Aston Martin in the Racing World
Posted by in Aston Martin on July 16, 2011
Manufacturers of luxury or sports cars sell their cars almost entirely based on one factor: image. They have plenty of ways of promoting this, but one of the best ones is to pit their cars, engines and teams against the car, engine and team of another manufacturer. This is why you find so many of the luxury car manufacturers creating racing models as well, be they F1, LeMan, Autosport or whichever other competitions happen to take their fancy.
Aston Martin have a history of engaging in racing as their founder co-created versions of their cars to compete in the French Grand Prix as early as 1922, setting speed and endurance records on the track. It’s not surprising that such successes bore them on to competing in more races whilst also making people aware of, and interested in, their cars.
When people saw them winning races they wanted one themselves, which was one of the first instances of a car creating an image for itself that people wanted to buy in to. Who wouldn’t want one of the fastest cars available at the time?
This racing streak was continued after World War II when David Brown Limited bought the company in 1947. The models produced during this period, the world famous DBs, all won plenty of races for the company, bringing in prize money but, more importantly, demonstrating just how fast, slick and cool the cars really were.
By the time the 80s hit, not only were they doing just fine in the races but they were entering but the company was sponsoring All Aston Martin Owners racing events too, making sure that anybody who had bought one of their cars because of its speed had plenty of chances to put it to good use. Unfortunately, financial troubles saw the mid-eighties losing Aston Martins on the racing circuit, returning briefly and with limited success towards the end of the decade. This sad state of affairs continued through the nineties and early 2000s. Read the rest of this entry »
The Aston Martin V12 Zagato Unveiled
Posted by in Aston Martin on July 16, 2011
The sublime new “Aston Martin V12 Zagato (2011)” was unveiled a few weeks ago on the shores of Lake Como, Italy at the Villa D’Este Concours. By the end of the weekend the new Aston Martin V12 Zagato walked away with the prestigious award for the “Concorso d’Eleganza” (concours d’elegance) Design Award for Concept Cars and Prototypes.
The new Aston Martin V12 Zagato was designed to mark the 50th anniversary of the legendary iconic “1961 DB4 GT Zagato” which set the benchmark for hand crafted design in luxury sports cars. It follows in the historical heritage of the collaboration of both Aston Martin and designers Zagato in the quest for designing and producing driving excellence. The Italian design house Zagato are well known for their “avant-garde” styling, together with their weight saving approaches using space age materials as well as sleek design line to improve aerodynamics.
Zagato as a design company have collaborated together with Aston Martin on many special models together over the years as well as other “Grand Marque” sports car company’s like; Bentley, Maserati, Ferrari, Jaguar, and Lamborghini to name a few, so it is good to see them back together for their latest exotic sports car offering. After its unveiling at the Villa D’Este Concours, the Aston Martin Zagato will be heading for Germany to the formidable “Nürburgring Nordschleife” race circuit to compete in the annual “24-hour Nurburgring Endurance Race” which is set for the 25th June.
The 24-hour Nurburgring race will feature two AM V12 Zagato’s both driven by experienced racing drivers and supported by the Aston Martin Works team. The Nurburgring has always been a true testing ground for Aston Martin and this year’s race will be no different. The AM V12 Zagato will take on two forms, the road going luxury sports car and the stripped down race finish model purely for racing elite and money no object race teams. Read the rest of this entry »