Aston future-proofs its history
1970 AstOn mARtIn Db6 mk2 VOlAntE EV glen waddington
my goodness, it was a cold day. I was trying to imagine the sunlight-bathed Corniche as my teeth chattered while driving the never-more-appropriately named Alpine Route at Millbrook Proving Ground. After all, that’s more where you’d expect to drive a softtop DB6, isn’t it?
Only this is no ordinary DB6. There’s no straight-six up-front, and progress is devoid of woofles and snarls, in spite of the presence of a pair of tailpipes. ‘We left them there deliberately,’ says Paul Spires, president of Aston Martin Works, conspiratorially. ‘We didn’t want to give the game away.’
Shame they didn’t leave the heater there too, but Aston Martin is at pains to point out that this is a working concept rather than an actual prototype. In only 18 months, and developed by a core team only 12 strong, the prospect of an electrically motorised classic Aston Martin has gone from idea to fruition, initiated by Works but gaining real momentum when backed by Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer (see p52) as part of his wider EV strategy: soon Lagonda will take on Tesla in the electric limo market.
So, while the tailpipes live on, zero emissions flow therefrom. Although there’s a conventional gearbox in place, such is the broad torque-band of the proprietory electric motor that second gear is enough to pull away and accelerate to a cruise. And there’s no heater because there’s no heat! In ‘production’ versions, heat will be created and dealt electrically. For now, only the motor is on 48 volts; there’s a separate battery to dole out the usual 12V to headlamps, wipers and so on.
Aston Martin Works will be responsible for building Heritage EVs to order, based around existing cars and available along with the usual suite of upgrade and restoration options offered at Newport Pagnell. Why? Because Aston Martin doesn’t want future legislation to restrict the use of cars from its past. And while details of the eventual motive force remain secret for now, the plan is for a fully reversible ‘cassette’ powertrain that sits on the original mountings for engine and gearbox, replacing both, available from next year. And all sourced in the UK.
‘We’re an environmentally responsible manufacturer,’ says Spires. ‘This will safeguard valuable assets and guarantee their use in a world where internal combustions are no longer allowed on the road. These Astons will not be museum pieces. You’ll get all the beauty but none of the guilt.’
There’s even talk of cars being reverse-engineered in mere hours so that owners can take them to private petrol-fired trackdays, before reverting once again to EV mode for road use. Ambitious stuff.
Yet from the driving seat, all feels very normal. The instruments might yet be repurposed for production – there’s no need for a revcounter in an electric car – but they’ll still be Smiths dials; no touchscreens here. Select second (no need for the clutch), give it a
little ‘gas’ and you surge away: no histrionics, no noise, just the sense that you’re being pulled along by unseen – and unheard – forces.
Weight distribution is unaltered (in fact this car carries ballast to make up for the light battery content) and the motor responds to every movement of the right foot, whether you accelerate or decelerate: the regen takes care of almost all your braking needs.
There’s electric steering, light yet feelsome enough, and though there’s merely a whizzing sound from under the bonnet, there’s enough aural character in the remaining mechanical components that you still feel as though you’re driving an old Aston. And between, say, 40mph and 60mph, acceleration feels about on-par with the original factory DB6’s.
The Tickford works at Newport Pagnell predated the internal combustion engine. Looks as though it’ll now live beyond it, too.