Cheapening of new AM Interiors?

[Speedraser]

Aston Martin interiors are stunning, and of very high quality IMO -- a big part of the appeal of the cars. However, I recently had the chance to look closely at the new Vanquish as well as a new DB9, and I noticed a couple of things.

1) On the Vanquish, why did they add a prominent piece of plastic above the instruments (under the leather covered instrument cover)??? Looks cheap, IMO, and the other Gaydon cars don't have it.

2) The new cars no longer have the leather gaiters around the seatbelt latches (at least not for the front seats). I always thought that was a very nice, elegant touch that showed real attention to detail.

3) On the new Vanquish, the mount on the B-post for the shoulder harness guide looks like a generic part -- it looks just like a parts-bin item like that on any other car. The other Gaydon cars have a beautifully made bespoke piece of alloy through which the belt travels.

This is a worrying trend, IMO.

Separately, why, oh why, does the new Vanquish's speedo read to 240 mph??? It just squeezes all the usable numbers even more closely together, making the analog speedo more difficult to read. Wasn't the already-faster-than-it-can-go 220 mph speedo high enough???

[Zod]

The speedo is impossible to read anyway and, given the Vanquish's gearbox limits its top speed, it does seem a silly move to increase the reading.

[KarlFranz]

I agree. This is a worrying trend. The plastic binnacle surround, the small plastic buttons embedded into said piece, seatbelt parts, and plain vanilla looking door cards on the Vanquish are all a bit disappointing for a $300KUS car.

[jeremydb9]

Same with newer boats. Fairline used to have beautiful curved cabinetry held up by individual hydraulic rams, and hand grafted stainless steel internal grills in front of the speakers. The bean counters got hold of it and they now have sliding flat fronted cupboards. The price of progress - not!

[Ed50]

jeremydb9 said:

Same with newer boats. Fairline used to have beautiful curved cabinetry held up by individual hydraulic rams, and hand grafted stainless steel internal grills in front of the speakers. The bean counters got hold of it and they now have sliding flat fronted cupboards. The price of progress - not!

Jeremy,

I agree with your Fairline comments entirely,bean counters and all but thats the difference from their heyday and to where they are today.

Corners cut and quality to be questioned compared with what went before so lets hope AM don't follow a similar charter.

[Little Donkey]

Reluctantly, I have to agree. What I love about Astons is that you can pick a part and imagine a bloke standing at a machine and turning out the lump of metal that will eventually be guiding the seatbelt or, pulling on a leather strap that someone has stitched together but just simply allows access to the fuse compartment. All these tiny points are the things I show off when people look at my car, knowing that this is what sets the marque apart from anything else, but they all add up to making an Aston an Aston.

When I looked at the Vanquish launch car, pretty much the first thing I noticed was that the gas struts on the boot appeared to be just standard black units which could have been from any old parts bin. Nothing like the nice anodised struts on my vantage. More recently I have noticed that the door trim just seems to lack that extra something. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to criticise the Vanquish, it's still a beauty but I do hope that this isn't the start of a trend for future models. Otherwise, we may as well all buy Jags.

[yeti]

Little Donkey said:

Otherwise, we may as well all buy Jags.

Ooof. Harsh crticism indeed, but that is I suppose what separates the two marques. It isn't performance, sound, handling or looks anymore

Fiddling with the Morgan today, lots of little quirks and hand-built work arounds / solutions on it. Maybe Uncle Ulrich should go on a tour of the Mog factory and remember what 'hand-built' means. I am not suggesting for a second they go back the the pre-Gaydon days, but just that the devil is in the detail...

And the detail is what sets them apart.

[Little Donkey]

yeti said:

Little Donkey said:

Otherwise, we may as well all buy Jags.

Ooof. Harsh crticism indeed, but that is I suppose what separates the two marques. It isn't performance, sound, handling or looks anymore

Fiddling with the Morgan today, lots of little quirks and hand-built work arounds / solutions on it. Maybe Uncle Ulrich should go on a tour of the Mog factory and remember what 'hand-built' means. I am not suggesting for a second they go back the the pre-Gaydon days, but just that the devil is in the detail...

And the detail is what sets them apart.

I pondered over writing that for some time......... I recall the maseratis I had feeling ordinary inside and this is partly why they struggled to stir any sort of real emotion. Yes, there was swathes of leather and a nice clock but that really was about it. Even though my V8 was lacking in toys, it felt special. The metal ash tray lid, the leather strap that holds the seat belt in place over the seat, the hand stitched head lining, all things that sets the marque apart. People have said on here that the new jag feels a bit mass produced and of course, it would do. But your typical Aston owner won't stand for this. AM may well be a victim of its own success here but it needs to use this success to move forward in the tradition of the brand and not just to satisfy the accountants.

Mind you, the wiper / indicator stalks are crap, though :-)

[yeti]

Little Donkey said:

Mind you, the wiper / indicator stalks are crap, though :-)

I hadn't heard? Pray, tell; is there a thread upon this hallowed forum I could peruse, perchance?

[Little Donkey]

yeti said:

Little Donkey said:

Mind you, the wiper / indicator stalks are crap, though :-)

I hadn't heard? Pray, tell; is there a thread upon this hallowed forum I could peruse, perchance?

Is there??? If you should stumble across such a thread, please do let me know.

Anyway, I leave the wipers in auto and I can rarely be bothered to indicate, so they don't bother me really. Only joking of course, occasionally I use the screen wash!

[V8V CG]

Speedraser said:

The new cars no longer have the leather gaiters around the seatbelt latches (at least not for the front seats). I always thought that was a very nice, elegant touch that showed real attention to detail.

Now that is sensible. It will reduce to one the number of slots into which I can try and insert the seatbelt tongue, compared to three now: (1) between nearside leather and socket - wrong, (2) socket - correct, and (3) between socket and offside leather - wrong).