Gaydon

Aston Martin has commenced production of the highly anticipated DB11 for UK customers, the first core car launched under the luxury carmaker’s six year ‘Second Century Plan’. With the first DB11 coming off the Gaydon production line today, first deliveries to customers will take place during October. Aston Martin President and CEO, Dr Andy Palmer, who will personally assure the quality by inspecting the first 1,000 cars, said: “It’s an exciting moment for the entire company when the first car of a new model goes into production. The DB11 is a special car and it heralds the start of a new and exciting era for Aston Martin.” The new DB11 is the first in a line of seven new models to be launched over the next seven years, in line with the company’s ‘Second Century Plan’, which takes the 103-year-old […]

The British Motor Museum re-opened to the public today, Saturday 13 February, following a £1.1m refurbishment. Formerly known as the Heritage Motor Centre, the new Museum will be visually more exciting with an immersive display of British motoring history, designed to appeal to both current fans as well as new audiences. Also opening today was the new Collections Centre, allowing public access for the first time to an extra 250 cars from the reserve collections of the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust and the Jaguar Heritage Trust. The Museum was officially opened by Managing Director, Julie Tew at 10am along with a live broadcast from Touch FM. Tew said, “We are delighted to re-open the Museum to visitors for half term. We have a packed programme of family events and tours and visitors will be impressed with the changes we have […]

Heritage Motor Centre said the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust at Gaydon had gained “designated” status from Arts Council England, confirming its vehicles were of national significance. It shuts for the work from 30 November and will reopen on 13 February. A new £4m Collections Centre, featuring about 250 vehicles, mostly previously unseen, will open on the same day. Heritage Motor Centre, which claims to have “the world’s largest collection of historic British cars,” said visitors would be able to “look under more open bonnets” and enjoy new interactive content including sound and film, following the revamp. The new museum will boast zones telling the cars’ stories in more detail, a new entrance and a new area for education programmes. For more information, check out the official British Motor Museum website.

Aston Martin is today announcing the opening of a new warehouse and logistics hub. Created to support the future expansion of the business, the new facility is located at Wellesbourne, close to the company’s headquarters in Gaydon, Warwickshire. Representing a multi-million pound investment, the new development is the largest storage and distribution base in the company’s 102-year history. Aston Martin Manufacturing Operations Director Keith Stanton said: “The opening of this superb new facility at Wellesbourne is a vital part of our Second Century Plan. “Ensuring we have the right materials in the right place at the right time is, of course, fundamental to our manufacturing process. As the volume and complexity of our operations increases in the months and years ahead, we will be relying on the team at Wellesbourne to help us deliver our exciting new generation of Aston […]

The Heritage Motor Centre is launching a new show on Sunday 7 July to celebrate a host of British cars including the iconic Mini. ‘The BMC and Leyland Show’ has been launched to incorporate vehicles manufactured by the British Motor Corporation, British Leyland and Rover including commercial and military vehicles. The show is expected to attract up to 80 different marques made over a 100 year period including names such as Daimler, Alvis, Wolsley, Austin, Morris, Riley Standard MG and Land Rover. As well as up to 800 models on show, there will be a large Autojumble and motoring related trade stands. A show highlight will be the opportunity for visitors to see 12 different vehicles from the HMC reserve collection that aren’t normally on display in the Museum. This new show will incorporate the former Gaydon Mini Show and […]

A wealth of unseen historic British cars could soon be on display at the Heritage Motor Centre after a trust based there received a lottery cash boost. The British Motor Industry Heritage Trust has received initial support from the Heritage Lottery Fund for a £2.5 million project to create a new building to store and display the Trust’s reserve collection of historic British cars, at the Gaydon centre. Funding of £51,100 has been awarded to help the Trust progress their plans to apply for a full grant in 2012. If two more rounds are awarded building work on the new project could begin in 2013. The Trust has a collection of almost 300 cars, telling the story of the motor industry in Britain from the 1890s to the present and although more than 160 of these vehicles can be seen […]

Aston Martin may cut as many as 600 jobs, the British sports car brand said today. The possible cuts of 300 full-time jobs along with “a similar number” of temporary positions are part of a discussion between the former Ford Motor Co. subsidiary and its trade union. Aston Martin also said it’s considering other undisclosed cutbacks related to worldwide economic woes and plunging sales. “These are regrettable but necessary measures in the extraordinary market conditions we all now face,” Aston Martin CEO Ulrich Bez said in a statement. The cutbacks come as the automaker seeks to revive the Lagonda luxury brand to diversify its product mix beyond sports cars.