Happy New Year!

A Happy New Year to all Aston Martin fans! May the new year bring you many fun drives in beautiful Aston Martins. Of course, 2013 is also the year in which Aston Martin celebrates its 100-year anniversary, with many special events planned. The first of which is the 100th Birthday dinner at the Park Lane Hilton Hotel, London, at which 800 guests will attend, including yours truly. If you’re there too, come say hi. I am the big bald guy in the black tuxedo ๐Ÿ™‚

V12 Vantage Roadster – “The Marriage”

Last week, my wife and I had the chance to witness the production of our new V12 Vantage Roadster, at the Aston Martin factory in Gaydon. But we missed the big moment, “The Marriage”, the joining of the engine and drive train with the body. However, the nice people in Gaydon kept an eye on the progress of my car and were able to make photos during The Marriage. Here’s the pics they created for me.

The making of my V12 Vantage Roadster

In June, I received news from my dealership that Aston Martin had finally decided that they would indeed make a V12 Vantage Roadster. It would be a limited run of only 101 units and they just started taking orders. With the V12 Roadster having been my ultimate, but sadly non-existant, dream car for about 3 years, it didn’t take me long to make my decision. In fact, within 15 minutes of receiving the news I had placed my order. Fast forward five months and the production of my topless V12 Vantage has started. And the best part: we got invited to watch it being created at the factory in Gaydon!

Meeting the maker: Barry Griffin

One cool thing I like about Aston Martins is the small plaque under the bonnet that says: HAND BUILT IN ENGLAND FINAL INSPECTION BY followed by the name of the “final inspector. My first Aston (a V8 Vantage Roadster) was inspected by SIMON WARD. The plaque in my current V8 Vantage S Roaster says PAUL GODDARD. But the final inspector of my favorite car, my V12 Vantage, is BARRY GRIFFIN.