Photo: Ed Bagnall
Back in the late ‘70s, Aston Martin aimed for the title of the world’s fastest production car, to prove that it could and to show off the capacities of its new engineering facility in Newport Pagnell.
That car, called Bulldog, would then be produced in a 15 to 25 limited edition. Aston Martin never made more than one, because the project turned out to be too costly and because they couldn’t get it even close to the top speed they were hoping for.
The 1979 Aston Martin Bulldog still exists, after going through at least three owners in the UK and the U.S. The current one is looking to have it brought back to life (yes, sadly, it is dead) and eventually up to the promised speed. Or at least close to it.
Restoration shop Classic Motor Cars (CMC) in Bridgnorth will handle the 18-month restoration process, with managing director Nigel Woodward saying in a press release they expect to come across a lot of challenges. A team of 8 people supervised by Woodward will be working on the car, but they still need more data to add to the file archive.
For instance, they don’t know who installed carburettors, who changed the color of the car (it is now green but was originally gray and white) and the interior (it was dark brown and is now tan). They anticipate a lot more has been changed and they need a complete history of that.
“At the moment we are assuming that nothing on the car works and I am sure that as we take it apart we will find all sorts of challenges,” Woodward says. “We have a huge history file on the car and are working with the engineers who originally built the car, but there is much more we would like to know.”
He hopes that, by the time they’re done the Bulldog will reach 200 mph, closer to the 237 mph Aston Martin wanted (but only got it to 192 mph). The owner will then take it on a world tour, to show it off.
“It is a great honor for CMC to be chosen to restore such a famous Aston Martin and British icon,” Woodward adds.
Styled by William Towns, the bulldog has a 5.3-liter twin-turbo V-8 engine making over 700 horsepower. Its body is boxy and sharp with gull-wing doors, which makes it instantly recognizable. Though it was built in the UK, it is left-hand-drive.
The 1979 Aston Martin Bulldog still exists, after going through at least three owners in the UK and the U.S. The current one is looking to have it brought back to life (yes, sadly, it is dead) and eventually up to the promised speed. Or at least close to it.
Restoration shop Classic Motor Cars (CMC) in Bridgnorth will handle the 18-month restoration process, with managing director Nigel Woodward saying in a press release they expect to come across a lot of challenges. A team of 8 people supervised by Woodward will be working on the car, but they still need more data to add to the file archive.
For instance, they don’t know who installed carburettors, who changed the color of the car (it is now green but was originally gray and white) and the interior (it was dark brown and is now tan). They anticipate a lot more has been changed and they need a complete history of that.
“At the moment we are assuming that nothing on the car works and I am sure that as we take it apart we will find all sorts of challenges,” Woodward says. “We have a huge history file on the car and are working with the engineers who originally built the car, but there is much more we would like to know.”
He hopes that, by the time they’re done the Bulldog will reach 200 mph, closer to the 237 mph Aston Martin wanted (but only got it to 192 mph). The owner will then take it on a world tour, to show it off.
“It is a great honor for CMC to be chosen to restore such a famous Aston Martin and British icon,” Woodward adds.
Styled by William Towns, the bulldog has a 5.3-liter twin-turbo V-8 engine making over 700 horsepower. Its body is boxy and sharp with gull-wing doors, which makes it instantly recognizable. Though it was built in the UK, it is left-hand-drive.
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