Aston Martin Bulldog

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Aston Martin
1979 Aston Martin Bulldog.jpg
Bulldog
Presentation year: 1980
Vehicle fair:
Class : Sports car
Body shape : Coupe
Engine: Gasoline engine :
5.3 liters
(440-515 kW)
Length: 4724 mm
Width: 1917 mm
Height: 1092 mm
Wheelbase: 2769 mm
Empty weight: 1454 kg
Production model: none

The Aston Martin Bulldog is a sports car from the British automobile manufacturer Aston Martin , designed by William Towns and developed by some Aston Martin engineers headed by Mike Loasby and Keith Martin.

history

The initiative for this car can be traced back to 1976 and came from an Arab customer who, however, withdrew before the comparatively long development work was completed. After some deliberation, Aston Martin decided to complete the car as a kind of advertising object at their own expense. The code name for the project was initially DP K9, after a role in Doctor Who . The ultimately chosen name " Bulldog " was due to the small inhospitable corner in Aston Martin's factory, where Keith Martin and his team set up the car and which was referred to in-house as the "dog kennel". It was officially presented on March 27, 1980 at the Bell Hotel in Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire .

Vehicle characteristics

Unlike all previous Aston Martin models, the Bulldog is designed as a mid-engine vehicle and rests on a central tubular frame. The front suspension consists of double wishbones with coil springs and anti-roll bar, a De-Dion axle with coil springs, trailing arms and Watt linkage were installed at the rear . The in-house 5.3 liter eight-cylinder engine serves as the drive, but it has two exhaust gas turbochargers from Garrett AiResearch and thus - depending on the source - has an output of 440 kW (598 PS) or even 515 kW (700 PS). A second copy of this engine was used in a one-off Aston Martin Lagonda in 1980 .

The first test drive was a great success. The car reached a confirmed top speed of 307 km / h, but fell well short of the factory announcement of 322 km / h. The theoretically achievable speed is 381 km / h.

William Towns designed a very low, smooth-surfaced body with 1092 mm for the Bulldog with wide gull-wing doors reaching far into the vehicle underbody . Towns dispensed with almost any rounding; even the temporarily installed exterior mirrors were modeled as angular. A special feature of the front section was a battery of five headlights, which were hidden behind a lowerable flap in front of the front wheels. In the interior, the concept of digital instrumentation, already known from the Lagonda, was continued. After his introduction, the car received a monitor in the center console, which was supposed to improve the rear view. The bulldog was painted silver and light gray .

Another fate of the Bulldog

After completion of the development program, Aston Martin sold the Bulldog to the highest bidder, a customer from the Middle East, in the course of 1982 . The total cost of design and construction for the Bulldog is estimated at £ 130,000 (approximately € 192,000 ).

The Bulldog spent some time in the US but was then brought back to the UK for sale with a new, green paint job. The interior has also been changed, from the original dark brown to a light reddish brown to a green contrasting cream tone.

Technical specifications

Aston Martin Bulldog
Construction year 1979
Cylinder / engine type Eight cylinders - V engine
Valves 16
Displacement 5340 cc
compression 7.5: 1
Charging two exhaust gas turbochargers
Power at min −1 440-515 kW (598-700 hp) / 6000
Torque 550-600 lb-ft (745-813 Nm)
drive Transaxle - rear wheel drive
transmission ZF - 5-speed gearbox
Empty weight 1454 kg
Tank capacity 113 l
0-60 mph
(0-97 km / h) 		5.1 s
V max 307 km / h

literature

  • Andrew Noakes: Aston Martin fascination . Parragon Publishing, Bath 2006, ISBN 1-40547-900-0 , p. 117

Web links

Commons : Aston Martin Bulldog  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files