The route from Ouistreham to La Mans is probably one of the most familiar amongst petrolheads.  However, it can be pretty boring. So, having arrived on the early morning ferry and being far too early to arrive at our hotel we took this more scenic route. 

Inevitably the first part contains ring roads to get around the major towns. But, it soon takes you along some forest roads and through typical French (and usually empty) villages. A stop off for coffee & breakfast in Putagnes-du- Lac is definately recommended.

• On leaving the ferry follow the D84 keeping to the left for the green D84 Caen sign
• At roundabout take 2nd exit to stay on D84 (there is an Esso garage & Carrefour on right along here)
• At the next roundabout take the D514 towards Caen.
• After approx 4.5 miles get into right hand slip road signed Peripherique Est/A13/Paris Alencon.  Follow it around to the right to join the N814.
• Take exit 13 - Porte d’Espagne towards Le Mans/Alencon/Falaise
• At the roundabout take the 3rd exit onto N158 towards Le Mans/Alencon/Falaise
• Take exit 11 towards Conde/Noireau/Putanges
• At roundabout take 5th exit onto D511 towards Caen/Argentan etc
• At  next roundabout take 1st exit onto D658A towards Alencon
• At next roundabout take 1st exit onto D509 signed Putanges/Pont Ecrepin
• Follow D509, (road eventually becomes D909 as you change Department areas). Follow signs into Putanges. After crossing the river you will see Hotel Le Lion Verd on your right with parking in the square outside. This is a welcoming place to stop for a break. The owner having a classic Cadillac often parked outside.

• Head out of town staying on D909 towards Ranes, you will soon be in a sweeping tree lined road.
• At the roundabout in Ranes take 2nd exit to stay on D909 towards Carrouges.
• Follow the D909 for around 14 miles towards Carrouges then turn left onto D908 towards Carrouges.
• At roundabout take 1st exit onto D909a towards Alencon. Then straight on at next roundabout back onto D909 towards Alencon & Pre-en-Pail.
• After approx 6.5 miles turn right onto N12 drive to Pre-en-Pal there’s a petrol station on the left.
• Take 2nd exit at roundabout Bretagne/N12  shortly after turn left onto D20 towards Villaines. Then right onto D20 towards Villaines
• Follow D20 through forest for around 9 miles
• At roundabout take 3rd exit onto D13 heading to Villaines centre/Mayenne etc
• Turn right onto Rue Gervaiseau D20 towards Mayenne/Bais drive about 0.5 mile.
• Turn left onto Rue de la Boori. Cross one roundabout.
• At next roundabout take 3rd exit onto D20
• At next roundabout take 1st exit onto D13 towards Courcite (peugeot garage on roundabout). Stay on N13 for approx 2 miles
• Turn right at T junction towards Courcite
• Turn left by church onto Rue di Mans D13 towards Sille Le Guillaume. Continue straight onto D16 towards Sille Le Guillaume.
• After 8.5 miles road becomes D5. Continue to Le Mans.

A Brief Return to Normality

2014 was a return to a more normal year of driving and generally enjoying AMV whilst attending some summer events, albeit we knew that more major work was not far away.

Bath Motor Club Aquae Sulis Tour – July 2014

A colleague was involved with organising events for the Bath Motor Club and persuaded us to take part in their annual Aquae Sulis tour. This involved a scenic drive along a pre-determined route through the Somerset countryside, using a Tulip Map Routebook. What we hadn’t realised however, was that the route took in some very minor roads and lanes, to which AMV was not particularly well suited. The extend of this soon became apparent whilst navigating a lane with a very pronounced ‘hog’ in the middle of the tarmac, on traversing an undulation a very loud scrape and bang was heard from the underside of the car. After performing a visual check there did not appear to be anything hanging down or obviously damaged, so we were able to continue, but we later learned that the contact had in fact completely sheared one of the exhaust mounts. At the halfway point in the route, we decided that to protect AMV from any further harm we would opt to take to an alternative route to the ultimate destination, along some more suitable roads. Despite the less than ideal nature of some of the day’s adventures, a good day was still had by all, albeit that the organisers did wonder where we had disappeared off to in the afternoon!

Goodwood Revival – September 2014

Despite having been regular patrons of the fantastic Goodwood Festival of Speed for many years, we had not yet sampled the Revival and so decided that it was about time that we rectified that glaring omission. Predictably enough we were suitably blown away by another phenomenal Goodwood event, where the car park alone would constitute a superb turnout at pretty much any other car show. Naturally enough, whilst this may have been our first visit to the Revival, it certainly wasn’t to be our last.

Wedding Duties – October 2014

The family connection was to be further cemented in October, as my nephew William had asked if I would drive him and his best man to his upcoming wedding. This was because, echoing some of my own childhood memories, Will had fond memories of being taken to the local toy shop by my dad whenever he visited, which more often than not ended up being in the Aston. Naturally I said that I would be only too happy to oblige and so AMV came to play a starring role in another significant family event. I was particularly touched when I heard that my nephew had said that having AMV at his wedding made him feel like grandad was there as well.

This heartwarming comment did prompt me to think about how long I had been the custodian of AMV compared to my dad… I soon determined that it would take another 10 years before my custodianship surpassed that of my father’s.

In place in front of the Tythe Barn at Haselbury Mill before Will’s wedding - October 2014

Part of Will’s big day at Haselbury Mill - October 2014

Classic and Supercars at Sherborne Castle with AMOC - July 2014

Chew Valley Lake before the start of the Aquae Sulis Tour - August 2014

Mixing with some mighty Minis at the Thornfalcon Classic - August 2014

The Tax Exempt Car Park at Goodwood Revival - September 2014

Preparing for the Inevitable

During 2015, it became ever more clear that the engine was not going to continue for much longer without the long postponed engine rebuild. The increasingly dense clouds of smoke that accompanied any acceleration gave the distinct impression that all was not well. Compression testing during the annual service confirmed that compression had been lost again on cylinders 1 and 3, and so the decision was made, the engine would finally be rebuilt over the winter. Before that though, the differential was also in need of refurbishment, especially as it would be required to deal with substantially more power in the not too distant future. The diff was therefore duly removed, stripped down and rebuilt before the season began.

In the meantime, we fully intended to make use of the life that was left in the engine and hope that it lasted the season without any major issues.

Retro Fundraising Martock – July 2015

In July, we joined some friends with their classic Porsches to take part in the Retro Fundraising classic car drive through the Somerset countryside, (but fortunately not the really narrow lanes this time). A typically great turnout for this now much missed annual event made for quite the convoy of classics along the roads of Somerset. The trio of an AM Vantage followed by friends in their Porsche 914 and 944S must have made for quite the site on their own. Although after the drive, we did learn that our friends following directly behind us in their 914 had been leaving more of a gap than was strictly necessary due to the copious quantities of petrol fumes that we were leaving in our wake!

AgustaWestland Centenary Families Day – July 2015

July also saw the AgustaWestland helicopter manufacturer in Yeovil celebrating their own centenary year with a families day. Part of the celebration included gathering a collection of classic cars owned by some like-minded petrolhead employees, as well as a selection from Haynes International Motor Museum. Naturally we were happy to take AMV along to take part. Although when we spoke to the team from Haynes who had brought along the museum’s Dubonnet Rosso DBS Vantage, they did remark that they probably needn’t have bothered, especially as it had proven particularly reluctant to start. Perhaps it had been put off by the typically wet British summer weather we had on the day! Then again maybe it was as a result of not being used often enough. Like all cars, Astons really do like to be exercised regularly.

By the end of the year the time had finally come for AMV to have her engine rebuild. It was looking like 2016 was going to be another expensive year.

An Eclectic mix at the Haynes Breakfast Club - June 2015

A fitting location for such a trio of classics at a Wilton Wake-Up - July 2015

A fine looking convoy on the Retro Fundraising Martock - July 2015

Another great mix of classics at AgustaWestland Centenary Families day - July 2015

The Engine Rebuild – Winter 2015-2016

December 2015 saw AMV’s engine finally being removed in preparation for the long awaited rebuild, and the subsequent teardown process soon started to highlight just how overdue this actually was. The removal of the front face of the engine casing revealed that the mounting bracket for the timing chain tensioner had completely fractured, resulting in the tensioner itself simply falling off! This meant that the only thing that had been holding the tensioner in place, and hence the only barrier preventing a major engine failure, had been the casing. It also transpired that the friction material on the clutch was almost completely worn out, leading Nigel at Davron to remark that I certainly seemed to like getting my money’s worth.

