Great day yesterday-Tour of Works Service and collected V12V
Discussion
Well what a day I had yesterday. Travelled from a sunny Aberdeen to a sunny Newport Pagnell with my father to collect his latest purchase; a V12V. 
He had hummed and hawed over one for long enough and no amount of spreadsheet comparisons would help him justify it to himself so it took my brother and I telling him we'll spend the money for him if he wasn't careful for him to take the plunge. He already has a DB6 Volante mk1 but felt the time had come to add something from the marque that was safer for the longer journeys. Also, as the good fellow at Works agreed, it's not often he has a customer coming in to buy a V12 as a more economical alternative to their current car such is the thirst of the DB6!
As it was a holiday Monday (lazy workshy sods...."we" (ok so not us
) Scots were working hard!) the lovely folk at Works opened especially for us and we got a tour of the whole place. Wow. For anyone who hasn't seen it I cannot recommend enough. It is certainly worth seeing and will ensure your custom for some time after viewing given the quality of workshops and attention to detail. The number of times BMW have had to paint the wing of my mother's Z4M is laughable. You would think they would learn to cover them when servicing?!
Obviously there are a considerable number of cars there and a lot that I didn't feel comfortable taking pictures of to protect the identities of owners and their cars being prepared/repaired but I have taken a few images.
The workshops are separated by a glass wall from the showroom;
And sitting just this side of that wall is the last remaining unsold One-77;
Some may recognise this. Never saw the owner himself. Was likely off servicing a receptionist somewhere.
Anyway, then came the fun bit for us. The new car!
Pa B had never even sat in one let alone driven one so took a little time to settle in;
He's enjoying it really. Just looks a serious chap
Went to a nice wee pub somewhere near North Wales called 'The Smoker'. Food was excellent, quick service and safe parking; would recommend. Could even have had the car washed by the Eastern European gents next door.
Then the weather turned a little wet. Well a lot wet infact. The car was still really planted though and I made good progress back to just shy of the Scottish border where I handed back to Pa B. I would have taken a pic of the car at the Dormy House at Gleneagles (our usual stop off point on our trips) but it was bucketing down so we ran back to the car. The rest was all pretty uneventful save for an 80mph wheelspin dragging up the hill leaving Dundee to head north.
Just the car keeping me on my toes i'm sure.
We carried on up to the outskirts of Aberdeen before taking a nice wee B-road into Aberdeen as it was dry again. The sport button was pushed (for the first time all day!) and the car leapt into action! WOW! What a difference. Makes my Vanquish feel a little sensible! The exhaust note on the over-run is sublime. It's a superb car. I'm so glad that's the route Pa B went. A DBS or DB9 would have been a more sensible tourer but he would have missed out on so much entertainment on the stunning Scottish B-Roads.
Here are a couple more now that it's home;
He had hummed and hawed over one for long enough and no amount of spreadsheet comparisons would help him justify it to himself so it took my brother and I telling him we'll spend the money for him if he wasn't careful for him to take the plunge. He already has a DB6 Volante mk1 but felt the time had come to add something from the marque that was safer for the longer journeys. Also, as the good fellow at Works agreed, it's not often he has a customer coming in to buy a V12 as a more economical alternative to their current car such is the thirst of the DB6!
As it was a holiday Monday (lazy workshy sods...."we" (ok so not us
) Scots were working hard!) the lovely folk at Works opened especially for us and we got a tour of the whole place. Wow. For anyone who hasn't seen it I cannot recommend enough. It is certainly worth seeing and will ensure your custom for some time after viewing given the quality of workshops and attention to detail. The number of times BMW have had to paint the wing of my mother's Z4M is laughable. You would think they would learn to cover them when servicing?!Obviously there are a considerable number of cars there and a lot that I didn't feel comfortable taking pictures of to protect the identities of owners and their cars being prepared/repaired but I have taken a few images.
The workshops are separated by a glass wall from the showroom;
And sitting just this side of that wall is the last remaining unsold One-77;
Some may recognise this. Never saw the owner himself. Was likely off servicing a receptionist somewhere.
Anyway, then came the fun bit for us. The new car!
Pa B had never even sat in one let alone driven one so took a little time to settle in;
He's enjoying it really. Just looks a serious chap
Went to a nice wee pub somewhere near North Wales called 'The Smoker'. Food was excellent, quick service and safe parking; would recommend. Could even have had the car washed by the Eastern European gents next door.
