One-of-a-kind Aston Martin gears up for 200mph attempt
A legendary, one-of-a-kind Aston Martin car is gearing up to achieve its goal of reaching 200mph at Machrihanish airbase next week.
The 44-year-old Aston Martin Bulldog will hit the runway on Tuesday June 6 after two-and-a-half years of work by technicians at world-renowned Shropshire-based restoration company Classic Motor Cars Ltd.
A team of technicians, led by Brett Eggar and overseen by managing director Tim Griffin, has spent hours working on the concept car to ensure it will be capable of carrying out the task it was given in 1979 when Aston Martin wanted it to be the fastest production car on the road and pass 200mph.
Styled by William Towns, it was intended to be the flagship production supercar for Aston Martin but it never went into production.
Next week, when it attempts the 200mph that Aston Martin promised in 1979, the Bulldog will be driven by three times Le Mans 24-hour class winner Darren Turner.
Speaking to the Courier ahead of the attempt, Mr Griffin of Classic Motor Cars said it was a “great honour” to be involved with such an exciting project.
Asked if the car’s age and uniqueness posed challenges during the restoration, he said: “There are always going to be challenges when you’re dealing with 1970s’ technology and bringing it up-to-date but it has been a very interesting project.
“This car is a true one-off; it was a hand-built prototype car that never went into production so you can’t just buy parts for it off the shelf; you have to make them.
“In any restoration, an attempt like this is a balancing act between maintaining the car’s originality but also ensuring it is capable of carrying out what it was originally supposed to do.
“For the team at Classic Motor Cars, it has been a labour of love.”
The restoration project is being managed by Richard Gauntlett, a son of Victor Gauntlett, who was chairman at Aston Martin when the Bulldog was sold to a Saudi prince in the early 1980s, and a friend of the car’s current owner Phillip Sarofim.
Asked why the former Vulcan bomber base and former Royal Naval Air station at Machrihanish was chosen for the 200mph attempt, Mr Gauntlett told the Courier: “It’s one of the few places that has the space but it’s fitting because the car is named after the Scottish Aviation Bulldog aircraft which was flown by Alan Curtis, the chairman of Aston Martin when this project started in the 1970s.”
Mr Gauntlett is passionate about the project and keen to “finish the unfinished story” after his father faced the difficult decision of getting rid of staff or getting rid of the Bulldog when he took over at Aston Martin in 1981 when the company faced financial challenges.
“It was actually very simple for him – he got rid of Bulldog,” said Mr Gauntlett. “The original engineers were convinced this car would make 200mph and they did 191.8mph in 1981. For a lot of those guys, this was a career highlight.
“For 40 years, the car has been hidden away, doing nothing, unloved and unused. The idea that we may vindicate what they have always felt to be true, 40 years later, makes this an exceptionally emotive project.”
Asked if he was optimistic about the chance of success next week, Mr Gauntlett said: “I am confident in the car and hugely confident in the work that’s been done to the car. There are no guarantees in the world of mechanical objects, but I am very, very hopeful because it would be lovely to close this amazing chapter.”
For safety reasons, only the media and the Classic Motor Cars team will be able to witness the 200mph run close up, but the public is invited to go along to see the car and meet the driver between 1pm and 2pm, after its run at the Machrihanish airfield.