I just got back from a trip to the UK and was fortunate enough to be able to take a day and head up to Gaydon to check out the home of AM. It was an amazing experience to see all of the time and effort that goes into building an Aston, and we learned a bunch about the history of AM to boot. Some pics below for those that are interested:




Was slated to be a decent day, so rented a droptop F-type to get up there. Took some of the back roads rather than the highway and it was a great little drive.



DB11 out front



Vanquish on the water




Saw 3 Zagatos while we were there. They had this Zagato Vanquish in the lobby and we saw one more on the shop floor.




Learned some interesting history of the Zagato "Double Bubble." When they designed the original Zagato DB4, they designed it for racing, but the roof line wouldn't allow for a race helmet. So they had to take the car back to the shop, and "bubble" the roof line slightly to allow for more headroom. They did the same on the passenger side for aesthetics and the trademark Zagato "double bubble" was born!




One of my favorite Astons - gorgeous.





The museum portion ended with a DB10. You can see a Zagato DB AR1 just before it.

Interesting note - our guide was a retired AM employee who used to head up the "customer driving experperience" programs. He was responsible for the driving programs for the Vulcan, some of the first ice driving courses, and he even taught Daniel Craig how to drive the AM in Casino Royale. Very cool to have a guide with such knowledge and experience with the brand.

As we went through, it was cool to see how they had one line set up for the DB11 with its new frame and tech, and another line setup for literally all other models. When you walk the "mixed" line, its amazing that you see V8 Vantages, V12 Vantages, Vanquishes, Volantes, Roadsters, Coupes - all mixed together, one after the other on the line. Gives you a real perspective on how customized each of these cars are that they can make all these variants (with all their own custom bits) on the same line.

One really cool thing that I was able to see was 3 "engineering versions" of the new vantage. They were heavily camouflaged, but given that I was about 5 feet away and the cars were standing still, it was easy to get a good long look. I can't say much because of the confidentiality agreement we signed, but what our guide mentioned was that they will not have a clam shell hood like the DB11 and from what I could see, they look much more like a mix between the current vantage and the DB10, and nothing like the DB11. If Andy Palmer's goal is to have every model look different, this is definitely on the right track.



Welcome to AM! Now sign this...

After getting back to London, got a nice treat and saw this Bugatti Chiron in the wild. Pretty cool.






Confidentiality agreement

 

Very cool! A factory tour is on my list for next summer. Did you go through a dealer to schedule it?

 

What a great write up! Thanks for sharing. An Aston factory tour is definitely on my bucket list now.

 

Thanks! I would definitely recommend trying to go once - it gives you a much better appreciation for our cars.

Skywagon - yes, I scheduled it through our local dealer. Was simple as saying that I wished to go and picking a date.

 

I did the tour in March, unforgettable! Arranged by dealer.

 

My favorite Aston factory picture. My Vantage during final construction.

 

Thanks for sharing. Hopefully i will be there in January! Fingers crossed.