The $1.25 Million Aston Martin Conversion Project - Rust To Riches - Episode 4 - video Dailymotion

Ridiculous Rides

LANCE and Merlin look at two Aston Martins in very different conditions. One is a rare V8 Vantage X-Pack 580X, one of only a few hundred made, which despite only having 30,000 miles on the clock is having some engine trouble. The other is a shell of a 1960 Aston Martin DB4 which Lance will be using as the base for a Zagato replica, an 18 month project that will test his skills as one of the country's leading metalwork experts. The engine is being built by Aston Martin around $125,000, and the finished car should fetch over $1.25 million.

Transcript

00:00Master Craftsman Lance McCormack owns one of Britain's best classic car restoration

00:05businesses, Romance of Rust. Helping him manage it is his son Merlin, the cutting-edge salesman,

00:12who also runs his own classic car dealership. Together they turn Rust to riches.

00:18Today, Lance and Merlin look at two Aston Martins in very different conditions, demonstrating

00:24the extremes of work they do, from tweaks and tune-ups to full rebuilds. And this first

00:30project will test Lance's skill as one of the country's leading metalwork experts.

00:34Right, what we've got here is an Aston Martin DB4, or at least the platform chassis and the

00:39superstructure of one. We've removed all the aluminium panels. We're going to be creating

00:44a Zagato replica. What you've got here is, along with the roof lines, possibly the only

00:51identifiable piece. This is where the grille would be, the DB4 grille, in here, and you

00:56can see the classic Aston shape. All steel, and it's called a platform chassis. So it's

01:01all folded box section, and that's for lightness. Everything about this was lightness, lightness.

01:08Launched in about 1958-59, the DB4 was an instant success. It went through various guises, you

01:17know, series. One, two, three, four, five. Then the five came out, which we know as the James

01:21Bond car. This is where it all came from. And in fact, like this, there's very little to

01:25tell between that. It's only the outer panels that really gave it the James Bond shape, you

01:32know, that we know and love. Zagato were quite a flamboyant coachbuilders, very notable for

01:38making beautiful cars. And the DB4 Zagato was sanctioned by Aston Martin, who sent them these

01:46type of bodies, and they converted them and put beautiful sculptural bodies on them. They clothed

01:52them in aluminium, you know, even more flamboyant than this car was. Those cars are worth about five

01:58million. Our one finished would be just over a million pounds, but it'd be a faithful replica

02:03of a Zagato. You know, I've even got the engine being built by Aston Martin at a cost of a hundred

02:09thousand, and it with a GT twin plug head. So once I've completed the Zagato conversion, it would be

02:15unrecognisable. As exciting as the conversion process is, Lance has a lot of work ahead of

02:20him. Now, I do the metal work, the panel work. A friend of mine supplies me with the aluminium

02:26skins in a very crude form, that's the outer panels. I have to be responsible for the augmentation

02:32of this body, the closing up of the wheelbase by five inches, so we're about to make a fixture

02:36that allows for that to be measured once we put the cuts in exactly the right place. These here,

02:41this is like the rib cage, this is a sill section that would all come off and be replaced with a

02:45metal of course. It's not going to be like an absolute facsimile. That's not the requirement

02:50of the customer. I mean, the rear axle will look correct from underneath, but we'll house a DB7

02:55axle, a better axle. There'll be improvements along the way, but essentially the silhouette,

03:00the general feel, the ride will be a bit better because obviously we progressed a bit on suspension

03:05technology. So there's a year and a half's work here for me. Not solid year and a half, but this will be my

03:10friend, enemy, confidant for about a year and a half. Outside, Lance joins Merlin to take a look

03:16at a rare Aston Martin, in much more recognisable condition. This one's special. So this is an 89

03:23V8 V8 X-Pack, 580X. There's only a few under them made. How many miles has this done?

03:30This one's 30,000 miles from you. 30,000. Isn't that colour? If this wasn't an X-Pack,

03:36we'd be looking at a value of about 90,000 to 100,000. But in its current state as an X-Pack,

03:43240,000 to 250,000. Pop the bonnet and see if there's something gone wrong with the actual linkage

03:48itself, yeah? But despite its low mileage, the car is experiencing engine trouble.

03:53If something idles, it's showing that not all is wrong. You know, if there's something seriously

04:02wrong, you won't get it idling. Idling is a delicate little phase, but on the acceleration there,

04:06it could be that the points have just closed up, as simple as that. Or it could be a diaphragm has

04:13gone on the fuel pump or the carburettor. But what we do with that, because I'll go as far as I can

04:18with looking, and if it's something I can manually do, but what we tend to do at this stage is give it to

04:23our rolling road man, who is computer diagnostics. He sticks probes up the exhaust and sensors on

04:29the engine, and the computers don't lie, generally speaking.

04:37I don't think his screwdriver is going to clear that.

04:43It's not terminally ill, but it needs diagnostics. Wednesday, she will dance again.

04:49Next time on Rust to Riches. This is a genuine 396SS, of which there really are only a handful in the country.

The $1.25 Million Aston Martin Conversion Project - Rust To Riches - Episode 4

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