LANCE and Merlin look at two Aston Martins in very different conditions. One is a rare V8 Vantage X-Pack 580X, one of only a few hundred made, which despite only having 30,000 miles on the clock is having some engine trouble. The other is a shell of a 1960 Aston Martin DB4 which Lance will be using as the base for a Zagato replica, an 18 month project that will test his skills as one of the country's leading metalwork experts. The engine is being built by Aston Martin around $125,000, and the finished car should fetch over $1.25 million.
Category
🚗
MotorTranscript
00:00 00;01;10;12 00;01;13;22 Master craftsman Lance McCormack owns
00:03 one of Britain's best classic car restoration businesses, Romance of Rust. Helping him manage
00:08 it is his son Merlin, the cutting edge salesman, who also runs his own classic car dealership.
00:15 Together they turn rust to riches.
00:17 00;01;13;22 00;01;20;22 Today Lance and Merlin look at two Aston
00:21 Martins in very different conditions, demonstrating the extremes of work they do, from tweaks
00:26 and tune ups to full rebuilds. And this first project will test Lance's skill as one of
00:32 the country's leading metalwork experts.
00:34 00;01;20;22 00;01;30;22 What we've got here is an Aston
00:36 Martin DB4, or at least the platform chassis and the superstructure of one. We've removed
00:41 all the aluminium panels. We're going to be creating a Zagato replica. What you've got
00:47 here is, along with the roofline, is possibly the only identifiable piece. This is where
00:52 the grill would be, the DB4 grill, in here. And you can see the classic Aston shape. All
00:58 steel and it's called a platform chassis. So it's all folded box section and that's
01:03 for lightness. Everything about this was lightness, lightness. Launched in about 1958, '59, the
01:11 DB4 was an instant success. It went through various guises, you know, series, one, two,
01:18 three, four, five. Then the five came out, which we know as the James Bond car. But this
01:22 is where it all came from. And in fact, like this, there's very little to tell between
01:26 that. It's only the outer panels that really gave it the James Bond shape, you know, that
01:32 we know and love.
01:33 Zagato were quite a flamboyant coachbuilders, very notable for making beautiful cars. And
01:40 the DB4 Zagato was sanctioned by Aston Martin, who sent them these type of bodies and they
01:48 converted them and put beautiful sculptural bodies on them. They clothed them in aluminium,
01:53 you know, even more flamboyant than this car was. Those cars are worth about five million.
01:59 Our one finished would be just over a million pounds, but it'd be a faithful replica of
02:04 a Zagato. You know, I've even got the engine being built by Aston Martin at a cost of 100,000
02:09 and it would have GT twin plug head. So once I've completed the Zagato conversion, it will
02:15 be unrecognisable.
02:16 As exciting as the conversion process is, Lance has a lot of work ahead of him.
02:21 Now I do the metal work, the panel work. A friend of mine supplies me with the aluminium
02:26 skins in a very crude form, that's the outer panels. I have to be responsible for the augmentation
02:32 of this body, the closing up of the wheelbase by five inches. So we're about to make a fixture
02:36 that allows for that to be measured once we put the cuts in exactly the right place. These
02:41 here, this is like the rib cage, this is a sill section that would all come off and be
02:45 replaced with a metal course. It's not going to be like an absolute facsimile, that's not
02:50 the requirement of the customer. I mean, the rear axle would look correct from underneath,
02:53 but we'll house a DB7 axle, a better axle. There'll be improvements along the way, but
02:59 essentially the silhouette, the general feel, the ride will be a bit better because obviously
03:03 we progressed a bit on suspension technology. So there's a year and a half's work here for
03:07 me, not solid year and a half, but this will be my friend, enemy, confidant for about a
03:13 year and a half.
03:14 COMM: Outside, Lance joins Merlin to take a
03:16 look at a rare Aston Martin in much more recognisable condition.
03:20 LANCE: This one's special. So this is an
03:23 89 V8 Vantage X-Pack 580X. There's only a few under the mate.
03:29 MERLIN: How many miles has this done?
03:30 LANCE: It's done 30,000 miles from you.
03:32 MERLIN: 30,000, isn't that colour?
03:34 LANCE: If this wasn't an X-Pack, we'd be
03:37 looking at a value of about 90,000 to 100,000, but in its current state as an X-Pack, 240,000
03:44 - 250,000.
03:45 Pop the bonnet and see if there's something gone wrong with the actual linkage itself,
03:49 yeah?
03:50 But despite its low mileage, the car is experiencing engine trouble.
03:54 If something idles, it's showing that not all is wrong, you know. If there's something
04:01 seriously wrong, you won't get it idling. Idling is a delicate little phase, but on
04:05 the acceleration there, it could be that the points have just closed up, as simple as that.
04:11 Or it could be a diaphragm has gone and the fuel pump or the carburettor. But what we
04:15 do with that, because I go as far as I can with looking, and if it's something I can
04:20 manually do, but what we tend to do at this stage is give it to our rolling road man,
04:24 who is computer diagnostics. He sticks probes up the exhaust and sensors on the engine,
04:30 and the computers don't lie, generally speaking.
04:33 Yeah, I don't think his screwdriver is going to cure that.
04:43 It's not terminally ill, but it needs diagnostics. Wednesday, she will dance again.
04:49 Next time on Rust to Riches.
04:52 This is a genuine 396 SS, of which there really are only a handful in the country.
04:56 (upbeat music)
04:59 (upbeat music)