Can you believe that it was 50 years ago that Concorde took to the sky for the first time to herald the supersonic age of commercial air travel. Yet still today the plane looks ahead of its time and stunningly beautiful. Well to mark this momentous occasion, Aston Martin, who of course produce equally beautiful cars, are going to produce just 10 unique Aston Martin DBS Superleggera Concorde Special Edition versions, commissioned by Aston Martin Bristol in association with British Airways. Somewhat fitting seeing as it is also BA’s centenary year.
While not many people got the chance to fly on Concorde, myself included, even fewer people will get the chance to drive one of these special Aston Martin’s produced by Aston Martin’s bespoke service, Q by Aston Martin.
This new special edition sports car is the just the latest chapter in the marque’s ongoing Aston Martin Wings Series. The DBS Superleggera Concorde Edition joins the Vanquish S Red Arrows Edition, Vantage Blades Edition and the V12 Vantage S Spitfire 80 in the brand’s aviation-inspired celebration models.
Coincidentally, this special car has been commissioned by Aston Martin Bristol, which is very close to Aerospace Bristol at Filton, which now houses the last Concorde ever to fly and the location at which the British Concorde were manufactured. Yesterday’s announcement was particularly fitting, too, as it coincided precisely with the date of 26th November 2003 when the last Concorde flight of G-BOAF, which is now in residence at Aerospace Bristol, touched down.
Marek Reichman, Executive Vice President and Chief Creative Officer of Aston Martin Lagonda, said of the new limited edition car: “It’s only fitting that our great British sports car brand marks the achievement of the incredibly dedicated, talented and ambitious teams of British and French scientists, engineers, designers and aircraft workers who made Concorde, and supersonic air travel, a reality in our skies 50 years ago.
“Using the DBS Superleggera as our starting point, and with the support of the talented personalisation experts in the Q by Aston Martin service to draw on, we have been able to subtly and sympathetically enhance and highlight some of the car’s most notable features while preserving the elegance, style and sheer brutish road presence for which the Aston Martin DBS is rightly known.”
The exterior of the DBS Superleggera Concorde features bespoke aluminium side strakes, a bespoke painted livery which includes the British Airways colours on the roof strake, aero blade and rear diffuser. The front wings have the famous British Airways ‘Speedmarque’ logo in chrome as well as a unique ‘Q by Aston Martin’ badge with black enamel infill. There is also unique and authentic jet black painted Civil Aviation Authority aircraft identifier numbers and bespoke inspection plaques signed by Aston Martin Lagonda President and Group CEO Andy Palmer and British Airways Chairman Álex Cruz. And that’s not all, as the car comes with a Concorde silhouette graphic on the carbon fibre roof.
The DBS Superleggera Concorde’s interior gets the special treatment as well, with a Concorde logo on the front seat facings and a Mach Meter graphic embroidered on the driver’s side sun visor. There is a unique headliner featuring printed Alcantara displaying a ‘sonic boom’ graphic and the paddle shifters are made from titanium from Concorde compressor blades. The luxurious floor mats come in Terence Conran design pattern, while the seatbelt buckle badges are milled from solid aluminium as are the bespoke sill plaques.
Perhaps the most important part of the DBS Superleggera Concorde package is what’s under the bonnet to give it the performance you’d expect from an Aston Martin. Therefore the car comes with Aston Martin’s 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12-engined Super GT flagship power unit, which boasts 725 PS, 900 Nm of torque and a staggering top speed of 211mph, accompanied with lightening fast acceleration that will get you from 0-62 mph in just 3.4 seconds and from 0-100 mph in 6.4 seconds!
If you fancy getting your hands on one of these 10 limited edition sports cars, they are available to purchase through Aston Martin Bristol.
Author Bio:
Simon Burrell is Editor of Our Man Behind The Wheel, a professional photographer and former saloon car racing driver.
Photographs courtesy of Aston Martin
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