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Aston Martin sold...

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joseff
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Joined: 24 Sep 2002, 11:53

Aston Martin sold...

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...to LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy)

I for one will be mourning in private. First Leica, then this?
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monkeyboy1976
monkeyboy1976
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Joined: 12 Jan 2006, 17:00
Location: Midlands, UK

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Still rumour and nothing official yet.
Ford supposedly still have 15% which makes a lot of sense.
Whatever is true, the fact that Aston Martin will not be part of another automaker is a slight worry. On the other hand it may benefit them. Bez is a good leader and given independence under his stewardship, things could be looking up.
People I know who work there no nothing regarding the sale, as ever with these things.
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joseff
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Joined: 24 Sep 2002, 11:53

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Well that was a false alarm.

Apparently the leading bidder now is Prodrive. So... Aston Martin in F1 2008?
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Tom
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Joined: 13 Jan 2006, 00:24
Location: Bicester

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Oh I hope so
Murphy's 9th Law of Technology:
Tell a man there are 300 million stars in the universe and he'll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint on it and he'll have to touch to be sure.
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sebbe
sebbe
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Joined: 17 May 2006, 19:27
Location: Argentina

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And since Merc is trying to buy out Ron Dennis from McLaren and handle him Prodrive, then Aston Martin will be under Ron's fist.
He's just admitted he's a control freak.
What did you say about independence Monkeyboy? :lol:
"I've already altered the deal, pray I don't alter it any further" -Darth Vader to Lando Calrissian. The Empire Strikes Back.
"Progress is not always made by reasonable men." (McLaren Racing).
"We have optimised the lateral optical interface of the building." (Translation: "My factory has a lot of windows.") Ron Dennis.-
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checkered
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Joined: 02 Mar 2007, 14:32

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If Prodrive does end up "buying" AM (or rather, the brand),

I do hope that they'd at least drop their plans to be a "customer everything" F1 team. Maybe, just maybe, the RBR - STR (and perhaps Honda - SA) debacle this season will swell enough in order to make it absolutely, definitely clear to the powers that be why the customer chassis scheme is such a bad idea to begin with.

David Richards certainly is a guy that get things going and gets things happening and I appreciate his vision and dynamism. That's why I'm still wondering whether he's just playing down expectations or doing a tactical maneuver with all this talk about being a customer team? He had a strong showing with BAR, after all. Even more so in hindsight.

http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/cref-ricdav.html

If Aston Martin is to make another foray into F1, it deserves to be an original. Brushing the deeper philosophical implications aside, what would it look image-wise if they raced a rebadged Merc, bolt for bolt? Isn't that just saying "we decided to buy it, since they're better at building cars anyway". That's no way of running a luxury brand.

And in my mind, certainly not Aston. My humble opinion is that if Prodrive is going to race as AM, they'd getter get to the drawing board, get their CAD and CFD software humming and heat up those autoclaves.

http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/con-aston.html
http://www.motorlegend.com/video-voitur ... 0/336.html
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Tom
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Joined: 13 Jan 2006, 00:24
Location: Bicester

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I think Prodrive will have already designed their car and it'll just be a case of painting it a different colour should they manage the AM transaction and reintroduce Aston to F1
Murphy's 9th Law of Technology:
Tell a man there are 300 million stars in the universe and he'll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint on it and he'll have to touch to be sure.
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checkered
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Joined: 02 Mar 2007, 14:32

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Well, here's hoping that you're right on that, Tom! :)
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checkered
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Joined: 02 Mar 2007, 14:32

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Seems the Richards AM

deal has been finalized, save for an announcement tomorrow in Geneva. This could very well put my previous Prodrive "customer team" worries to rest as other car companies would not be too happy to support a rival brand in any way. That is not to say that Richards couldn't bring in some manufacturer that isn't currently involved in F1 to back his and AM's efforts up later on (Hyundai, co-ordinated with Bernie's Korean GP designs?). But that's another matter.

What I'm really excited about, however is that this is also a chance to re-animate Cosworth. The CA V8 might still roar to life and charge in action again, and live on within Aston Martin. Now there's something to look forward to.

http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns18856.html
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checkered
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Joined: 02 Mar 2007, 14:32

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So, it is announced.
12/3/2007

David Richards heads consortium to buy Aston Martin

Prodrive chairman and chief executive, David Richards, is heading a consortium which was today, Monday 12 March, announced as the new owners of Aston Martin.

Richards is involved in the consortium on purely a personal basis. Prodrive has no financial involvement in the deal.

David Richards, 54, founded Prodrive in 1984, and has turned the British business into one of the world’s leading motorsport and automotive technology groups.

Today, Prodrive runs the Aston Martin Racing team in international sports car series, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans; the Subaru World Rally Team, in the World Rally Championship; and Ford Performance Racing in the Australian V8 Supercar series. Prodrive also has an extensive global automotive technology division which develops innovative road car technologies and niche models for the world’s vehicle manufacturers.

In 2008, Prodrive enters the Formula One World Championship with its own team. This will make it the ninth British-based team on the F1 grid.

A full biography of David Richards and more detailed information on Prodrive can be found in the media section of this website. You can also download high resolution images of David Richards and Prodrive’s motorsport and road car activities from the photo gallery.

All media enquiries relating to the sale of Aston Martin are being handled by the Aston Martin press office, please contact:

Janette Green - Director, Brand Communications
Tel +44 (0)1926 644444
Mobile +44(0)7766 471555

Barbara Prince - Manager, Corporate Affairs
Tel +44 (0)1926 644852
Mobile +44 (0)7764 386682

Kevin Watters - Press officer, Corporate
Tel +44 (0)1926 644850
Mobile +44 (0)7764 386683
http://www.prodrive.com/p_releases.html?id=98

Let's see how this thing develops, if at all, in relation to F1.
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checkered
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Joined: 02 Mar 2007, 14:32

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No Aston Martin F1, then?

http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_ ... t_id=30712
"People have put two and two together and got six. This is something personal to me and has nothing to do with Prodrive. Our plan was always to go into Formula One in partnership with an existing team, and the plan is still to do that."
That Richards needed to dispel the very possibility of Aston Martin F1 could imply that Prodrive is pretty far along in negotiations with a team that doesn't want to be affiliated with a commercial rival. Furthermore, Aston by itself is too small to provide anything as substantial in F1 as a large manufacturer can.

In fact, Aston branding could stand in the way of bringing in a major backer later on, for example if F1 goes turbo-biodiesel, Peugeot and Audi could be queueing up to find a team. And that could be very, very lucrative for Prodrive indeed.
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