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It's odd for me to sit on pictures for years before I am able to use them
but in this instance it's fully understandable. These pictures have been
taken between Spring 2000 and 2007 and show a selection of disguised
Vanquish prototypes and crash test cars as stored behind the Newport
Pagnell factory. Generally speaking, the yellow cars were used during
crash testing at Millbrook and have to be stored until long after
production has finished. The matt black cars are prototypes that
have been used disguised on the roads during the late 1990's and would
have been destroyed not long after the Vanquish was launched. I took these images on days when the staff car parks were
open for visitors to the annual Bonham's auctions - I don't want anyone to
think I was trespassing without permission or anything. Gradually over the
years, the bramble bushes and weeds enveloped the cars until they were
almost submerged in the undergrowth. As the site of the
factory changed hands in the Autumn of 2007, I'm quite sure
that all
these cars were quickly removed and stored awaiting disposal.
There are some very interesting details on these
pictures that are of note. The interior shot shows the original centre console
with the Ford Ka air vents. This was one item that was changed before production
shortly after Dr Bez joined AM. Also the round rear lights (Ford Cougar?) were
dropped. I believe (but I don't know as a fact) that the original idea was to
have these covered by smoked covering, as seen on Project Vantage, but
once fitted, the light levels were below what was acceptable.
One small note is that by early
2009, Google Earth still shows a view of Newport Pagnell with the factory
complete, although with no workers cars in the car park, so assume that the
picture was taken on a Saturday or Sunday. The eleven crashed yellow Vanquishes
are clearly visible from space. |
