Aston Martin Engine Development: 1984-2000. Arthur Wilson L.
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be involved in all of the many projects – from driving emission durability cars and riding shotgun in the Bulldog to running all manner of engines on the dynamometer. Whatever Arthur was involved in he gave it 100 per cent and his attention to detail was always impressive. Arthur’s restored cars are perfect examples of his exceptional abilities and his eye for detail, they are all absolutely immaculate.
Among the lighter moments were the trips to Le Mans to support the V8 engines in the various chassis – the long 24-hour vigilance; the hectic pit stops to identify misfired and block off injectors on the non-firing cylinders but still managing to get the car home in a well-earned seventh place; the ‘if onlys’, like when a clutch cylinder leak lost one of the cars a top five finish. We had some happy times too!
While Aston Martin has been well documented over the years, this book gives you a unique detailed inside look into a period of Aston’s history from a person who was a part of actually making it happen.
I write this foreword in the grateful appreciation of Arthur’s friendship and help to me over very many years. I’m full of admiration at the abilities he so clearly demonstrated in the Aston Martin 32 valve Vantage that he created.
David Morgan.
Formerly Chief development engineer, Aston Martin.
(1964-1981) Tickford, Engineering Ltd.
Director of Engines (1981–2002).
Author’s Preface
When I first started to write these notes I was not sure what I would do with them or why I should write about the period of AML engine history that happened during my stewardship. But I had started at a time when so much of what had gone before appeared to be of little value and was being thrown away. I suppose that I just felt that with all of the changes that were occurring during the mid-nineties there was a strong possibility that an important part of our history would be lost forever or worse still, rewritten. I am by nature a shy person, much happier in a test bed or on a test track with a box of jets and E tubes rather than in any spotlight. I have been interviewed by journalists and authors on a number of occasions and I can only say that I sympathise with them – the term “blood out of a stone” springs to mind. So if I don’t actually write something down myself then my version of events will surely be lost. Therefore I am a slightly reluctant author and I fear not a very polished one – my first attempt and all that but here goes.
I have written about engine development at AML mainly during the period 1984 to 2000 but with some background reference to my time at AML leading up to that period. I write with the reasonably well-informed Aston Martin enthusiast in mind, sufficiently well informed to understand the effects of legislative constraints on motor manufacture as opposed to the relative freedom of aftermarket modification and racing. Naturally my comments in this book will mainly apply to the former. It is simply a book about engine development at AML.
One thing that became very obvious as I wrote was the pace at which technology progresses within the motor industry, particularly the components used to respond to environmental issues. When I started to write I was writing about the technical innovation of recent times but as time went on I was aware of being overtaken by the pace of change. Technical innovation is a very perishable subject to write about so the content in this book on that subject should be looked at with the early to mid-90s in mind. What may have seemed an almost insurmountable problem at that time and therefore a major achievement when resolved would perhaps now seem a minor inconvenience due to the advances made in component technology, particularly as regards catalytic converters and electronic engine management. Having said that, anyone who knows the business will appreciate that the 32 valve Vantage engine in particular did set new standards. It was the most powerful production car engine at the time of its release and the design philosophy behind the supercharged approach was appropriate for the challenges of the time.
London Brick Co to Aston Martin Lagonda
I was about seven years of age when I first fell in love with a motor car. Up to that time and bearing in mind that I was born in the same year as the Spitfire made its first flight, it had been aircraft that had been my main interest. The subject of my new affection was our first family car, a 1934 Wolseley Hornet Special known as Phoebe II. As was the practice of the time, the name had been professionally sign-written on the offside front of the long bonnet and was there when my parents bought the car. To a young lad, Phoebe was everything that a real sports car should be. The engine was a lovely little six-cylinder with single overhead cam, twin Skinners Union (SU) carburettors and loads of chrome oil pipes. It made a wonderful noise and smelled of hot oil mixed with a sort of hot electrical insulation material, all scary stuff. It still gives me a tingle when I think about it, funny how smell is such an important part of one’s memories of old cars. From then on I was hooked, particularly on 1930s sports cars.
When I left school at the age of 15, I began a six-year apprenticeship as a motor fitter at the London Brick Company (LBC) at Newton Longville, note the old term ‘fitter’ rather than ‘mechanic’. I would be working on the fleet of lorries used to transport the company product, not the sports or racing cars that I would have liked. But I was told that the standard of fitting required on diesel engines of the time was much higher than for the run-of-the-mill petrol engine and would stand me in good stead for later. Also the LBC provided one of the best apprentice schemes local to me at that time.
The lorries were mostly diesel engine AEC with a couple of ERF that I remember did not have starter motors. They were started on the handle that in the depths of winter sometimes required a team of men on a long rope and a guy in the cab with a flare down the intake to get them started. The flare was a piece of welding wire twisted around a piece of rag at the end, which was dunked into the fuel tank, set alight and held over the air intake while the engine was cranked. The flare procedure was common practice for all of the diesel engines in cold weather. There was also a number of side valve petrol engine Morris Commercials for more local deliveries and a small fleet of vans, buses, coaches and an ambulance to maintain.
We occasionally had manager’s company cars in for work. These were mostly Morrises or Wolseleys, which I remember as increasing in Royal Automobile Club-rated horsepower in line with the status of the manager. The chairman of the company had a beautiful dark green Aston Martin DB2/4, which sometimes came in for a wash and polish. Unfortunately that was all – we didn’t get to work on the car; I expect that it went back to Feltham for any service work. But it was a rather special treat for those of us who were motor enthusiasts just to be able to admire such a beautiful car at close quarters. He also had an ash green Jaguar XK120 that came in for the same treatment. I must admit that I slightly favoured the looks of the XK120; it was just so stunningly beautiful with a great looking engine. But I also recognised that underneath that beautiful body, the mechanical bits were less impressive – the workmanship on the Aston was far superior. The engineering on the Aston had a beauty of its own and it was really just as good looking but in a more refined way.
I completed my apprenticeship in June 1957, having specialised on engines. At the beginning of 1959 I was surprised to see an advert for engine builders at the Aston Martin factory at Newport Pagnell. I knew that Aston Martin had a factory at Feltham and hadn’t realised that the company had set up just a few miles away from Bletchley where I lived. With the image of that beautiful DB2/4 in mind I just had to apply. So after making an appointment by phone and armed with every qualification, certificate, commendation and prize certificate that I could lay my hands on I drove to Newport Pagnell in my pride and joy, an Austin Healey 100.
It would be an understatement to say that I was very nervous during the interview; even the slightest possibility of working for such a prestigious motor manufacturer gave me goose pimples. I just had to get the job. Happily I did and started soon after as third man in what was then the DB4 engine pre-production build area in the Olympia building, so called because of the shape of the roof. This was before the end was cut off at an angle for road widening, which if I remember correctly happened during the winter of 1960. I remember that the pay was slightly less than I was getting at the LBC and I would have to drive to work each day. But