PRINCE OF WHEELS
The Prince of Wales drove his Aston Martin DB6 for a visit to the Aston Martin Lagonda factory at St Athan in Barry, Wales. The Volante was a 21st birthday present from the Queen. Charles chatted to staff at the plant and drove the company’s new SUV model, the DBX.
IT WAS more Top Heir than Top Gear when the Prince of Wales took to the wheel of a new Aston Martin.
Prince Charles, famously a fan of the brand, test drove the new Aston Martin SUV when he visited the car maker’s factory in Wales.The heir to the throne arrived at the Aston Martin Lagonda plant in his DB6 Mark 2 Volante, which he purchased in November 1970.
The vehicle was converted to run on E85 bioethanol made from by-products of the wine and cheese industries in 2008.
After arriving, Charles got into the driver’s seat of a red DBX – costing from £158,000 – and took it for a 15-minute test drive on the Aston Martin site.
In a speech to staff, he said: “It is a particular pleasure to be able
to visit an Aston Martin factory like this having been a very devoted member of the Aston Martin drivers’ club for the last 50 years or more. The wonderful
thing was I was able to drive my very old car here in my very old way and to be able to get in and out of it still – just.”
Prince Charles also visited the state-of-the-art CAF train factory in Llanwern, meeting workers and company officials and getting in the driver’s seat of one of the trains, before making a speech and unveiling a commemorative plaque.
Spanish firm CAF employs around 220 people in Newport.
The royal visitor was also give a model train, which he said would “amuse my grandchildren enormously”.
He then met CAF company officials and was given a tour of the huge complex in which the firm constructs and fits out trains for use around the UK.
Later Charles visited a Marie Curie hospice in Cardiff where he met patients and staff after visiting flood victims in South Wales.
New Aston Martin: Motoring.