Aston Martin Works to offer new parts for classics
Need a brand new engine or gearbox for your DB5? Well, you're in luck
One happy side effect of Aston Martin’s obsession with continuation models was that bits for some of the marque's most famous and sought-after cars had to be reproduced as new. It was the first time some of these parts had been manufactured for decades. They were all made with painstaking attention to detail, and - as you might expect - built to the original specifications. Which is all well and good, but what if you haven’t got the funds required for a brand-new 'classic' Aston?
Well, for all those poor, unfortunate souls, having to make do with an original DB4, DB5 or DB6, there’s some good news: as a direct result of Aston beavering away on its box-fresh recreations, you will now have access to some brand-new bits for your car. And we're not talking minor items either - we’re talking brand-new engine blocks, cylinder heads and even gearboxes.
All the new parts come with the ‘appropriate documentation to fully support the provenance of these replacement parts – a vital reassurance when replacing the engine of a DB4 GT, for instance’ so that ‘owners can rest assured that the new components have been checked and approved by the Aston Martin Works team’. It’s not just the early DB models, either, because there are some newly manufactured parts available for V8 models as well.
Paul Spires is the President of Aston Martin Works, and he reckons: “Working with the exceptional engineers both here and at Aston Martin’s Gaydon headquarters, key parts suppliers were tasked with developing these new components. The heritage department at gearbox supplier ZF, for instance, was invaluable in helping to recreate original specification gearboxes – making these parts available for the first time since the early 1970s.” So there we go. Music to the ears of anyone with an AM restoration project in the garage. Sadly there's no catalogue to peruse at the moment - anyone interested needs to get in touch with Aston Martin Works direct.
You will find the 'German Badge' is on the Gearbox not the engine block. Let's hope ZF have done some improvements on the replacement gearboxes Aston Martin will be supplying now that are are not the same agricultural pieces of junk they used to supply before, which had such terrible constant mesh noise it sounded like a cement mixer full of bricks revolving in the transmission tunnel, when the engine was on idle. I had five Astons with this box in over the years, which were always a total embarrassment when you stopped at the lights with someone in the car that did not know Astons, that always made them say, 'What's that noise'. Should have been an embarrassment to Aston Martin as well but they decided not to take ZF to task over it, which is not really surprising as Aston Martin, along with every other car manufacturer has only really one real aim in their business, which is selling new cars.
Presumably all of these heritage parts are outsourced to other companies for manufacture and sold under the Aston brand.
Presumably all of these heritage parts are outsourced to other companies for manufacture and sold under the Aston brand.
You will find the 'German Badge' is on the Gearbox not the engine block. Let's hope ZF have done some improvements on the replacement gearboxes Aston Martin will be supplying now that are are not the same agricultural pieces of junk they used to supply before, which had such terrible constant mesh noise it sounded like a cement mixer full of bricks revolving in the transmission tunnel, when the engine was on idle. I had five Astons with this box in over the years, which were always a total embarrassment when you stopped at the lights with someone in the car that did not know Astons, that always made them say, 'What's that noise'. Should have been an embarrassment to Aston Martin as well but they decided not to take ZF to task over it, which is not really surprising as Aston Martin, along with every other car manufacturer has only really one real aim in their business, which is selling new cars.
Didn't they originate from a lorry gearbox IIRC?
And as there are no new old stock blocks available, the only option is a new block from the factory.
Not that anyone would file off the engine number and stamp an old number in. That would never happen...
And as there are no new old stock blocks available, the only option is a new block from the factory.
Not that anyone would file off the engine number and stamp an old number in. That would never happen...
You could, if you were racing &/or a lot of miles, run the new components and set the old aside for resale with the car.
Regardless I'm not sure what AM's angle is here. Micro-industry has been providing new-cast components (how else do these nut-&-bolt replicas get built?) forever; do AM just buy up a stock, run some QA and stamp their name onto the goods and pass them on at a profit?
To have bought all of these items and have them in stock will mean quite a bit of space taken up in their spares department. The turnover time for these components will be measured in decades, rather than years and anyone that does inventory control will appreciate that this costs.
I know these components won't be cheap and their pricing will reflect any "storage time" but I can't help but think this is a loss making endeavour for them.
Best leave the micro industry economics to the micro industry and Aston trying to make a profit trying to being a car company.......
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