 60th anniversary, Aston Martin Works is building six bespoke cars based on the current Vanquish, each of which will reflect the achievements of the firm during one of its six decades.
Aston Martin Works was the Newport Pagnell factory that between 1955 and 2007 oversaw everything from the development of the DB2 and legendary DB5 to the space-age Lagonda and the original Vanquish.
And although the company has now moved production to a state-of-the-art facility in Gaydon, the Works site lives on as a global heritage restoration facility, able to bring back to concourse condition any Aston built over the last 101 years.
In order to celebrate the facility's diamond jubilee and to underline its role in the story of the Aston Martin brand, six bespoke cars are being built and the first is based on the Vanquish Volante convertible but with several unique details.
The bespoke elements begin with the exterior paint color, developed specifically for the anniversary car as are the yellow side vents and wheel design and colored detailing.
Inside, each car will get special sill details that will highlight achievements relating to the decade in question and a special anniversary logo embroidered into the rear seats.
Special paint treatments, trims and details are nothing new when it comes to adding bespoke touches to an already rare car, but with the anniversary editions, Aston Martin is dialing things up a notch; literally. The rotaries around the major control knobs embedded in the car's center console have been made by melting down the pistons from classic Aston Martins.
The idea is that every time the driver adjusts the air conditioning they're touching history. The aluminum pistons that have been melted down, recast and milled for the six special editions have been sourced from a DB2/4 Mr II Saloon, a DB5, a V8 Coupe, a V8 Vantage X-Pack, a supercharged V8 Vantage and the original Vantage. In other words, the most important vehicle to roll out of the Newport Pagnall plant in any of its six given decades.
"We certainly gave ourselves some challenges with this project. Colored 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," Aston Martin Works Commercial Director, Paul Spires, said. "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."
Each lucky owner is likely to keep their prized possession mothballed to ensure its condition, but that would be a shame because, away from the bespoke elements, the Anniversary Edition Vanquish Volante is just as potent as the standard model with the same 6-liter V12 engine and the same 200mph+ top speed.
As for the remaining cars in the series, they will be unveiled, one by one over the course of 2015.
Source: Relaxnews