Then the weather turned a little wet. Well a lot wet infact. The car was still really planted though and I made good progress back to just shy of the Scottish border where I handed back to Pa B. I would have taken a pic of the car at the Dormy House at Gleneagles (our usual stop off point on our trips) but it was bucketing down so we ran back to the car. The rest was all pretty uneventful save for an 80mph wheelspin dragging up the hill leaving Dundee to head north.
Just the car keeping me on my toes i'm sure.We carried on up to the outskirts of Aberdeen before taking a nice wee B-road into Aberdeen as it was dry again. The sport button was pushed (for the first time all day!) and the car leapt into action! WOW! What a difference. Makes my Vanquish feel a little sensible! The exhaust note on the over-run is sublime. It's a superb car. I'm so glad that's the route Pa B went. A DBS or DB9 would have been a more sensible tourer but he would have missed out on so much entertainment on the stunning Scottish B-Roads.
Here are a couple more now that it's home;
Congrats on the new purchase Thanks for the comments folks.
Yes, I have pics of the DB6. I'll get them hosted and post shortly.
Erics,
Yes, I was very sympathetic to the owners whose cars may be there and sought permission to take pics. I'm not sure 'Mr Bond' will be too worried though as the tax disc shows he must rotate to another plate for road use
Yes, I have pics of the DB6. I'll get them hosted and post shortly.
Erics,
Yes, I was very sympathetic to the owners whose cars may be there and sought permission to take pics. I'm not sure 'Mr Bond' will be too worried though as the tax disc shows he must rotate to another plate for road use
To answer the V12V vs Vanquish S;
The Vanquish is a lot quieter and better put together. The V12V is a noticeable lightweight whereas the Vanquish is solid and as quiet as a big plush 4x4. The Vanquish S is a quick car, there's no doubt about that but the urgency of the V12V is something else. It is also significantly more pointy in that the Vanquish can be hustled through the corners but it's a bit of work. The V12V just eats the corner up, constantly chasing the apex with the slightest input on the wheel.
I certainly feel more 'at one' with the V12V than I do in the Vanquish. It's almost as though, despite the brutal performance of the V12V, the Vanq could bite a lot harder. Maybe that's just the sensation that the lack of clutch gives? Who knows. What I do know is that I will spend many many very happy miles in the pilot seat of all our cars and will undoubtedly enjoy each of them for different reasons.
The DB6 Volante pics. These were taken by Polished Bliss in Aberdeenshire who did a full detail of the car. I would say they did a pretty reasonable job...wouldn't you?
The Vanquish is a lot quieter and better put together. The V12V is a noticeable lightweight whereas the Vanquish is solid and as quiet as a big plush 4x4. The Vanquish S is a quick car, there's no doubt about that but the urgency of the V12V is something else. It is also significantly more pointy in that the Vanquish can be hustled through the corners but it's a bit of work. The V12V just eats the corner up, constantly chasing the apex with the slightest input on the wheel.
I certainly feel more 'at one' with the V12V than I do in the Vanquish. It's almost as though, despite the brutal performance of the V12V, the Vanq could bite a lot harder. Maybe that's just the sensation that the lack of clutch gives? Who knows. What I do know is that I will spend many many very happy miles in the pilot seat of all our cars and will undoubtedly enjoy each of them for different reasons.
The DB6 Volante pics. These were taken by Polished Bliss in Aberdeenshire who did a full detail of the car. I would say they did a pretty reasonable job...wouldn't you?
jonby said:
I take it you weren't tempted by the unsold ONE77 then ? :-)
Well....it never had a price on it but i'm assuming it was about £1.2m more than I have to spend on a car at the moment so decided to leave it. I wonder what one of these payday loans that seem to be all the rage these days could do to help me cover it....
James B said:
Well....it never had a price on it but i'm assuming it was about £1.2m more than I have to spend on a car at the moment so decided to leave it. I wonder what one of these payday loans that seem to be all the rage these days could do to help me cover it....
'More than I have to spend on a car AT THE MOMENT '.Love it.
goorwich said:
James B said:
Well....it never had a price on it but i'm assuming it was about £1.2m more than I have to spend on a car at the moment so decided to leave it. I wonder what one of these payday loans that seem to be all the rage these days could do to help me cover it....
'More than I have to spend on a car AT THE MOMENT '.Love it.
More than I could or would ever spend on a modern car. A nice classic however...
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