Goodwood Festival of Speed was always seen as a celebration for car manufacturers. This year, Aston Martin is the star. Aston Martin’s racing history is as old as the company itself. In 2019, the marque celebrates two significant anniversaries – 60 years since its iconic 1-2 win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and 70 years since the company first raced at the Goodwood Motor Circuit. It is fitting then that the Central Feature at Festival of Speed this year celebrates the famous British marque.
Designed by Gerry Judah, the Central Feature is a 30-metre-high swoop of steel with the Le Mans winning Aston Martin DBR1 racing towards the sky on a never-ending race track. To complement the Central Feature, ‘Q by Aston Martin’ – the luxury brand’s bespoke personalisation service – has designed six unique Vantages, each honoring a famous race car from the company’s long and prestigious history. Vantage was an obvious starting point for the project as Aston Martin’s modern race car.
Aston Martin will only make 60 ‘Vantage Heritage Racing Editions’ with customers able to choose one of the six liveries. The collection also introduces a new aero kit adding a staggering 194kg of downforce at 190mph. Now available on all Vantages, the aero kit has been developed by Aston Martin’s aerodynamics team to ensure that the already impressive performance of the two-seater sportscar remains unchanged.
The addition of a carbon fibre rear wing, dive planes and extended front splitter increase downforce while maintaining the balance of the original design. All six Vantage specifications also feature light-weight wheels, the sports plus pack and carbon fibre interior details to further aide weight reduction.
The oldest racing car to provide inspiration for the series is Razor Blade. ‘The Record Breaker’, Razor Blade set two class records in the 1500CC light car class at Brooklands in 1923. To create the design, ‘Q by Aston Martin’ colour matched the green on ‘The Record Breaker’ to be the exact same pantone of the original chassis. The silver acknowledges the aluminum streamlined body constructed by aircraft manufacturer De Havilland.
The DB3S has inspired the ’The David Brown Era’ Vantage. Aston Martin used different colours on individual race cars to help with identification during racing. The yellow and green DB3S has become one of the most iconic liveries making it the perfect choice for the project.