The need for the engine rebuild provided the perfect opportunity to fit some further useful upgrades to AMV. The first of which was the hardened valve seats necessary to cope with running on unleaded petrol without the need for the continued use of lead replacement additive. The second key upgrade was the increase in displacement from the standard 4.0 to 4.2 litres, which would of course serve to provide a useful increase in power. Fortunately the majority of components, such as the larger pistons and liners, required to complete the rebuild were readily available, as this conversion is a popular upgrade for straight six Astons. Unfortunately however, the same could not be said for all of the gearbox components that required replacement, in fact one seemingly innocuous component in particular proved to be particularly elusive. Upon stripping the gearbox down it was discovered that an SKF needle roller bearing had lost several of its bearings. Unfortunately however it turned out that the bearing in question had not been in production for long and was particularly difficult to get a hold of. In fact investigations into sourcing a like-for-like replacement revealed that there were none available in Europe or the USA. Never one to be easily defeated however, Nigel eventually managed to find a warehouse that had a new old stock bearing available… in Australia! The arrangements were duly made and the bearing was shipped halfway around the globe so that it could be fitted to AMV’s gearbox. I also still have the original bearing as a memento of this particular part of AMV’s story.

Once the engine and gearbox had been removed from the car, the rest of the car was transported back to a hangar at Henstridge airfield, where a friend had kindly offered the use of some hangar space, and just as importantly his spare time, meaning that we could strip the remaining components from the engine bay and get it freshly repainted ready for the newly rebuilt engine. Sufficed to say that we had plenty to keep us occupied for the weekends during the winter of 2016. The process of stripping down the ancillary engine bay components, making sure that we fastidiously documented the removal of each component to ensure that we could subsequently re-install them, was both therapeutic and thankfully straightforward. Remarkably we only had one single sheared bolt during the entire process, no doubt helped significantly by the car always having been garaged throughout her more than 40 year life.

In addition to the required engine and engine bay work, some other elements of the car that desperately needed some renovation were the front seats. The foam material that had originally been used in the seats was disintegrating and had been dropping into the rear footwells over time, resulting in the seats becoming less and less padded and more and more uncomfortable. Fortunately Pipers Specialist Trimmers were once again able to come to rescue and agreed to cut brand new foam to fill the existing, (well patinated), seat covers. This was by all accounts a very tricky and time consuming process to achieve, and hence I believe that they are no longer amenable to replacing the seat innards without also retrimming the seats as well. The results of their efforts were however truly superb and AMV’s seats were once again transformed into items that were suitable to complete the grand tours for which she was intended.

Meanwhile, the engine bay had been freshly repainted with a coat of satin black paint and was ready to rehome the freshly rebuilt engine. Unfortunately, whilst the engine bay looked the part, during the process of actually refitting the engine it was discovered that the painter had failed to blank off any of the apertures within the engine bay before stripping back the old paint. As a result, the media blasting material had penetrated every exposed gap, duct, pipe etc. with 2 large plastic bags full of it being recovered during the process. Not only that but it continued to be expelled from the vents for years afterwards.

AMV’s engine and gearbox, removed and ready for the rebuilding to begin

Engine block, liners and pistons after tear down

Timing chain tensioner, complete with fractured bracket!

Freshly re-bored and re-lined block with new 4.2L pistons

Freshly rebuilt engine, ready to be reunited with the gearbox

Something seems to be missing! Time to start stripping the engine bay

Freshly stripped out and repainted

Freshly rebuilt engine reinstalled in the freshly repainted engine bay

Running the Engine In

AMV had visited a rolling road in order to perform an initial tune on the notoriously tricky Weber carbs. As it turned out, the freshly rebuilt engine soon proved that the power output was sufficiently healthy by shearing 3 of the spokes on one of the (original) rear wheels. Predictably enough upgrading such a key element of the car after over 40 years was clearly going to require other elements to be similarly refreshed. Fortunately Davron were once again able to come to the rescue and provide a ‘temporary’ solution in the form of a spare wire wheel, so at least I wouldn’t have another expensive job to do immediately… or as it turned out for some time to come. In the meantime however, it was time to start putting a freshly rejuvenated AMV to good use.

It may have been newly rebuilt, but it was still very much a traditional style of engine and hence required a proper ‘running-in’ phase in order to ensure that all of the new mechanicals were properly bedded in. This involved the standard process of limiting the RPM, trying to drive on a variety of roads and conditions, only going out for longer runs etc. etc. for 1000 miles, before returning for an oil change and once over to make sure that all was going well. None of this was a problem of course, however we had a trip to the Lake District planned about a month after the engine rebuild was complete and were planning to take AMV. This naturally meant that I had to fit the necessary running-in into quite a truncated time frame, hence I had to make sure to use AMV at every available opportunity. You would of course be quite right in thinking that this was no great hardship for me to have to ‘endure’, in fact I was very much in my element. The trickiest part was limiting my enthusiasm with the throttle, especially as it was very clear that the engine had well and truly been given a new lease of life and seemed very eager to be let off of the leash. However I managed to complete the requisite mileage and soon it was time to take AMV back for a check-up and fresh batch of oil.

AMV was once again ready for collection the day before we were due to drive up to the Lake District and seemed to be in rude health. I did notice that the throttle pedal seemed to ‘bounce’ slightly at the top of its travel after I lifted off completely, but I didn’t pay it too much attention. This turned out to be a mistake, albeit we weren’t to find this out until later. So blissfully unaware of what was to unfold, one fine Friday evening, we set off on the initial leg of our planned staged journey up to the Lakes. During the drive along the A303 I couldn’t shake the feeling that the performance didn’t quite seem as good as it should, then whilst climbing Chaddenwick Hill the performance drop-off suddenly became far more apparent. I found myself having to depress the throttle more and more just to maintain momentum up the hill, to the point the it was down to the floor by the time we had reached the top.

It was clear that we were not going to be progressing much further without some assistance, so we pulled into the services at the top of the hill and called Nigel to ask for some advice. Fortuitously, as we were within a few miles of Davron’s workshop, he asked whether we could make it the rest of the way so that he could meet us there. Unfortunately however AMV decided that was a step too far and just after crossing the A350, the throttle pedal dropped to the floor and the revs dropped to idle, she had clearly gone as far as she was going to go for the evening. Opening the bonnet soon revealed that the throttle cable input had become disconnected from the carburettor linkages.

Another phone call to the ever helpful Nigel to inform him of the latest development had him rerouting to meet us to see what he could do to help. Fortunately he was able to use the materials available in his car to jury rig the throttle linkage open to a constant throttle setting. This enabled the car to be driven and attempt to cover the remaining distance to the Davron workshop, albeit that the hills encountered enroute soon proved to be too much for the initial throttle opening. This necessitated another stop to readjust the throttle, meaning that the freshly run-in engine was now roaring away merrily whilst stationary. This did at least prove to be enough to enable the journey to be completed and we arrived at the workshop with no small sense of relief. Ultimately the culprit for this latest misadventure proved to be the throttle input linkage thread having become completely stripped, thus causing the disconnect between the accelerator and the linkage. Fortunately this was a relatively quick and easy fix to accomplish and AMV was soon raring to go once again, albeit clearly not for our trip to the lakes.

AMV parked next to one of the icons of American Muscle that helped inspire the original Willian Towns DBS design at Haynes Breakfast Club - August 2016

European Road Trip May – June 2009

In 2009, we decided to properly test AMV’s grand touring abilities and embark upon a road trip across Europe, taking in a number of classic racing circuits enroute. Our first stop on the tour was the legendary Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. Sadly we were not able to venture onto the circuit, due to there being a practice for an upcoming historic race event taking place at the time. Our appetite was suitable whetted however, especially after witnessing the spectacle of the circuit’s iconic features such as Eau Rouge in person, (it’s much steeper than it looks on TV), and we pledged to return.

A relatively short trip across the border into Germany took us to our next port of call, the infamous Nürburgring Nordschleife, where we were due to meet up with our like-minded friend Marc. After an overnight stop at the superb Motorsport Hotel in Nürburg, Marc joined us in his Lotus Elise and we started to explore the wonderful driving roads around the beautiful Eifel region. During the day, the circuit was in use by a club for a private track event, but the evening public track sessions were still taking place and so we made sure that we made our way to the track entrance to join the day’s ‘touristenfahrten’ session.

We decided that four laps of the legendary 12.9 miles circuit shared between us, and our respective steeds, would be enough for one evening and an appropriate ticket was duly purchased. We figured that it would be best to start with a lap in AMV, followed by a couple in Marc’s Elise in order to give AMV a rest, (after all she was 36 years old even at this time), before completing one last lap in AMV. So the three of us got in and joined the queue to go out and enter ‘the Green Hell’. Now it’s at this point that I think it’s worth reminding you that AMV has never had rear seatbelts fitted, and so the rear seat passenger was effectively acting as active ballast! I will leave you to draw your own conclusion as to whether this was an act of bravery and/or trust in my driving skills, or simply sheer lunacy. Either way we made our way out onto the circuit, the engine providing us with its characteristically glorious soundtrack as we did so. We may not have been the fastest car out on track that evening, (ok so we definitely weren’t), but I maintain that we were the best sounding. I also suspect that our visit to the Ring left an impression with some of the spectators as well. One gentleman in particular seemed to get particularly animated as we were exiting the circuit after our lap, pointing and shouting “Was ist das?” (What is that?) excitedly as we passed by. I suspect that he may have been confused by us driving something other than one of the many, many Porsche 911 variants!

