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Is this a hint of what's to come from Aston
Martin? The 'Twenty-twenty' is the work of Italian design studio Ital
Design and the famous designer Giorgetto Giugiaro responsible for the
styling of many of the twentieth century's better looking cars. His
designs have included the VW Golf, Lotus Esprit, Fiat Uno and rather more
amusingly the Morris Ital.
The Aston Martin management gave its permission to Giugiaro to undertake this project, with the idea of seeing what a convertible might look like in the year 2020. The car has all its load bearing structures visible along with some of the V12 engine. Generous use of carbon fibre compliments the bright steelwork. "A homage to the car as a complex and rigorous engineering object” is how Giorgetto Giugiaro sums up the car. Yeah... nicely put GG. The Aston Martin DB7 marked a turning point in the history of the Newport Pagnell based manufacturer. Known in more recent years for its huge hand built brutes of sports cars, the DB7 marked a return to the sleeker looking, stylish 'David Brown' series of sports cars that made the company famous. It also signalled the end of hand building all its cars.
Powered by 420 horsepower 6.0 litre V12 Aston Martin engines, the DB7 Vantage and Vantage Volante models made their world debuts at the 1999 Geneva Salon and now account for more than 95% of all DB7 sales. Four thousand cars have now been made (Feb 2001), a figure indicative of the modern manufacturing techniques. Individualisation is still an important part of the process however, with an unlimited range of exterior colours available and numerous options for interior trim, and options The influence of parent company Ford stretches far beyond the raiding of the parts bin for interior trim though. Ford has plans for Aston Martin - the days of hand building a few cars a year are long gone. V8The aging V8 range is the next target for modernisation. The replacement model - the Vanquish - uses an aluminium spaceframe chassis developed with assistance from Lotus. (Click here to see the Vanquish)
Power is from the V12 used in the DB7 Vantage, which has been developed and is capable of producing up to 600bhp in testing. V12The V12 engine is key to maintaining Aston Martin's presence in the lucrative North American markets where it's currently enjoying good sales. The latest V12 is a 420 horsepower, 48 valve, all-alloy unit - the first of a totally new generation of advanced technology Aston Martin power units which are already capable of exceeding the most stringent of current and projected emission standards.
Developed in conjunction with Ford and Cosworth, it features lightweight alloy castings, twin overhead cams per cylinder bank, four valves per cylinder and can operate at up to 7000rpm. Baby AstonAt the other end of the scale, Ford is pitching Aston Martin in at the Porsche Boxster segment of the market with a mid-engined two seater. With internal development efforts focused on the V12, the engine choice for this project raises some interesting questions. A transversely mounted straight six is unlikely, again raising the possibility that an engine from Ford or one of its subsidiaries could be used. The next few years are set to change the face of the company. Aston Martins are set to become a more common sight on the high street. Whether Ford can maintain AM's character whilst taking it to the mass markets remains to be seen.
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