Aston thriller

Browse pages
Current page

1

Current page

2

Current page

3

Current page

4

Current page

5

Current page

6

Current page

7

Current page

8

Current page

9

Current page

10

Current page

11

Current page

12

Current page

13

Current page

14

Current page

15

Current page

16

Current page

17

Current page

18

Current page

19

Current page

20

Current page

21

Current page

22

Current page

23

Current page

24

Current page

25

Current page

26

Current page

27

Current page

28

Current page

29

Current page

30

Current page

31

Current page

32

Current page

33

Current page

34

Current page

35

Current page

36

Current page

37

Current page

38

Current page

39

Current page

40

Current page

41

Current page

42

Current page

43

Current page

44

Current page

45

Current page

46

Current page

47

Current page

48

Current page

49

Current page

50

Current page

51

Current page

52

Current page

53

Current page

54

Current page

55

Current page

56

Current page

57

Current page

58

Current page

59

Current page

60

Current page

61

Current page

62

Current page

63

Current page

64

Current page

65

Current page

66

Current page

67

Current page

68

Current page

69

Current page

70

Current page

71

Current page

72

Current page

73

Current page

74

Current page

75

Current page

76

Current page

77

Current page

78

Current page

79

Current page

80

Current page

81

Current page

82

Current page

83

Current page

84

Current page

85

Current page

86

Current page

87

Current page

88

Current page

89

Current page

90

Current page

91

Current page

92

Current page

93

Current page

94

Current page

95

Current page

96

Current page

97

Current page

98

Current page

99

Current page

100

Aston Martin specialist Richard Williams, who managed the firm’s Group C racing activities from 1984-1989, has developed a lusty seven-litre conversion for the race-bred V8 engine.

Even before the Newport Pagnell company announced the Virage Vantage with its 550 bhp twin-supercharged engine, Williams based in Cobham, Surrey had already eclipsed the factory by putting his seven-litre, two-valve engine on the market with 510 horsepower, or 480bhp for automatic transmission models.

The Williams SEV8N, as he calls the conversion, is not cheap. The cost is £25,000 before tax and VAT are added, and includes modifications to the engine, gearbox and differential mountings, redesigned torque converter, oil cooler and a special alloy sump.

“It makes a lot of sense if your engine has done a high mileage and needs a rebuild,” says Williams. To make his point, he made available a customer’s Aston Martin V8 saloon first registered in 1974.

Despite the automatic transmission, the heavy brakes and floating suspension characteristics, the old car responded well to the tuning treatment. The seven-litre engine bellows through the huge silencer system, attracting a good deal of attention, but the car lunges towards 120 mph like a hunting dog on a leash.

The full value of the conversion became apparent in a Zagato Coupe, no lightweight at I 650 kg but far lighter than the V8 saloons. The fully-tuned seven-litre engine endows the Aston with astonishing performance, possibly on a par with the Ferrari F40.

The Aston Zagato reached 130 mph in an unbelievably short space of time on a dual carriageway… in fifth gear, accelerating like most cars do in first and second!

The Williams version retains the two-valve-per-cylinder layout, but adds a ‘beak’ in the combustion chamber to induce squish. The inlet ports are offset to improve efficiency and flat-top pistons replace the standard domed pistons.

Williams doesn’t reveal the exact bore and stroke (“there are too many people copying us in this business”) but says that the V8 has reached its limit at seven litres. The two-valve, 5.3-litre V8 was producing 305 bhp when it went out of production, so the conversion increases the output by well over 50 per cent.

No matter how old the engine may be, it can be restored with new liners, pistons, rods and crankshaft. As the cylinder heads are rebuilt they are adapted for lead-free fuel, and a catalytic converter is on the options list. This, Williams says, “reduces the exhaust noise to quite acceptable levels”.