The next day saw us making the long trip down from Nürburg to Marc’s temporary residence in southern Germany. After a fun, but slow, start to the journey taking in some more of the roads around the Eifel region, we took to the autobahn to make some faster progress. Whilst AMV seemed perfectly happy cruising down the autobahns at a suitably brisk pace, the prolonged high speed journey did take its toll on her poor engine, which was to lead to some interesting consequences later on in the trip…

Entering Karussell on the infamous Nürburgring Nordschleife

The view from the back seat on the Nürburgring Nordschleife

Early morning start prior to tackling the Stelvio Pass

Resting  part way up the Stelvio Pass

The next part of our journey took us through part of Austria, including driving through a number of tunnels through the mountains, which is where the aforementioned consequences really started to manifest. Not that we knew this was the cause at the time, but the spark plug leads were deteriorating and hence the engine was not properly burning all of the petrol being fed through the Webers. This resulted in unburnt fuel being passed through into the exhaust system when lifting off of the throttle, which was then burnt off in a far more spectacular fashion in the exhaust pipes! As you can no doubt imagine, this led to some quite significant backfires, which reverberated very effectively off the walls of the Austrian tunnels. This did provide a source of some entertainment for us, especially when curious road users crept up close to the back of us to try to determine what it was they were following. Predictably they soon seemed to lose their sense of curiosity and drop back significantly when I lifted and initiated a resounding BOOM! Ultimately we drove into Italy to an overnight stop at a very characterful old coaching house on the road leading to the Stelvio Pass.

The Stelvio pass delivered yet another unforgettable experience, albeit I couldn’t help but feel that Marc’s choice of car was perhaps better suited to tackling the 48 tight hairpin turns that took us up the northern side of the pass. Unsurprisingly AMV makes for quite hard work when negotiating tight hairpins, as whilst power steering is fitted, it is still very heavy and the near 6 feet wide, 15 feet long body does not make for the most wieldy of machines. A number of the corners also had to be negotiated in 1^st gear and hence the heavy clutch also provided another workout for my left leg. The real issue however occurred part way up the pass, after we had pulled up behind Marc’s Elise where he had stopped to admire the spectacular view. The combination of the altitude, (the Stelvio pass rises to an altitude of 2,757m (9,045ft) above sea level at its highest point), the Weber carbs, deteriorating plug leads and having stopped on an uphill incline, meant that AMV flatly refused to restart. We therefore decided to use gravity to roll back to the preceding hairpin, where the ground levelled out, being careful not to roll too far as there was no barrier and a sharp drop off and I didn’t fancy reenacting the final sequence from the Italian Job! Fully opening the throttle and cranking the engine thankfully eventually proved effective and the engine finally caught and burst back into life. Understandably we didn’t want a repeat performance at the top of the pass and so we elected not to stop again until we had descended down the other side.

The Stelvio had not yet finished challenging us though, as whilst the southern side of the pass features a mix of more open corners instead of just consecutive tight hairpins, which are far better suited for driving AMV more fluidly, we found ourselves stuck behind a very timid Volkswagen Transporter driver, who insisted on riding their brakes most of the way down. That, mixed with the tendency to backfire spectacularly when trying to use engine braking, which made me genuinely wary of dislodging some of the snow that was still on the high ground, meant that I also had to use my brakes much more than I would have liked to. Ultimately, this led to me boiling the brake fluid on the descent, resulting in the brakes needing to be ‘pumped up’ before they would work as we entered into Bormio at the bottom of the pass. Fortunately, having a rest and cooling down did the trick and the brakes were at least working again when we came to leave Bormio for our next overnight stop at Lake Mezzola.

Continuing the theme of visiting legendary racing circuits, the next on our list was the Temple of Speed itself, the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, located in a beautiful national park outside of Milan. Whilst we did have the opportunity to take part in a public track session, the fact that the engine was getting worse, coupled with the fact that we still had to complete the return journey back home from what was the furthest point on the trip, meant that we elected not to on this occasion. Despite not going out on track however, AMV still did not emerge unscathed from her trip to Monza. After visiting the magnificent circuit and facilities and returning to the car park, we found that the front left tyre was flat. Later we discovered that the protective strip that was supposed to be affixed to the inner edge of the wheel to protect the inner tube was no longer there, which had led to the tube being punctured. At the time though, all I knew was that I had to change the wheel, in the heat of the mid-afternoon Italian sunshine! As AMV was still fitted with the original ‘euro-spec’ 10-sided centre wheel nuts, this process involved fitting the custom spanner over the nut followed by the liberal application of force from a mallet, whilst trying not hit anything other than the spanner. After a lot of sweating, along with a suitable amount of swearing, I managed to successfully replace the wheel with the spare without inflicting any further damage. Despite this less than auspicious end to our inaugural visit to Monza, we were still suitably taken with what we had experienced and again vowed to return.

Our return leg took us along some more incredible scenic passes through Switzerland, albeit we did fear that we may become wanted by the authorities for ecological crimes driving through Switzerland in a misfiring and backfiring 1970s Aston Martin, before re-entering Germany once again. This time through the country we decided to pay a visit to the Hockenheimring in Baden-Württemberg, which was alternating with the (new) Nürburgring at the time to host the German Formula One Grand Prix. Fortunately this visit was less eventful than the visit to Monza had been, and we were able to pay our respects to the late, great Jim Clark and move on without any further dramas. Ultimately we made our way, (featuring a close encounter with a low flying USAF C-17), to an overnight stop at the superb Hotel Bremerhof at Kaiserslautern, which had an even better beer garden.

Now nearing the end of our European odyssey, we journeyed back up through Belgium, making the mistake of navigating along the notorious E40 around Brussels, (Belgium’s equivalent to the M25). With AMV’s misfiring problem getting progressively worse as we progressed, we did make it to our final overnight stop at another lovely B&B at Ruddervoorde, before making our way to the ferry at Dunkirk the next day.

