Aston Martin Engine Development: 1984-2000. Arthur Wilson L.

2.2 Me in a DB5 Vantage Show car. I can’t remember which show but car is left-hand drive with air-conditioning, so could be for the USA.

Figure 2.3 Engine bay of same show car, just been set up.

      The DB5 Vantage pictured in Figures 2.2 and 2.3 almost didn’t make it to the show. I forget why, but for some reason I had to do a cylinder head change on this car in the rectification department. I had changed the head and had gone off to return the valve timing jig, etc. to the engine build shop as they needed it back. I still had to set the fuel levels and ignition timing before tuning the carbs. While I was away, someone convinced the apprentice of the time, Paul Mintoft, to move the car off of the ramp. There was a spit back in the air box causing a small fire, no big drama until someone decided to take the air box lid off to look at the fire – big mistake. The fire got out of hand and required the use of an extinguisher that made a mess. I ended up doing another head change and the apprentice got a telling off, rather unfairly, I thought, as he had only done as he was told.

      Figure 2.4 Silverstone 1959 – a few of us had skived off for the afternoon practise on Friday. I remember two of us standing at the Woodcote end of the pit lane chatting to Stirling Moss, as you could in those days, when an Aston came around Woodcote well out of shape. I think it could well have been driven by Roy Salvadori. Mr Moss seemed to disappear in a puff of smoke only to reappear on the other side of the pit wall; we did our best to follow as the car flashed past, narrowly missing the pit wall.

      The road test department was closed down for a short time in July of 1971. During that time I worked at our main London agents as road tester. This was something of a new experience for me and gave me the opportunity of direct contact with customers, which gave me a greater insight into what was important to them. I also developed a great deal of respect for the work that our dealerships and in particular our own service department did. After a little short of a year, engine tune was becoming a problem back at the factory and I was invited back.

      As a young apprentice during the 1950s I had followed the fortunes of Aston Martin sports car racing and I am still very much in awe of the people that made Aston Martin what it was in 1959 when I joined the company. That year has to be the pinnacle of what was a long period of outstanding motor racing achievement with nothing remotely like it since. It is a milestone year in Aston Martin history and for that matter in British motor racing history. So even after 41 years at AML, I still feel something of an upstart, especially when contemplating writing anything about the company.

      I feel very fortunate to have worked at AML during the period that I did. Starting at the beginning of the year that we won the sports car championship and the Le Mans 24-hour race was a good starting point to a career that has never been dull. It would be difficult to imagine working anywhere else in the motor industry that could provide the same level of involvement in a very skill-dependent process. Maybe a process from a different age where craftsmanship was more necessary and had a greater value than it does nowadays. There were times when we had to work very hard indeed but somehow it didn’t seem to matter it was just something that needed to be done. Working at AML was more of a way of life than a job.

      Looking back, I suppose that the David Brown years must be considered as the high point in post-war Aston Martin and Lagonda history, a time of strong investment in motor sport to promote the product. When I started work at Newport Pagnell, I started as an employee of the automotive division of David Brown Industries, but as from the close of business on 30 June 1960, this became Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd. Thereafter AML had to stand alone and make its own way as a separate company, which is when life became tougher for all of us. But the magic in the names ‘Aston Martin’ and ‘Lagonda’ somehow got us through. They have a well-earned reputation as being something special, even exotic, by motor enthusiasts in all walks of life, including some of our component suppliers who so often supported us with much more enthusiasm than they really needed. This is an image that has encouraged motor enthusiast entrepreneurs to invest their time and fortunes and employees to put a lot more than just doing a job into what they were producing.

      There was always closeness and a feeling of belonging to something special working at AML, a strong family relationship that extended out to envelop owners and dealerships worldwide. Working at AML, one always had a great sense of being part of a family, one strong enough to ride the ups and downs of the motor industry while producing very special motor cars for a few very lucky people.

      Experimental Department

      In 1972, I was offered a position in the experimental department on engine development, primarily on engine test bed development and carburetion. I would be working for David Morgan, who was chief engineer on engine development reporting to Harold Beech, who was head of design. You can imagine how pleased I was, although it did mean a drop in earnings and any overtime was to be unpaid but expected.

      This was a very exciting time for me working directly for David in the experimental department at AML and later on within Aston Martin Tickford (AMT). Also during the Tickford days I was fortunate to work closely with Alistair Lyle, who was chief engine designer for AMT. I learned a great deal from Alistair in the process. They were busy times and it would not be possible to cover it all in this book, but the following is a taster.

      The early part of my time in the experimental department was mostly taken up with the move to carburettors on the V8 engine and, in particular, the USA version.

      Contrary to some of the more fanciful stories that I have read, the reasons for moving on from the Bosch mechanical injection was no more than the normal process of product development by both parties. Bosch was going away from mechanical injection and we would have been the only people using it (if Bosch would have been prepared to produce and support it for such a small volume). The complete system was also quite heavy and it was quite complex and time-consuming to manufacture and set up when compared to a carburettor installation. Carburettor technology of the time was not standing still and it was possible to achieve a good balance of power and emission control using four Weber twin-choke 42DCNF carburettors. Drive ability was improved, performance was at least on a par and fuel consumption was slightly improved – the only downside was the need for a power bulge in the bonnet. From an engine development point of view, it was much easier to make changes to the carburettor calibration in-house, whereas any changes to the calibration of the Bosch metering unit meant Bosch involvement. Again the question of continued Bosch support has to be considered, taking into account that they were going away from the mechanical system and our small-volume manufacture.

      Times were hard for the UK motor industry as a whole during 1973/4, and just before Christmas 1974 we were all taken to a meeting at the local cinema and told that the company was going into receivership and that we would be made redundant. This was a bit of a shock to say the least. Somehow I had to earn a crust, so I started up working for myself rebuilding race engines and tuning carburettors, etc. on various exotics including Astons. I was doing pretty well but when, in 1975, the call came to go back to AML, I couldn’t resist – it just gets into your blood. When I started back in what had been the production rectification area there were two other guys already there, Bill Harris and John White. Roger Date re-joined a week after me. We were putting together cars that were part finished and I was required primarily to set the engines up but we all pretty well tackled anything on the car. I still had jobs in progress at my workshop, so for a while I worked all day at AML and at my workshop in the evenings.

      Eventually things began to pick up and AML was reborn as AML (1975). And as departments slowly started to regroup I was invited to re-join the experimental department by Mike Loasby, who was now in charge of the department. Harold Beach was retained as a consultant.

      Thus began a very busy period as the go-ahead for the new William Towns-styled