Collection Magazine - Issue 1 - Autumn/Winter 22/23 - Magazine - Page 89
The DB9 may have fired the imagination for its two initials, of
course, but so much of the sophistication of what would prove one
of Aston Martin’s most important recent models lay underneath
and out of sight: a carbon fibre transmission tunnel, extruded
aluminium bulkhead, braided carbon fibre and honeycombed
aluminium A-pillar, cast aluminium windscreen surround or
ultrasonically welded part — the latter two both world firsts at
Aston Martin — can be a thing of allure and artistry too.
But technology can also serve artistry of a more obvious,
exterior kind — the kind we fall in love with. Take the DB11 as
a case in point — a car heralded as a game-changer for Aston
Martin. Its roof strake, for example, flows in an unbroken line from
A to C pillar only thanks to a process of extruding, stretching,
pressing, laser cutting, polishing and anodising — it’s a lot of work
for a little thing. And then there’s the grille.
“It’s my favourite part of the car,” says the always boyishly
enthusiastic Reichman, a man who, like the rest of us, no doubt lost
the little victim of the Corgi DB5’s ejector seat somewhere down
the back of the sofa. “There’s a slight undercut that gives it a bit of
a shark’s face, and I’m fascinated by sharks. They have an amazing
beauty while also being amazing predators. I wouldn’t want to swim
with them but I love watching them swim — and I think an Aston
Martin needs to have that same sense of potency too.”
A potency with personality — perhaps, at heart, the recipe for
Aston Martin’s survival; perhaps, as super-cars become less and
less relevant to the road, and more like rare breeds kept for the thrill
of the track, the ideal combination to face up to changing times too.
Yes, the Aston Martin story may, in the end, be of more value to its
customers than breaking distances. “But Aston Martin can’t just sit
back and do the same old thing,” as Reichman adds. “It’s always
been small and so agile. But we still have to keep thinking ahead.”
It’s always been small and
so agile. But we still have
to keep thinking ahead.
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