Approaching yet another hairpin on the Stelvio Pass Note the VW Transporter with its brakes on! Enjoying the drive through southern Germany Taking a scenic break in Switzerland on the return leg Overnight stop at Kaiserslautern, Germany AMOC Spring Concours  – May 2010 After the engine issues had been diagnosed as a simple case of deteriorating spark plug leads, (we had feared that it may have been a return of the dreaded valve seat regression), we decided to take things a bit easier with AMV after her European adventures. A visit to the AMOC spring concours event, in the glorious setting of Blenheim Palace, to celebrate the club’s 75th anniversary seemed to fit the bill perfectly. Over 400 Aston Martins spanning the entire history of the company gathered in the grounds of the palace for the event, making for a truly spectacular car park. Despite the impressive variety of the turnout however, AMV was still the only example of the model present, making her just as rare as even the truly unique models, (such as the Atom) that had made an appearance. AMV parked next to her much younger sibling, a 2010 V12 Vantage An early public appearance of the One-77 By this time it had become apparent that the chassis was once again suffering from the dreaded corrosion issue, (I said that the earlier restoration work would crop up again), meaning that another restoration was the next big job to be faced. Naturally this meant more big bills, and so as a result AMV was not used as much during the 2010-2011 period. AMV parked with her contemporary siblings at the AMOC St. John Horsfall event at Silverstone - May 2010 Chassis Restoration (take two) – May 2012 – July 2013 As the corrosion had almost resulted in an MOT fail in 2011, the bullet was finally bitten and in 2012 the decision was made to commence the (2nd) chassis restoration. AMV was once again entrusted to Davron, who were well versed in restoring these cars, and they soon set about the substantial task of removing the old, rusty metalwork. Thanks to the aluminium body effectively hiding all of the rot, in order for them to get access to the rust, first they had to take the rather disturbing measure of using an angle grinder to cut off AMV’s (perfectly fine) aluminium flanks! Front right wing removed revealing the ugly truth Left side sill and rear arch reveal more rust The corroded metal was then systematically removed, including sills, inner wings, and chassis members, until all that remained was solid steel. This enabled new steel to be welded in place, treated, rust proofed and painted. Once this was done it was time for new aluminium to be welded in place at the bottom of the wings, to replace the old metal that had been cut off at the start of the process. Welding aluminium requires a very skilled welder, especially when you need a good job doing, which is why it is always worthwhile engaging with a good specialist. I was certainly very pleased with the results on AMV. Replacement front right wing panel in place Replacement left side wing panels fitted The next stage was to repaint the newly repaired bodywork. As I couldn’t stretch to a full bare metal respray for the whole car, (or decide what colour I would go for anyway), I opted to have the paint matched in to the existing bodywork… After all the car had only been repainted 36 years ago! Yet again the end result was far from a disappointment. Rear wing freshly repainted in Cricket White Front wing looking good as new as well Whilst the restoration work was being done, we also took the opportunity to have some minor damage rectified that had been inflicted on the interior over the years. Firstly Lisa, knowing how much the cigar burn in the original gearstick gaiter annoyed me, kindly got me a custom hand-made replacement. The centre console surround for the gearstick was also getting quite tatty and hence we had a new item made to match at the same time. My dad had also left a less desirable legacy that I was not so keen on preserving, as both front seats had cigarette burn holes in them. Fortunately a local trimming company, (Pipers Specialist Trimmers in Sparkford), were also able to repair the smaller holes in the driver’s seat and replace the outer panel of the passenger seat. The results of their efforts were superb, and really helped to lift the interior, fixing some of the minor things that had been bugging me ever since the car had come into my care. It also served to introduce us to another great specialist in the classic car world that we maintain to this day. Almost finished! AMV returns from the paint shop Collection day! One happy customer The day finally arrived in July 2013 when AMV was finished and ready for collection. Whilst she clearly looked amazing, I was glad that I had taken the opportunity to go and see all of the extensive work as it was being done, as superficially there was very little difference in how the car looked when compared to before the work had been done. 2012 had also seen another addition being made to our household and for the 1st time since we moved in, AMV was going to have a roommate. Lisa had always been very fond of classic Minis and the opportunity arose to get a very clean and low mileage example of a 1999 Rover Mini Cooper Sport from the penultimate production year of the original (and best) Mini. Predictably this resulted in a significant rearranging of the garage in order to make the necessary room for the new arrival. Even following this rearrangement, the only way that both cars would fit was with AMV being reversed in and Mini being driven in forwards, thus enabling the drivers’ doors of both cars to be opened enough to enable access… carefully! Still I was thankful that Lisa had wanted a Mini, as very little else would have stood any chance of fitting into the garage at all. Predictably enough over time this arrangement has led to the appearance of two large black soot marks on the back wall of the garage, directly in-line with where AMVs exhausts are aimed at startup. AMV with her new roommate makes for a great two car garage A Century of Aston Martin 1913-2013 2013 also happened to be the year that Aston Martin celebrated their centenary and fortunately, as the restoration work had been completed during the summer months, there was still the opportunity to take part in at least some of the events that were taking place to commemorate this momentous, (and frankly almost unbelievable), anniversary. Classic and Supercars at Wilton House – August 2013 The first such event was at the excellent Classic and Supercars event, held at the beautiful venue of Wilton House near Salisbury in Wiltshire. The local ‘Area 13’ representative of AMOC was organising a timeline of Astons for the event, and attempting to get examples to represent as many years as possible from the 100 that the company had been in existence. We naturally took full advantage of the opportunity and signed up to represent 1973. After all not only was overall production particularly low during this period, (even by Aston Martin’s standards), but with the AM Vantage being a particularly low volume model, chances were that AMV would likely be the only example of the model on the day. Come the day of the event, there was predictably a superb turnout of Astons from throughout the company’s history adorning the beautifully manicured lawns, not only that but we were also lucky enough that it turned out to be a gloriously sunny summer’s day. Astons as far as the eye can see at Wilton House! (left to right: AM Vantage, DBS V8, 2xDBS, DB6, DB5) Part of the Aston timeline at Wilton House (left to right: AM Vantage, DBS V8, 2xDBS) Some later examples of the AMV8 from the timeline at Wilton House (left to right: 2xV8 Volante, V8 Vantage Zagato, V8 Vantage) More of the Aston timeline at Wilton House (left to right: V8 Volante, 2xAMV8, AM Vantage) The 'general ' Aston parking provided a great line-up of Astons too! (left to right: V8 Vantage, DB7 Vantage, Vanquish S, DB7 Vantage, V8 Vantage V600, V8 Vantage, DB9, DB7 Vantage, V8 Volante) Car Fest South – August 2013 A similar celebration of all things Aston Martin was planned for the Car Fest events of the same year, and owners were invited to bring their cars along to the event(s), the ‘South’ version of which being held at Laverstoke Park Farm near Basingstoke, (which just so happens to belong to F1 World Champion Jody Sheckter). Not only was there set to be another magnificent display of Astons, but on the Sunday, owners were also given the opportunity to take part in a cavalcade up the event’s hill climb, and then out onto the surrounding roads around the farm, complete with police escort. Needless to say this seemed like another opportunity that was too good to pass up, and we opted to take part on both days, including participation in the mass Aston parade on the Sunday, of course. Although AMV was the only example of the model at the event, there were two particularly noteworthy ‘firsts’ that occurred at Car Fest. Firstly on the Saturday, we turned up to park next to a beautiful Suffolk Red example of a V8 Vantage, noting at the time that the combination was looking quite patriotic and that it would be great if a blue DBS or AMV8 was to turn up to park next to us. As luck would have it, a lovely Chichester Blue V8 Saloon soon appeared and completed the red, white and blue line-up. Secondly, on Sunday I was as surprised as the owner of the Crusader White V8 Volante that parked next to us was to see another white Aston from the same era, with both of us being more used to having the only one at an event. Three different models clearly sharing a common lineage (left to right: V8 Saloon  (Oscar India), AM Vantage, V8 Vantage) Is there a more quintessentially British  sight than red, white and blue Astons? If only all traffic jams were like this! Two white Astons at the same event! This was a first for both of us Despite causing quite a lot of disruption, the local residents still seemed to be happy to see us

My First Drive

Obviously as soon as I turned 17, I was keen to start taking driving lessons and pass my test as soon as I possibly could. This was especially true for me, given the added incentive that my dad was happy, (or at the very least willing), to let me drive the Aston. Needless to say, I grasped this golden opportunity as soon as I could. However I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I was somewhat apprehensive the first time that I got behind the steering wheel with the very real intent of actually driving. Nevertheless the overwhelming feeling was one of elation as I was finally able to drive the very car that had introduced me to the world of Aston Martin so many years beforehand.

AMV at home on the Driveway – Early 1990s

The view down the seemingly endless expanse of white bonnet, the distinctive roar and accompanying vibrations from the beating heart of the straight 6 engine, the oh so familiar aroma of old leather and petrol, all of these assaulted my young senses as I guided the car along the familiar roads of Rutland. Predictably from this point on, I was sure to embrace every opportunity to drive the car that was offered to me. I soon found that the creases along the flanks enabled the car to be placed with relative ease on the road, which was just as well as the lack of a nearside wing mirror would prove to be even more of a challenge otherwise. Judicious application of throttle was also a lesson that I quickly learned. No driver aids, relatively skinny tyres and a sufficient supply of power and torque were a surefire recipe for quickly learning the handling characteristics of rear wheel drive when my youthful exuberance shone through!

Chassis Restoration (take one)

Come the mid-90s, the car was suffering from the all too common issue of corrosion in the sills, floor and chassis, and so my dad had to find a local restoration specialist to do the necessary work. The work was undertaken by Spring Grange Restoration Ltd., who primarily specialised in restoring classics such as Triumphs and MGs, and hence were no strangers to the ravages of rust. The restoration work was completed to a good overall standard, when considering that the financial value of the car could not justify a complete ground-up restoration at the time. However as time would ultimately tell, the work had not quite gone far enough, but more on this later.

The 1st Restoration, following the Replacement of the Inner Sills – Mid 1990s

Unfortunately, my dad was not one for keeping a hold of receipts, (or really any form of documentation), so there is nothing in the way of service history for the period of time that he owned the car. Still as my dad buying this car started my lifelong love of all things Aston Martin, and the memories that were made with him and the car remaining amongst my fondest, I consider the gap in the car’s provenance to be a small price to pay indeed. In fact I subsequently learned that my dad kept the car for as long as he did largely because of my love of it, and with hindsight I believe that he may well have actually preferred his Stag, particularly from the way that he used to reminisce so fondly about it.

3^rd Owner (2001 to 2005): Mr. Peter Everington (my brother)

Unfortunately, the sudden and untimely circumstances of my dad’s passing, coupled with his inherent tendency to put such things off, meant that he had not gotten around to changing his will as he had apparently intended to, meaning that the car passed to my eldest brother instead of me. I only found this information out thanks to my mum, who was never happy that dad’s wishes regarding the car had not been fulfilled.

Consequently I do not have any information or history for this period of time. I do however recall receiving a phone call from my mum at one point, when my brother had visited her house, (where the car was still garaged), to try and start the engine. My mum asked me what the correct procedure was for starting it, as my brother had thus far been unable to do so successfully. I informed her of the correct method as I had been taught, however apparently by that point he had already flooded the engine via using the manual choke, (which is pointless with this engine), and flattened the battery in the process of trying.

