Even though Ford Motor Company sold off
Aston Martin to a group of equity investors, who installed Ulrich Bez as CEO,
the bonds with the Blue Oval ran deep in the veins of the tiny British company.
Where on earth would Aston Martin find the
funds to develop engines which could deliver Bez’s vision of power and
performance?
Answer – Heart Transplants. In the Bez plan
there needed to be two engines; a powerful top shelf multi-cylinder, and a
smaller, lighter V8. The solution came from the Ford catalogue, and the Aston
Martin engineers, aided in a very able fashion by Cosworth came up with just
the right combination.
Aston Martin V12 |
The famous V12, is basically two Ford
Duratec V6 engines lined up one behind the other; and genisis for the Vantage V8
is basically Jaguar’s AJ26 V8.
Aston Martin V8 |
Mind you, these donor designs are just
basic block and bore centres. Aston Martin, in conjunction with FordWerke AG in
Cologne, and Cosworth in England, built completely unique powerplants with all
the performance outputs demanded by Dr. Bez’s plans and vision.
Aston Martin One-77 |
The Cosworth-fettled V12 is used in Aston
Martin’s own supercar, the One-77; whilst the V8 started life in the Vantage
road-car, before helping create successful race cars for motor sport
customers.
Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2 |
However, as Dr. Bez departs the company he
tirelessly built and shaped into today’s highly-successful enterprise, he has
delivered another life-saving injection.
Mercedes-Benz AMG 'Black' V8 |
In July 2013 Aston Martin confirmed that it
would switch to a new V8 engine provided by Mercedes-Benz AMG, in a similar
arrangement to that which the German company has with Italian Supercar company
Pagani. In addition, Mercedes-Benz will take a 5% stake in Aston Martin.
The V8 engines will appear in new,
yet-to-be-announced models, and will not supplant the current engines, but it
will allow Aston Martin to meet stringent new emissions rules, while delivering
power outputs that could get Aston Martins up alongside Porsche.
As the emission regulations tighten
further, the company may also use an AMG-derived straight six engine, for the
first time since the old DB models.
The squabbling investors can acknowledge Ulrich
Bez's vision again, for having the foresight to solve a major problem before it
reared its head!
Geneva 2011 |
On behalf of the battling Board members and Aston Martin owners around the globe, I thank you Ulrich.
Well done!
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