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par Antoine32 » 17/04/2020
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Pas génial...
Paul Skilleter examines the philosophy behind
the DB7 and speaks to Bob Dover, AM-L's neW
high-powered boss, and Harry Calton, the
company~ press and public allairs director
t's a puzzle. lust how should
we, as Jaguar enthusiasts,
regard the OB7l On paper,
more than anything else il is a
modified XIS, clothed in il new
and, surelr, immensely attractive
body. To the experienced il even
drives il bit like a modifie<! XI S,
yel il has undeniably acquired a
character and an aura of ils own.
This, reinforced br the bespoke
build procedure, ils priee and ils
marketing, make il il distinct
entity.
Whetner thi!> entlly is a true Aston
Martin I .... ould nQl presume to say but,
by and larse. eXISlmg AM enthuslas!s
have accepter! the OB7. Most have al50
realised tha!. wlthoutlnis car, Aston
Martin mlghl have ceased to eXlsL As lan
McGreggor said to hl!> AMOC members,
-do vou wanl to be an owners' club of a
dead marque or il live onet' The DB7
has gi\/en ASlon Martm unprecedented
production levels and, rather as X200
will do for Jaguar, has laken the marque
onto another plane.
Ali that is agreed. preuy weil. But firsl,
1 asked Bob Dover whether movmg from
Jaguar's relatlvely large engineering
centre represented somethmg of a
culture shock. Were Ihings very dlfferent
at Aston Martm? "Funnily enough, It
struck me the othcrway ~ how simllar
the tv.o companies were. In many ways
they arc in a similar sort of busmess.
Obviously ASlon MartlO makes smaller
numbers of cars and gi\/es grealer chOlce
of specification. bul in lerms orthe way
the company is organise<!, Il'S Ilke a
miniature Jaguar - and wllh the
enthusiasm, the <:ommltment of the
people. the ob\/ious pnde 10 bemg part
of such a prestlSIOUS organisation. And
like Jaguar, the teamwork here 15 juSI
perleel, wI,h focus on Ihe customer and
on qualllY·
"The real bcneflt 15 Ihat It'5 C,lSler
you don', ha\/e 10 walk 50 far'"
1 mentioned my personal confUSion
o\/er the OB7's idcntiIY- Bob ad\/Ised'
"You ha\/e ta w.kc Il as thc tar Il IS and,
especially, look at the markcl Il 15
intended fOf. Man~ JournaiiMS makt' the
14
Bob Dovet, best kno .... n for bringing the XK8
proiecllo {roilion, no .... headf ,4) Ion Milrlin.
mistake of campa ring Just the produtl bit
- how it steers and handles - but VOu
need to look al where Il SilS in the
marketplace, how it's sold, who dfl\/es Il
and who would wanl la drive II.
"WC are in a \/cry diffcrent nlchc la
Jaguar mainstream. One of the (;ars 1
hadn't driven before was a Ferrari 355,
but reeenlly 1 was able la do Ihat
because an Aslon MarllO cuSIomc(
traded one in agalOsl a OB7. That
doesn't happen much 10 the Jaguar
world.
NRemembcr Ihal .111 small \/olume cous
are like the DB7 - VOU (an'I makl' th(>m
without access ta other poopl(> '~ parl\
bins. 1 can remc01bcr when 1 fir~t wenlto
ASlon Marlll1, when J WolS Mill .11
Cambridge, and wher('\ler llooked ther(>
were other pcoplc's blls. And Ihdl'S
nothing ta bc ashamt'<1 of It'5 how you
inlegrate them and how vou dcflv(>( a
car which malche~ the (;u~ tomcr'~
expcclallons that (ountS,N
Harry Cahon emllhasiS<'d the polOt
~ When we were dOlOg Our markt'I
plannll1g for OB7 w(> ob\/iou~ly lookl'd
al conquesl salP!o- Our la!"Rl"I\ wen'
Mercedes Sl, 8MW 850, POf~h (' 918
1 d! fI " l, ,I/ld 1"H,1r1 Wllh .. U
, Igu.lr. Il W,I\f1" HI
<j HI ,UlOlhN!I(.'< Iflr l'"
du'
011
,h
'1': )., w /1( w I(rlluncilU A, trJ/l
MoIf!1 lu' vfl (lI lom{'I~ (hdn', huy
,ll1ylhlOK 1 1 1111lf'((' ..,..,,1\ ,1 ·Wh.1l
~U,K'II l" IMey wlllfidn 1 ('vl'n"I"'n rlot
p.lR' AI .... ,. IIIC' ~uy wh" huy\ 01
V,ml.IW', wlill h h,l" S'iCI hhp 111.11'"
mou'IH,w,'r 111,111 Xlll{)1 hl' (hlx)'M~
,1~,III1,1 I!uyHlK hl" Will' jl'W('Upry, J hll.