My abiding memory of the legacy from this period is twofold. Firstly the gearstick gator gained a cigar burn sized hole in it at some point, (sufficed to say that this particular part of history had since been erased!) Secondly my mum lived in a rural area at the time, which coupled with the lack of use meant that some mice took up residency in the boot at one point, which predictably resulted in the normal associated unpleasant aftermath of rodent habitation.

Sat in the Garage in Rutland (complete with hole in the gearstick gator) – February  2006

At one stage my brother was looking into selling the car, as he was not using it enough to warrant keeping it, (in fact I have record of the fact that it was declared SORN for 2004), causing me to have to face the possibility that I may never get to see or drive the car again. Fortunately, (for me), AM Vantages were not as highly regarded or sought after at the time as they are today, and hence he struggled to find a serious buyer for her. My brother did succeed in selling the MVC 5 registration in his time as the keeper however, and hence the car was issued with its 4^th registration number, WEU 453L, an age appropriate plate issued by the DVLA that she still carries today.

My mum however had never been happy that what she knew to have been my father’s final wishes regarding the car had not been fulfilled and wanted the car to go to me. In order to ensure that this happened, my mum ultimately took direct action, purchased the car from my brother and had him sign the V5 over to me. This activity was completely unbeknownst to me at the time, as I was living down in Somerset, nearly 200 miles away from both my mum and the car. Consequently the arrival through the post of the V5 in my name came as something of a very pleasant, but somewhat overwhelming surprise.

4^th Owner (2005 to Present): Mr. Stuart Everington (me)

So at the tender age of 27, I found myself in the incredibly fortunate position of being the very proud custodian of not just any Aston Martin, (if there is even such a thing), but the very car that had formed the foundation of my lifelong passion for the marque. To say that I was elated at this development was something of an understatement, as I had after all essentially been dreaming of this moment since I was 4 years old! However once the initial shock factor had subsided somewhat, the reality of the situation I now found myself in started to come into focus. As I mentioned previously, I was living in Somerset and the car was located about 200 miles away in Rutland, hadn’t run for a number of years, wasn’t taxed and didn’t have an MOT, so driving it down was not an option, (or certainly not a good one at least). Furthermore the rented property that I was living in at the time, with my fortunately very understanding and supportive partner Lisa, had a driveway, but did not have a garage that we could use.

I decided to take the approach of tackling one problem at a time, with the first order of business being to find somebody local to me to do some recommissioning work and get the car back where she belonged… on the road. Fortunately when investigations had been made into selling the car, my mum had gotten in touch with Philip Jones of Byron International, the renowned Aston sales specialist, in order to get some expert advice. I therefore decided to follow-up on this and made contact with Philip myself to see if he had any advice for how I should progress with embarking on my own journey of Aston ownership. Philip was gracious enough to share some advice with me, including letting me know about a local Aston Martin specialist called Davron, who he said would be able to work with me with respect to the necessary recommissioning work. Little did I know at the time just how significant this piece of advice was to prove to be.

Relocating and Recommissioning

After making initial contact with Davron to talk about the car and what might need to be done, the next order of business was to arrange for the car to be transported from Rutland down to the garage so that they could make a proper assessment. A suitable transportation service was soon found via the internet, and the necessary arrangements were made.

AMV gets Relocated to the South West from the East Midlands – December 2006

Predictably once the car had arrived at Davron and they had taken a look at what needed to be done, they discovered that there was quite a bit of recommissioning work that was required in order to get her back on the road. They did however get the engine running in short order, after having performed an initial inspection to make sure that there were no significant concerns, which showed me that AMV was keen to get going again. In order to complete the work that needed to be done in a more manageable way, we agreed that the tasks would be split up so that a big job would be done in one month, followed by some of the smaller jobs the following month and so on, until all of the necessary work had been completed.

The main issue that was found was that there was valve seat regression with an associated loss of cylinder compression, primarily due to leaded petrol no longer being available and the engine never having been converted to run on unleaded. A couple of options for dealing with this were discussed. Fortunately there was a less expensive albeit temporary work-around that would gain some time on the engine. This involved stripping the engine down to the point where the valve seat buckets could be removed, thus enabling them to be re-ground to the point where the valve seat clearances were returned to within tolerance. This was the less expensive option, albeit that the amount of time that it would buy could not be predicted, basically I was told that it could last for a matter of months or potentially years. However, the ultimate and inescapable conclusion was that the engine would ultimately require a complete rebuild. Needless to say, my eagerness to get back behind the wheel as soon as possible and limited available funding resulted in the temporary fix being selected, (and fingers being crossed).

Without getting into too much detail, some of the work that was required was as follows;

New HT Leads and HT lead tube, (which was missing)

Re-torque cylinder head

Re-core radiator

New viscous fan coupling

Re-conditioned power steering rack

New boot rigger, (corrosion), and repaired spare wheel well, (which had been damaged)

3 x New Weber Carburettors, (as the bodies of 2 had been cracked by over-tightening the adjustment screws)

Remove and re-grind valve seat buckets to increase clearances as required

Once all this work had been done, (which ended up being the summer of 2007), the car was ready for me to collect and enjoy.

Getting Re-Acquainted with an Old Friend

Predictably, as it had been quite a few years since I had last driven the car, it was with a mixed sense of excitement and trepidation that I finally got back behind the wheel to drive home. Any sense of apprehension was soon dispelled however, as I slipped back into the well-worn Connelly leather driver’s seat, soaked in the familiar aroma of old leather that is synonymous with such cars, (especially Astons), of that era, and cranked the engine into life. Suddenly all of the sensations that had been so familiar to me for such a long time were vividly brought back into focus. Much like reconnecting with an old friend that you haven’t seen for some time, somehow you manage to pick up right where you left off the last time you met, I now found myself reconnected with my oldest friend. I was comfortable. I was happy. I was home.

The drive home along the A30 was thoroughly enjoyable and uneventful. It did of course include a customary visit to the petrol station enroute, ensuring to add a bottle of Millers VSP, (lead replacement), additive to the tank, after all the engine had yet to be converted to run on untreated unleaded petrol. On arriving back home, I was then faced with the task of manoeuvring the car onto the driveway in front of the house where we rented our flat. Fortunately there was enough space, however the section of driveway that we had available to use was on an incline and immediately parallel to the road, which effectively required negotiating two 90˚ corners in quick succession, whilst avoiding some brick walls. After achieving this, the lack of garage meant that a good quality outdoor car cover was the only option to provide protection from the elements. Fortunately one of our annual pilgrimages to the Goodwood FoS provided the opportunity to obtain a suitable ‘ex-display’ cover for this purpose. The only slight issue was that they insisted that I take the cover from them at the point of purchase, which then meant lugging it around FoS for the rest of the day. This was fine… for a while, but the cover seemed to get increasingly heavy as the day wore on! Also, whilst it was an excellent cover, (and in fact remains so to this day), it was clear that a better long-term accommodation solution was required.

New Adventures

First things first though, now that AMV was back on fine form once again, it was time to start putting some more miles under her wheels and attending some events.

Goodwood Festival of Speed – June 2007

One of the first such adventures was to make our annual pilgrimage to the Goodwood Festival of Speed (FoS). My abiding memories from this trip were that despite Goodwood being bathed in sunshine, there was torrential rain whilst driving to and from the event. The Goodwood traffic didn’t do me any favours either, as the clutch was incredibly heavy, to the point where I was surprised not to be walking around in circles due to over developed left leg muscles when we arrived! I also recall that our rear seat passenger, (our friend Marc, with whom we were to have a number of petrolhead adventures with in the years to come), somehow managed to fall fast asleep on the return journey, despite the less than subtle exhaust note, (I did say that the rear seats were surprisingly usable).

Retro Run and Silverstone Classic – July 2007

One of the starting points for the Retro Run drive for classic cars to the Silverstone Classic event happened to be the Aston Martin Works Service department at Newport Pagnell, so it seemed only fitting that we should take part on our way to the event. We found ourselves in some superb automotive company for the run itself, which served to further enhance a very pleasant drive through the East Midlands countryside.

Aston Martin Reserved Parking at Newport Pagnell prior to starting the Retro Run to Silverstone

Finding a New Home for AMV – Winter 2007-2008

As previously mentioned, living in rented accommodation and having to leave AMV parked outside on the driveway during the better weather, and in storage over the winter months, was decidedly sub-optimal. We therefore started house hunting in the winter of 2007, and of course one of our primary criteria was that the house had to have a large garage, (ok so this may have been my one overriding priority). Frustratingly this seemed to be misinterpreted by a number of estate agents, causing them to send us details for a number of properties with single garages. When explaining to them that these were insufficient for our needs, they asked us what we wanted to do with the garage space, then seemed to be quite surprised when we responded “put a car in it!” Fortunately a potential property was found, albeit that the length of garage space available seemed slightly marginal. The owners must have wondered why we spent quite so much time in the garage with a tape measure on our 2^nd visit, whilst we checked and re-checked the dimensions. We did successfully manage to satisfy ourselves that the garage would be suitable however, which made our minds up, we had found our new home. Now all that remained was for us to actually purchase it.

