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

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      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.