The Aston Martin DB9, the first car to be produced at the new facility in Gaydon, Warwickshire, made its debut in Frankfurt yesterday.
The new 2+2 uses an aluminium bonded frame and is the first production model to use 'VH' Platform strategy (Vertical/Horizontal), which is unique to Aston Martin and will form the basis for all future Aston Martin models. Its advantages are that it is very light, provides better performance, handling and durability and yet it is extremely rigid. The body will be a mixture of aluminium and composite materials.
"The DB9 will without doubt be the most important Aston Martin model ever
," proclaimed Dr Ulrich Bez, CEO of Aston Martin. "Not only is it the first time in our history that we have a purpose-built facility but we now also have a dedicated platform
."
Each car will take around 200 hours of hand building to complete. The high tech facility at Gaydon now includes men in white coats as well as brown ones.
Power for the DB9 comes from a 450bhp V12 engine which has been developed specifically for this model. The 6 litre engine will blow its fire out via a stainless steel exhaust system complete with those fancy valves to alter the exhaust pitch when 'making progress'.
Gizmos will include ABS, EBD (Electronic Braking Distribution), Brake Assist, Traction Control and dynamic stability control.
The DB9 will replace the current DB7 which finishes production at the end of this year. Over 7,000 DB7s were produced and Aston Martin expect the DB9 to be a bigger seller.
The new car will be introduced in the Spring of 2004. Final pricing and specification will be announced then.
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