FINAL PAGE VIEWPOINT
VIEWPOINT Future editor Paul Walton explains his passion for Aston Martin
I
f you’re a regular reader of Kelsey Publishing’s other titles, you may recognise my mugshot from Jaguar World, the long-established title about that other great British marque. As my home for the past decade, it might come as a bigger surprise to find me here than if Lance Stroll signs for Ferrari. Yet I’m just as fanatical about Aston Martin as I am about Jaguar, a 35-yearlong passion that stems from seeing a certain celluloid spy driving one, but not the film or the model you’d expect. As a child of the Seventies, it was Timothy Dalton’s V8 Vantage from 1987’s The Living Daylights rather than the more familiar DB5 from the Sean Connery era that made the biggest impression on me. A rarity everywhere but more so in my native North Yorkshire, I don’t think I’d seen one before. But when I watched Bond in that darkened cinema use the grey coupe to steamroller his way across Czechoslovakia and then Austria, I reckoned it was the most stunning car I’d ever seen. My feelings were validated when I was allowed to sit in the actual Vantage – or at least a good replica – at a motoring event later the same year. As the 14-year old me soaked in the view, noticed all of the interior’s wonderful details and inhaled the Connolly leather’s rich, aromatic aroma, it was a significant moment for my future vocation. No matter the title I initially worked for after becoming a motoring journalist in 1999, I always tried to write about the marque as often as possible. A few
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Aston Martin Driver | Issue one
highlights from the last 23 years include a night time cruise through London’s west end in a rare V8 Zagato (pictured), taking a DB2/4 to Le Mans and driving a DB7 GT to several European racetracks. I also make no apologies for using my editorial powers to occasionally include Aston Martins in Jaguar World, most recently when I compared a DB6 with an E-type Series 1 4.2 for the Spring 2022 issue. So when I was asked to become editor of Aston Martin Driver from issue three it was a genuine honour and the fulfilment of a long held ambition to
write more about this long-respected company and its thrilling cars. And so from the earliest pre wars models to the current range, from the fabulously decadent William Townsdesigned Lagonda to the company’s long and distinguished racing career, I’m looking forward to exploring all of Aston Martin’s diverse history with you. And yes, having never managed to drive one in the 20-odd years I’ve been messing around with cars for a living, you can no doubt expect a V8 Vantage too. AMD
