So, where did we get to... that's right, this image:


After this image I was pretty set on this design but it obviously needed work and I set about seeing this in full scale to review,

At the time I had a KUKA robot here at work which I used for cnc machining and the beauty of this is a massive machining volume and it can get around to almost any angle. Moving a bunch of stuff out of the way in the workshop meant I could squeeze the car in there wrapped in shrink wrap, block it up with left over foam board and machine the design on the car!. This was nerve wracking as any mistake in the set up, datuming or tool path could result in the robot smashing through the car!.. so, carefully does it.



It was immediately obvious, even part way through machining, that the proportions of features were way off!, looked good on the CAD screen, didn't work in real life. take a look at this image:
You can see the sill section highlighted here looks way to thin straight away and the split to the wheel arch was too low.


The great thing with having all the tools available to you is you can stop, go back to the CAD, make a change, and machine it in straight away.... a few hours later and I'd tweeked the design, a squirt of expanding foam and I was ready to re-machine:



much better.

 

Not too soon hopefully, ill be out of a job! (but yeah, maybe in 100 years or so?)

 

Those front fender door vents looks exactly like my Dodge Viper, not sure if that would be a good thing for the Aston

 

Lovely car your Viper. They were always a poster car on my wall as a kid, albeit the original shape.

The design im doing, while the idea did start as a modern take on a dbr1 the decision was made that I didn't want the comparisons to Aston at all. The rise of the resto mod market was was a pigeon hole I did want to be in. I wanted this to me my own thing, my own design, my own brand if you will. The use of the Vantage as a base was a simple one as I worked as a design engineer on that car ('back in the day') I knew it intimately, plus the bonded ali go-cart chassis meant I could unpick the body and do what I pretty much like design wise without affecting any of the great attributes of the Vantage underpinnings.

The main issue with the vantage (and all modern Astons really) is that they always end up too heavy. I have weighed the car as I have it at the moment and extrapolated out and im on track for a dry weight of 1250kg. It'll have some minor mods to the engine to give 420bhp (4.3l) which means just a shade under 340bhp/ton and if the V12 is used as a base.. a mighty 480bhp/ton which puts you right in Ferrari Monza territory. Nice options to choose from for any commissions but the aim for me has alwasy been a drivers car where every journey is an event, I want you to feel as thought your taking it to its limits on normal drives, thats where the fun is. Having a car where its limits are so far beyond yours, or the conditions allow, for me, is just not satisfying. If you're frequently on a track or have wonderful wide open winding roads maybe the V12... decisions, decisions..

 

I'll Summarize what was a long process of back and forth, cut, modify, cut again... although over time I did get to the point where I had most of the car looking pretty good (in my eyes)
Getting the car switch around and cutting the rear end:





I think someone mentioned in the comments that they wouldn't progress as would always be 'tweaking' this is a definite problems and forcing yourself to not obsess over a small area for example was very difficult and I had to learn to move on to complete more THEN look back at the details but yes, this could certainly be an endless job.
It was time to wheel it out from the machine and take a better look..


Now, please excuse the hair in the following ''brum brum' photos we were deep into lockdown at this time and a haircut was well over due! (there is an important reason for these 'occupant photos' though which I will explain a little later.

 

I see. You got much more talent then I do and I can wait to see this project of your finish.

 

That’s real progress..lines are coming..starting to flow…

 

I like it, very close to the Vantage V12 speedster!

 

Lol,, This was actually quite a while ago, Im a deal further down the line now. Im just catching this one up with another thread I have on a different forum so it'll look like amazing progress but in reality its a good few years of work!

 

Id always hated how with some of the speedsters that had come out over the years and first noticing it on the Aston CC100 is that these cars had a real danger of displaying the occupants 'noddy' style which just looked terrible. The cars may(?) have looked good as a static thing but put a driver in it and all focus (mine anyway) was on how daft it made the driver... for example you could spend £1million (no exaggeration) to look like these two prolapses coming down the road:


Then there was the CC100:



If you look on the net you will really struggle to find an image of these with occupants from anything other than a very low viewing angle, this is because any photographer will see its not a strong or flattering image from a realistic 'standing height' viewing angle. Theres far too much chest, and shoulders visible and in my eyes the occupants tend to look 'on' the car rather than 'in' the car.



I wanted to change the proportions of the car to those of a more classic British roadster so I had moved the occupant rearwards about 200mm (look at the classics and the drivers pretty much sat just forward of the rear wheel) and to visually lengthen the bonnet I wanted to drop the bonnet height as much as I could (and to also maintain a sensible down vision angle with the lowered occupant). This would all help to get the occupants shoulder covered by the door/rear haunch. At this stage I was torn between no screen or small aero screen. but having seen these images of me sat in it I decided it would be best to get some body colour 'higher up' to do this I decided that adding a decent windscreen meant body colour A pillars would give the car some more height and lower the visual position of the occupant shielding the view of their chest and shoulders etc.

Adding the A pillar mockup:




...well that's my logic anyway!

 

These photos are a bit further down the line.. I'd started to tinker at this stage and wanted to try a few ideas out, a bonnet scoop was one idea and needed to start to think about the headlights and how to integrate those into the design.



Below, getting a feel for the view out over the bonnet.. you need some pretty good imagination 😆 but I was really liking the feel. Looking out and seeing the two wheel arches either side like a classic was a real driving factor in the design.

Below. Thinking about a bonnet scoop.... didn't like this as it went against the 'un fussy feel I wanted.

 

This is easily one of the coolest projects I've seen in a longggggg time.

 

This deserves it's own YouTube channel.

 

is this project dead?

 

Seems to be on 6speedonline. If you search the OPs username and "pistonheads", you'll find all the most recent updates. The prototype was showcased at Goodwood Festival of Speed this year.