For such a fast car the Aston Martin Bulldog likes to take its time. But 44 years after falling just short of its 200 mph (322 km/h) top speed target, the Aston Martin Bulldog has finished what its creators started.
Back in 1979, when every supercar on sale ran out of puff at around 180 mph (290 km/h) Aston aimed for 200, hoping to set a world record. But the mid-engined wedge couldn’t manage more than 191 mph (307 km/h) at the MIRA test track in England that year.
Those ghosts were firmly laid to rest today though, when the restored Bulldog’s 600 hp (608 PS) twin-turbo 5.3-liter V8 pushed it to 205.4 mph (330.6 km/h) at a former NATO base in Scotland. That final top speed represented a huge increase over the 176 mph (283 km/h) the Bulldog achieved during testing at the Royal Naval Air Station at Yeovilton in 2021.
The pilot on both occasions was three-time Le Mans class winner Darren Turner, a works Aston Martin driver who claimed everything clicked into place to help reach the top speed target. “The conditions were perfect for the run and the car performed perfectly too, easily hitting the 200mph mark,” said the 49-year-old Brit whose Le Mans experience means he’s no stranger to going fast in a straight line.
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“The Bulldog has now fulfilled Aston Martin’s 1980s promise and everyone who has worked on the car, from those who first designed and built it, to Classic Motor Cars who undertook the restoration under the management of Richard Gauntlett, can feel very proud,” Turner added.
The one-off concept was originally intended to go into small-scale production and transform Aston Martin into a fully-fledged supercar brand to rival Ferrari and Lamborghini. But the cash-strapped automaker was forced to scrap the project in 1981 and sold the only car to a buyer in the Middle East.
The Bulldog was rescued and renovated over the last few years by Classic Motors Cars under the watchful eye of Richard Gauntlett, the son of the late Victor Gauntlett, the Aston CEO who reluctantly pulled the plug on the program 40 years ago. The gullwing-door supercar won’t win any medals for today’s achievement but it already has some trophies to its name. Last year it became the youngest car to ever win the Coppa d’Oro award at the Concorso D’Eleganza at Ville D’ Este.
