End of an era for Aston
Posted by Jason Barlow at 11:30AM on Friday 20 July, 2007 7 Comments
So it's close to midday on July 19, 2007, and the last Aston Martin to be made at Newport Pagnell has just rolled off the production line.
It's a stunning black special edition called the Ultimate.
How emotional you get at a time like this depends on how sentimental you are about the remnants of what we once called the British car industry.
The fact is that, having worked its way through more owners than a South London Ford Sierra, Aston Martin is currently in very rude health indeed.
As Mr Harvey of this parish observes in the current issue of the magazine, there's no living thing - animal, mineral or vegetable - that doesn't believe the current Vantage to be the coolest car on the planet.
And just the other night I watched James May's excellent new programme during which bits of his formidable brain got all hot and bothered when he was shown images of the original, late 70s Vantage.
So it's official: Aston Martin refreshes the parts other cars can't reach.
No need for sentiment here, then. From its fancy HQ at Gaydon, Aston - and its new consortium of owners - can continue plotting a course for global domination. Despite all the turbulence and near bankruptcies, Aston has survived to tell the tale. Phew.
But spare a thought for the guys at Newport Pagnell. With champagne corks popping all over the place, anyone would have thought that the end of Vanquish production - the end of production at Newport Pagnell full stop - was a cause for celebration.
Was it just me or did this euphoric mood feel a bit inappropriate? I certainly didn't bother having any champagne.
There were pictures all over the assembly plant - more of a large shed really - of a uniquely skilled workforce, bashing the Vanquish's sublime curves into shape by hand, and honing the other bits and bobs that make a Vanquish what it is.
"No one else makes cars this way," Aston's talented design director Marek Reichman observed. Now Aston doesn't either.
Things change, and Aston can only flourish if it is modern and ready for battle. But along with the rest of the board, Reichman must ensure that the newly successful, super shiny Aston somehow preserves the soul of the Aston-in-a-shed.
It won't be easy. And some of the workforce I spoke to certainly weren't in the party mood.
"Coming to work here wasn't like going to your job, it was more like a hobby," one told me. "You saw your mates, you could have a laugh and we made a bloody lovely car."
"They offered to transfer me to Gaydon," another grumbled, "but I didn't want to go. I worked over there for a few months a while back but they don't let you have the radio on during the day. It just wasn't the same as this place. Would you believe, I actually got told off for singing..."
The end of an era? What do you reckon?
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7 Comments for "End of an era for Aston"
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Well there we are.How do you expect a car to have soul,which something like an Aston surely requires,if you stop the men/women who create such things to not even sing along to the radio.Shameful.
Well there we are.How do you expect a car to have soul,which something like an Aston surely requires,if you stop the men/women who create such things to not even sing along to the radio.Shameful.
It might be easy to get all sentimental about production methods and values that come from the industrial revolution. However unless you're Morgan, it doesn't make for a productive business in 2007. I would much rather see Aston Martin flourishing under its new consortium using modern techniques, rather than going to the wall for the sake of holding on to outdated methods.
As the proud and, yes I admit, flash owner of a 2007 Vantage I say yes indeed, it is the end of an era. An era of beautiful, outrageously expensive, average performing, unreliable cars, that failed to live up to one's expectations of this storied marque. If the new Vantage is anything to go by this is also the beginning of a proud new era for Aston. One of beautiful, moderately expensive, state of the art, high performing and dare I say reliable cars that blow away the competition (I've had mine 7 months and 7300 miles and have not had the slightest hint of a problem). For the first time in at least a couple of generations Aston Martin is a top choice not just of the fashionable poseur, but also of car nuts who appreciate cutting edge engineering, blistering performance and 21st century reliability. It does not hurt that owners of these fabulous vehicles are treated like celebrities everywhere they go because the car is just so goddamn HOT!
As an American who sees nothing but mass produced crap on a daily basis, I can't help but feel a little depressed by this news. The recent model Vantage, is by far my farovite car, ever, and the Vanquish is one of the coolest cars ever made. Its more than a car, its art, built by the hands of Men! Maybe women too, I must be PC about this. It was one of the last few cars for me, that was a beacon of culture, class, and cool. That's so very sad. When art becomes mass produced and corporate, its no longer art, but merely a decoration.
Aston Martin is a truly epic car manufacturer and something to be proud of for this nation. My Dad owns a Aston Martin V8 1973,it is just legendary especially with Led Zepplin Blasting out of the speakers. It was built in Newport Pagnell and i am personally saddened by the situation but Aston has to move to the future and change does happen, i would prefer if Astons could be made in Newport Pagnell but we have to move on to the next chapter of Aston Martin. My Aston has a special place in my heart and the same with my family, i will always remember it came from Newprt Pagnell and was built with the finest skill and engineering.It truly is a end of an era for British Motoring and it will be sorely missed.
I was one of the lucky ones to go round the Newport Pagnell Factory on many occasions and it was nothing short of breath taking, these people were not just building cars, you could see they loved every day. Always keen to explain what they were doing, bouncing with excitement like a child who just opened a present on Xmas day. They were so proud of what they produced, they told me that when a car was finished they would all stop to hear it start and role out for the test drive and nod in silent agreement. I don't think the robots in Gaydon nod when a car rolls out. Shame but understandable.