Of course, measurements are one thing, but the reality could be quite different. The time of reckoning came when the better weather arrived and we retrieved AMV from winter hibernation and brought her back to her new home. It was with a distinct sense of trepidation that we swung into our new driveway, opened the door and crossed the threshold into the garage. Had our measurements been accurate? Would it be deep enough to enable us to close the door again? In short… Yes… Eureka!

AMV on the driveway at her new home - September 2008

AMOC Area 4 at Barrington Court – July 2008

Staying a little closer to home, we attended our first local area AMOC meet at Barrington Court. We very quickly learned what a thoroughly friendly and gregarious bunch our fellow Aston owners were, and both ourselves and AMV were warmly welcomed into the fold. In fact a number of the people we first met at that event were to become firm friends.

Classics at Sherborne Castle – July 2008

Shortly afterwards, we paid our first  visit to the ever popular Classics at Sherborne Castle event, which resulted in a surprise encounter. As we parked up, the AMOC Area 4 rep at the time, Andrew, came up to the door to welcome us and told me that I had a friend at the event, only I hadn’t met him yet! Much to my surprise, Andrew then informed me that a fellow AM Vantage owner, Ian, had brought his Silver Birch example to the event. Specifically, this car turned out to be chassis no. AM/6016/RA. Predictably, we spent quite a bit of time examining and admiring each other’s examples, comparing the multitude of minor differences that existed between them.

Just to put the significance of this into some form of context, in the years that we have been attending events with AMV, this was the first time that we had ever encountered another example at the same event. To this day, this has only ever been repeated twice since. Just as remarkably on this occasion however, it turned out that they lived just a few miles up the road from us!

Two AM Vantages together at Classics at Sherborne Castle - July 2008

AMV making a friend at the Goodwood Festival of Speed - June 2007

Resting on the National Circuit at Silverstone at the Silverstone Classic - July 2007

Lunch at the Royal Oak in the New Forest - June 2008

In some very good company with AMOC at Barrington Court - July 2008

Aston Martin: A Car for Life

Back in the 1990s, Aston Martin used the phrase ‘A Car for Life’ to advertise its cars, however for a number of people, this had been true of the company’s products for a long time before then. In my particular case, it was an example of an obscure model from a turbulent time, in both the company’s history as well as the wider world, that would come to epitomise the very essence of that strapline.

The AM Vantage 1972-1973

The Aston Martin Lagonda Limited company had been sold by David Brown to an investment company called Company Developments in 1972. The company was only manufacturing the AMV8 at the time, however in April the new owners announced that a new model would be introduced alongside it. The curious decision was made to call the new model the AM Vantage, a moniker that had hitherto been reserved for the company’s high performance models, despite the fact that it was to be fitted with the lower specification straight six engine. In so doing, the company created their final model to be fitted with the classic AM hallmarks of: a) wire wheels, (which were no longer suitable for the higher weight and power output of the V8 engine), and b) the Tadek Marek straight six engine. In fact this engine, in one form or another, had been at the heart of all of Aston Martin’s road cars, starting in 1959 with the DB4, to the DBS which ended production in 1972, (after having seen some initial development in the crucible of motorsport, powering the DBR2 and DBR3 sports racing cars between 1957 and 1959).

1972 Aston Martin AM Vantage Press Photo (© Aston Martin Heritage Trust Collection)

The decision to use the Vantage name for the model was inconsistent with its usage up to that time, and would be further compounded by it consequently being used once again for the later higher performance versions of the AMV8. However, it was somewhat prescient of what was to happen in 2005, when the name ‘Vantage’ was adopted for the company’s new ‘entry level’ offering in their ‘V-H series’ of cars. Of course this has now been accepted as the new normal in the world of Aston Martin, as Vantage is the name that has been adopted for the company’s driver focussed, sportscar oriented model.

The AM Vantage was to be a particularly short lived model in the Aston Martin range however, with a mere 70 being produced between May 1972 and July 1973. Essentially the car was a continuation of the DBS, being mechanically the same under the skin, (or at least as much as it can be when considering that it is a hand built British car from a low volume manufacturer). The main differences were mostly cosmetic, as the early AMV8 body was used with its two single 7” headlights in place of the DBS’ two twin 5½” quartz iodine installations. The front of the car was also redesigned, with the shape of the radiator opening being clearly more reminiscent of the DB3S sportscar racer from the 1950s. The 5-speed manual gearbox also ran the same ratios as used in the DBSV8 and AMV8, which were different to those used in the 6-cylinder DBS. Finally the dished steering wheel was leather trimmed, in place of the wood rimmed wheel fitted in the DBS.

Exactly why only 70 were built seems to be somewhat of a mystery, possibly this was all that demand stretched to for the ‘lesser’ 6 cylinder model, at a time when the overall demand for expensive, thirsty performance cars was at a historical low point. After all, the world was in the middle of an oil crisis. However there is an unsubstantiated hypothesis that there may well have been 70 of the straight six engines left at the factory from the DB6 / DBS production days, so instead of letting them go to waste, they were simply fitted into a batch of cars from their current production run. Conjecture perhaps, but there is some circumstantial evidence to reinforce this idea, in that 68 of the 70 production AM Vantages were fitted with the standard ‘Vantage specification’ Weber carburettors, whereas two cars had the SU units as normally found fitted to the standard spec engine. Unless the original owners of these two cars particularly specified the fitment of SU carburettors in place of the Webers, it would seem to me that the factory may have been using up parts from their inventory.

Noteworthy AM Vantages

Chassis No.	Items of Note
AM/6002/RA	Earliest example known to still exist. Used for press photos in period. Currently owned by the Aston Martin Heritage Trust
AM/6033/RA	1972 Earls Court Motorshow car
AM/6039/RA	My car!
AM/6067/L	The only left hand drive examples built and the only ones fitted with SU carburettors
AM/6068/LA
AM/6070/RA	The last 6 cylinder car produced by Aston Martin for 21 years, until the launch of the DB7

AM Vantage AM/6039/RA

1^st Owner (1973 to 1982): Mr. John Millen

This car started life on the 9^th April 1973 at the Newport Pagnell factory and was likely the 39^th car off the line, (assuming that the chassis were produced sequentially from AM/6001/RA to AM/6070/R). She was subsequently delivered to the HWM Aston Martin dealership in Walton-on-Thames on the 11^th July 1973, having been purchased by the first owner, Mr. John Millen, owner of the Millen Machine Tool Company. The car was initially supplied with the registration number RPL 632L, however this was subsequently changed to the private plate 2 MMT by Mr. Millen. Originally painted in the very 70s colour of Cornish Gold acrylic paint, (hence the ‘A’ suffix in the chassis no.), the car was also right hand drive and equipped with a Radiomobile stereo radio, (one of these is the ‘R’ suffix in the chassis no.). She was also originally fitted with the Borg-Warner 3-speed automatic, (or perhaps more appropriately slush-o-matic), gearbox, but more on this later.

Cornish Gold AM Vantage

Not much else is known about the early days of the car’s life with her original owner, apart from the service history, as documented via the original service booklet;

Service History 1973-1981

Date of Service	Mileage	Details of Service
28/08/73	00953	500 miles service
28/08/73	00953	1000 miles service
17/01/74	03120	2500 miles service
08/06/74	05780	5000 miles service
05/10/74	07460	7500 miles service
21/02/75	09388	10000 miles service
06/10/75	12700	12500 miles service
01/04/76	16080	15000 miles service
20/12/76	17930	17500 miles service
03/06/77	19614	20000 miles service
14/10/77	21565	22500 miles service, car resprayed in Cricket White
05/01/79	26359	25000 miles service
09/07/79	28040	27500 miles service
02/04/80	30070	30000 miles service
11/04/80	34690	32500 miles service
26/08/80	39782	35000 miles service
10/03/81	45410	Total engine rebuild
23/07/81	51950	5000 miles service, suspension rebuild
27/10/81	54710	Mini-service, exhaust replaced (stainless steel system)

2^nd Owner (1982 to 2001): Mr. Graham Everington (my dad)

The car seems to have spent its first eight years in Middlesex, so it is unknown exactly what led to her ending up at a used car dealership in Leicestershire in 1982, where my late father traded his pride and joy, a Triumph Stag that he had rescued from a barn and had restored to his specifications, for the Aston. During this time, the car had lost its 2 MMT registration, presumably having been retained by the first owner, and instead gained the plate MVC 5. As I was 4 years old at this time, my recollection of the details of when my dad first got the car are not too good. However I do recall going with him to collect the car, (which ranks as one of my earliest memories), and the impression that this made on my young consciousness was indelible. That was how I was first introduced to the Aston Martin marque, and from that moment on it was to become my lifelong favourite.