ur ,11.~hr ,lIff r,llt /1'" Ih.II 't(){1 01
pllrl I!.I\.', ,III1UI1H\I ,1101,., ,lnnll,I' worltl
m.l/k"1 \4'1-11111'11' of ,Imund 1,000 ("t\
Hu' w'lh Ihl·rm7, WI' W('r'I'lfltl mMkl'f
wlwrl' Ill/'r.· WtI~ dm'! 1 (omp('III",", 10 ,1
\('( tOI wllh ,Ior1u,I' "III'!. o( 15,fJfX)
JO,{HXI ( ,11\.
"OH7 I~ ,1''10() h(·mH Il,,,'(1 (lif(f'(f'lllly
rhc' VH Ii'ntl .. ICl lx' u<,('(J for h'Kh d.lr;
,Ille! ImllclJY\, IX'rIlJp\ for J,OOO ml'('\ ct
yI',.r Hut Ill(' OU7 oh('n I)('{ omf'5llw
OWIlf'I'\ prime' mod(' of IrJn",Km Many
(O\l('r \/('ry hiHh ,}Onu.11 mllc'Jg<'s:"
l ,1~k('(1 wh('lher XK8. Idune hlv 16
monlhs .1'IN 087, had Imp..lCtf'd on Ih(>
A~lon'~ s.ll<'S, OI'W or u<,<'(l "Y<'S."
(ollflrmt>d Il.:Hry (".:tllon. " B<'n('fKldlJy.
Il '~ J (liff('f('nl molor (.Ir MO\t o( Our
de .. It'r~ Jr(' al\O JJguJr d(',IINs, dnd w t'
sa,cI 10 Ihem Ihat If pcopl(' f}OSlll\/('ly
1('Ic<I XKB, go and s.oe ,hem wllh d OB7
WC ilttual'y pltked up elBhl In<rement .. 1
§JI~ III BfIt.J1O alone m the (lrst wft'k of
XK8'~ launch almOSI a w('(·k'<;
Ilrodu(l,on.~
Wc lurned 10 Ihe DB7's charactcr on
the road tompared ta XK8. GrahJm
Brad~hdw and j tendt.'(i la ("t'llh.ll, (un
Ihough It WOlS, Il was I('<,~ çl\/iI,<;('(J than
XK8. Sald Bob: ~DB7 IS more Of.1 ~pOrls
car 't's more r('SIKlnsive, more in\/ol\/lnR
ta drive. Il '~ S<'I up for J dlffercnt
m.:lrket~ 1 Sdid we'd heard (rom d
rellable sour(;e Ihat XK6 undt>rpmnIOR\
would .. horlly replaçe the XJS
compont"ntry, bul Mr Dover wou Id not
be drawn. "Wc will do what's righl for
Ihe Aston Martin tUMOmt'r. We Will do
Whdl I~ sen~lble."
1 askt.'d Bob whNhcr h(> had boen
Kl\I('n il 'i1)('Çlfl( brief on am\/dl dS MD
.lnd (hl(>f cxe<.utl\/e olt the end of Id~t
y('ar. NI came here ta run Ihe comp.lny
And bc<..dUS<' It'S a 'imall and fn(>ndly
to01I)any, Il'5.1 d(>llghtful lob
"W("\/e got a 101 gOlOg fOr us the
(ustomers lo\/c the.r cars, we h.we no
qUJIlly i ... sul><' wlth Ihem (the w,lrrJnty
budgN I~ h(,J\/lly under~Pt'ntl, w{' hJ ... e
no p.lrts 'iUPllOrt issues, Ih(> d('Jl('rs Ret
on wllh ('a( h oth('r Therc Me not m,illY
(O~ll)"n l (,~ VOu (;an!>Jy .111 Ih.lt of
Wc nl'('(\ 10 do .llllh(' flKhl
nl,lI\dR('nwnt thmgs. If w(> plJy our (,Ird ~
nHht W(> .. houicl !xo .lblc ta hJ\'(' (' ... ('n
O1or(' (un"