Dad with his Triumph Stag (and my brother Tony’s) on tour through France – Early 1980s

The Robin Hamilton Connection

The original gearbox was not in good shape when my dad first got the car, and so he arranged for the car to go to the renowned AM specialist Robin Hamilton to have a 5-speed ZF manual gearbox fitted in place of the original 3-speed auto, an upgrade that I remain eternally grateful for. Robin Hamilton had a great deal of experience with these cars, having raced a heavily modified DBS V8 called RHAM 1, or “The Muncher” due to its appetite for eating through brakes when it raced at Le Mans in 1977 and 1979. This is also where the car got the ‘Nimrod’ window sticker in the rear windscreen, as Robin Hamilton was also involved in the development of the Aston Martin Nimrod Group C sportscar racer that would compete in the 1982 running of the 24 hours of Le Mans.

Aston Martin Nimrod - October 1982

Robin Hamilton's DBS V8 RHAM 1 "The Muncher"

The 1982 AMOC Summer Concours

In the summer of 1982, the car was entered into the Newcomers Class at the Aston Martin Owners Club (AMOC) Summer Concours event, which was held at the Newport Pagnell factory. Clearly the condition of the car suitably impressed the judges, as she scored highly enough to be awarded 2^nd place in the class. Unfortunately there were pine trees overhanging the driveway of the house we lived in at the time, which had resulted in a collection of pine needles collecting in the fuel filler cap wells. These had not been cleared out prior to the event and apparently that led to points being lost and ultimately resulted in 2^nd place. The car still wears the plaque commemorating this accomplishment on the glovebox lid to this day. These days I tend to get my enjoyment from driving the car rather than fastidiously cleaning and meticulously maintaining her in an ‘as original’ condition, and so even matching this result in such an event now is highly unlikely.

AMV at the AMOC Spring Concours Newport Pagnell - July 1982 (© Aston Martin Heritage Trust Collection)

AMOC Summer Concours Results 1982

Making Childhood Memories

Beyond these specific events, my memories of the car during my formative years mostly involve riding around in the, (surprisingly useable), back seat whenever my dad chose to get the Aston out, which was not as frequent an event as I would have liked! I have to say that, whilst I would never recommend riding in a car without a seatbelt, I did manage to survive doing so, as to this day the car does not have any rear seatbelts fitted.

AMV at home on the driveway (gathering pine needles!) - Summer 1980s

For some reason I remember always particularly liking the way that the orange coloured interior downlights above the stereo and bank of rocker switches in the centre console stack looked whenever we were driving with the headlights on, hence I quite looked forward to travelling at night.

The strangely appealing orange glow of the centre console

I also distinctly recall that because my dad didn’t really drive the car regularly enough, the engine was always reluctant to start. The rule of thumb that I worked out over time from witnessing my dad’s attempts to start the car, was that as soon as the engine coughed for the 1^st time after cranking over for a while, then it would tend to start on the next attempt… or sometimes the time after that! The jeopardy was whether this would happen before the battery gave out. Needless to say my dad had to make frequent forays into the boot to wrestle with removing the battery box lid and attaching a battery charger. I also remember him having to change the battery quite frequently. (These days I use a battery conditioner to maintain the battery and have also had a high-torque starter fitted).

There was one occasion where I remember going on holiday with my mum somewhere in the UK, (I forget exactly where), with my dad following on and joining us later after he had finished work for the week. He elected to bring the Aston for the trip but had recently had some Pirelli tyres fitted, which were softer than usual compound. When he eventually arrived at the hotel, he was in a very bad mood, as he had managed to pick up not just one, but two separate punctures enroute! He never fitted Pirelli tyres to the car again.

Another time when my dad had picked me up after school, I convinced him to take me for a longer drive in the car rather than just driving straight home. During this particular drive my dad elected to (safely) pass a line of slow moving vehicles on a well sighted section of road, just before we noticed a blue flashing light following us. Soon after pulling us over, it became clear that the policeman was more interested in having a closer look at and finding out some more about the car than he was concerned about the burst of speed that had been employed. In fact the reason he gave for pulling us over wasn’t excessive speed, rather that he was concerned that there was a hole in the exhaust due to the noise that the car had been making. Once my dad explained that was unlikely as the exhaust system was made from stainless steel, he let us go on our way.

Touring the Newport Pagnell Factory – August 1993

In 1993, my passion for all things Aston Martin also gave me the inspiration for a suitable subject for the special project that I needed to do as part of my GCSE Design course. I decided that it would be a good idea to compare and contrast the processes, techniques and products of a bespoke, traditional hand-built car manufacturer with those of a mass-production manufacturer, which thanks to the efforts of an enthusiastic and co-operative teacher, ended up being the Ford factory at Dagenham. Naturally I felt that my father’s long-term ownership of the car gave me the perfect rationale for choosing Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd. as the small volume manufacturer, and hence provided the introduction to a letter to the company requesting a tour. Fortunately my letter found its way to a gentleman called Roger Stowers, who had been at Aston Martin for many years and worked in the capacity of official company historian. It was only later that I was to learn just how legendary of a figure Roger was within the company, and how immensely fortunate I was to have had this amazing opportunity.

Needless to say, he was happy to arrange a tour of the Newport Pagnell factory and Works Service department for me. I think I must have managed to make a suitably good impression on Roger, as he seemed to be impressed by my ability to identify all of the cars that were being worked on in the Works Service department at the time. I distinctly remember that he asked me about one particular car, which I identified as a DB4 GT Zagato, to which he was gracious enough to concede that I was partially correct. Roger then proceeded not only to enlighten me that it was in fact a DB4 GT Zagato ‘Sanction II’, but also how to distinguish between it and an original example. Sufficed to say that I have never forgotten this vital piece of information, (it’s to do with the geometry on the rear, right hand side suspension setup in case you were wondering). Many years later, thanks to the fantastic work undertaken by the enthusiastic and helpful staff at the Aston Martin Heritage Trust, I discovered that Roger had actually photographed AMV at the AMOC Summer Concours event at the factory in 1982. What was even better is that they were able to get prints made up of those photographs from their archive for me to have.

The factory tour was no less spectacular, or informative, than the Works Service department had been. Roger was the most engaging and informative tour guide that anybody could ever hope for and seemed to be friends with every individual who worked in the factory. My overriding memories are of the, (very loud), sounds of aluminium panels being hand beaten into shape by the craftsmen on the shop floor, before ultimately being assembled to form the Virage Volantes that were being built on the line at the time. Then, after this painstaking process had resulted in a complete body taking shape, it was coated in white spirit, put under a set of bright spotlights and subjected to the expert eye of the final inspector. He then proceeded to mark every tiny imperfection that he could see in the body panels, resulting in any marked panels being removed and reworked until it was deemed to be fit for purpose. To me this was the ultimate example of the incredible craftsmanship and individuality that formed such an integral part of every one of the cars that came out of the Newport Pagnell factory.

I was also fortunate enough during my visit to see both examples of the V8 Vantage (V550) that existed at the time. This was much to my delight, as this car had already made a significant impression on me after having consumed all of the information I could find on it, (long before the internet became the inexhaustible resource that it is now). Not only that, but I was also lucky enough to get the opportunity to have a thorough look around Project NPX, (the prototype DB7 and the single example of the model in existence at the time), which was being prepared for a forthcoming appearance at a motorshow event. By way of a tenuous link to the AM Vantage, the DB7 was also fitted with a straight six engine, albeit this time with the addition of a supercharger. A powerplant that hadn’t been seen in a production Aston Martin for 21 years.

The V8 Vantage press car heading out for a drive from the factory - August 1993

The DB7 Prototype (Project NPX) at Newport Pagnell being prepared for a Motorshow – August 1993

The following article appeared in Revolution, the on-line magazine of MotorsportUK.

Today, International Women's Day 2024, seems a most appropriate day to add it here.

Enjoy...

AstonOwners.com is attending its first UK national show.  We have been allocated a large stand at the NEC for the Practical Classics Classic Car & Restoration Show at the NEC in Birmingham.  

The show runs for 3 days from Friday 22 to Sunday 24 March 2024.

Visit us on stand 3-285. This stand is opposite the auction so we expect a lot of interest. We are busy designing our stand and have  organised a couple of attractive Astons. In keeping with the Practical Classic theme we will be demonstrating both the printing of 3D spare parts and the diagnosing and repair of Electronic modules.

With lots of real technical experts on our stand it will be well worth a visit if you are interested in keeping your Aston on the road.

Subscribers save £3 off adult day tickets and £2 off child, family or multi-day tickets booked in advance.  Use the club discount code  S24CC883.

Winter is coming, and with those long trips to visit relatives for Christmas it is essential to check the weather en-route.   AstonOwners.com provide this service free to our subscribers using our Driving Weather page

There are Apps out there that allow you to do this, and at first glance some of those even appear to be free, but you usually need a subscription for them to work properly, and you only find this out after spending time learning how to use it. ( The dreaded In App Purchase trap! ) 

Subscribers are able to plan a route using Google Maps to which AstonOwners.com add the forecast along the route.  You end up with a map like the one below.  Useful features provided are:

• Set a departure time and get timed forecasts along the whole route.
• View a detailed listing of all the forecasts along the route.  (This includes weather warnings and snow depth)    
• A 7-day forecast is  available for both the start and end locations.  
• Quickly choose the start and end locations from Google's extensive 'Places' database and/or our Aston-friendly places database  
• Once you have your route you can send the directions to your phone's  Google maps App and get the verbal instructions from the nice Google lady....

For a long trip that covers changes in altitude and geography, this is an invaluable service provided free by AstonOwners.com.   

Become a subscriber

(Photo: RAF)

A chance conversation over a rather special dinner at the Guildhall in London in June 2023, resulted in an amazing day out for 50 AstonOwners.com subscribers.

Anthony King had kindly invited Gillian and I along to a gala dinner to celebrate his election to the Worshipful Company of Coach Makers and Coach Harness Makers. The warm summer evening had a motor racing theme with several luminaries – and a few cars - of the Le Mans-24 Hours Race present (Derek Bell, Andy Wallace, Martin Brundle, et al). I found myself sat next to the Executive Officer of RAF Brize Norton, Jim Davies. His interest in Aston Martins and mine in military aircraft soon resulted in an idea to bring the two together.

Roll forward to late September and plans were in place for a rather special day out, all in support of Services Charities, including the RAF Benevolent Fund. More on that later.

The day consisted of mustering at The Classic Motor Hub in Bibury for a delicious breakfast and some well-deserved coffee, many of the attendees having driven well over 100 miles to get there. Fortunately, the sun shone, even if the roads were a little damp from overnight rain and in some cases decorated by farming activities, to put it politely.

• Our day started with breakfast at the Classic Motor Hub in Bibury
  

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• There was time enough only for a quick look around there – with thoughts for many of going back another day – before 25 Astons set off for RAF Brize Norton, about 30 minutes’ drive away.

  There was a little fun trying to find the gate, too much for satnavs it would seem. As Gillian said, “the RAF can plan flights of aircraft to pass over Buckingham Palace with to-the-second accuracy and we couldn’t arrive at their gate on time”. C’est la vie, as we say in Oxfordshire!

  After the anti-explosives sniffer dogs had allowed us to pass, we convoyed to our first photo stop: in front of the huge A400M Atlas transport aircraft. What an impressive piece of kit that is! The RAF’s professional photographer took shots of each car and its occupants before we parked up at our designated reception centre where my contact and organiser of our day, Sqn. Ldr. Jamie Garrett, welcomed us and outlined the plan:

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• Tea, coffee, biscuits, souvenir shop and (unexpected) goody bags, plus my opportunity to sell raffle tickets to win items that nearly every driver had donated… there were almost more prizes than people!
• Split into groups to have a look inside the aircraft’s immense loading bay and upstairs to the unexpectedly spacious cockpit. It’s at this point that we discovered we could, after all, take photographs… great news, although on previous instructions, some cameras/phones were left in cars.
• Group photo of the cars with and without occupants at the rear of the aircraft.
• Escort off the air station to continue our adventures.

Our tour of the Atlas included chatting with a load master and witnessing the ramp operation. We then sat in the cockpit seats as the controls were explained to us (thankfully, in layman’s language). Our view from there included ‘real time’ through the windscreens, ‘virtual’ via the on-board screen and ‘head up’ through the pilot/co-pilot displays. All the while, the remaining cars were being photographed outside so that no time was wasted and our visit zinged along apace.

An unusual view from the cockpit of the A400(M) Atlas... Brian Small's Vanquish and Dean Taylor's DB4.

Herding people and cars into position was a job for the military!

Gillian and Andrew Fawkes's 1978 V8 is hardly camouflaged!

Jamie had put the word out so that his classic/sports car owning colleagues might come along. Consequently, our convoy to the aircraft was led by a gorgeous original Fiat 500 (not an official RAF car!) and our departure was led by Jamie’s fabulous Mini 850 DeLuxe that was owned by his grandfather… Jamie’s relationship with that car and his efforts to restore its magnificence is a story worthy of a classic car magazine. If anyone has a photo of those convoys, we’d love to see them.

The stunning 1960 Mini 850 DeLux owned by our host, Jamie Garrett, and previously his grandad

Further surprises included the Aston Martin Bristol team being invited to photograph the latest DB12 and DBX models at the loading ramp of the Atlas, no doubt a great shot for their PR, and both Jamie and I being interviewed for BFBS Radio… not something I’d prepared for!

The DBX of Aston Martin Bristol will fit easily in there... and cope with the otherwise Aston-unfriendly ramp lip!                (Photo: Aston Martin Bristol)

Our waved cheerios as we departed RAF Brize Norton were followed by the short drive to Little Bampton where we were welcomed by Steve of Alpine Eagle Restorations, a business that focuses mainly on vintage Rolls Royce and Bentley cars. There was a lovely selection of completed cars and work-in-progress to wander around. Alpine Eagle is one of many small specialist businesses focussed on the classic car world at that location. All had agreed to us parking there (thankfully) and to show us around their facilities.

Our host, Steve, runs Alpine Eagle Restorations who focus mainly on vintage Rolls Royce and Bentley cars

The M.B. Shop restores classic Mercedes Benz cars. Owner, Krasimir Kremakov, waxed lyrical about the cars and the processes involved in their renovation and maintenance.

Krasimir Kremakov (in short sleeves) explains the processes he employs to turn rusting hulks into award winning classic Mercedes

We then wandered to JL Historics where hugely enthusiastic apprentice, Tom Mika, showed us both the cars being worked on (from Zagato Alfa to Healey and pre-war Singer) and the machinery and techniques he employs. We spent a good while discussing the ‘English’ wheel before leaving there for our base, the Minster Mill Hotel.

JL Historics' apprentice, Tom Mika, explains how he's going to turn this rough piece of aluminium bodywork into a beautiful fender

That evening we were joined for dinner by Jamie and the station’s senior chaplain, Rev (Grp. Capt.) Colin Weir who kindly offered to open proceeding by saying Grace. It was brilliantly penned and delivered, so much so that it received a round of applause rather than the usual Amen!

A few toasts during the minimal formalities included ‘absent friends’, both for its wider context and by name for Anthony and Jim who had inspired the event but couldn’t be there on the day. Another celebration was Su’s ‘special’ birthday that she made sure we all knew she was enjoying… brilliant!

Birthday girl, Su Williams, smiles (not just) for the camera

Clockwise from left: Liz Jaehme, Beverley and Mike Jones, Sara Parry, Dave and Sarah Bryers, Gillian and Andrew Fawkes
(photo: Su Williams)

Clockwise from left: Gary Ungless, Rex Thornborough, Kevin Hawney, Rev. Colin Weir RAF, Jamie Garrett RAF, Brian Small, Kevin Hall, Liz Ungless, Gill Print   (photo: Su Williams)

Clockwise from left: Racheal and Lloyd Parker, Janet and John Rees, Laura and Rod Baker, Rob Parry, Angela and Richard Newberry   (photo: Su Williams)

Clockwise from left: LLoyd Berger, Kaz and Adrian Stanway, Sally and Steve Richards, David Such, Tanya Pritchard, Neil Woodward  (photo: Su Williams)

Jamie Garrett, centre, is about to receive a gift from the group from organiser, Andrew Fawkes (R) as Rev. Colin Weir looks on.
Clearly, the respective organisers got the message about dress code!

Departures for home on the following day included a visit for 10 of us to the relatively small but comprehensive Atwell Wilson Motor Museum in Calne, Wiltshire. Again, we were welcomed warmly, this time with home-made cakes, before our informal tour and onwards home.

Atwell Wilson Motor Museum Director, Paul Ellis, explains the history of the museum and the route around the displays

Totting up the various donations and raffle ticket sales revealed that our collective efforts had raised the huge sum of £2,600 for Services charities. Truly a high note to end on.

Thank you all for being there, for contributing and for making the event so memorable.

The happy troop before departing RAF Brize Norton.
Far left is Rex's 'stealth Aston', a last minute replacement for his sulking Vanquish!
(photo: RAF)

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Footnote: Each car received a lovely surprise goody bag gift from our RAF hosts:

Duck Chinuck (or is that Dook Chinook?) bath toy enjoys a different type of bathing.

That's all folks!

AstonOwners.com has become a full trade supporter of the FBHVC. We feel that this is a very good use of some of our subscription income. 

The Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs exists to uphold the freedom to use historic vehicles on the road. It does this by representing the interests of owners of such vehicles to politicians, government officials, and legislators both in the UK and (through the Federation Internationale des Vehicules Anciens) in Europe.
 
There are over 540 subscriber organisations representing a total membership of over 250,000 in addition to individual and trade supporters.

A very worthy organisation.