OUR CLASSICS
John wasn’t going to touch his Aston’s interior – then the voice of experience persuaded him to modify his job list
1970 ASTON MARTIN DBS V8
O ne of the things I liked about my Aston when I first saw it was the fantastic bright emerald green leather. According to the build records that the Aston Martin Heritage Trust has found for me – which also shows that the car was built on 10 September 1970 and (amusingly) has gearbox serial number 007 – it’s called Connolly 3113-Green. This was specified by the car’s first owner, Dennis Flather, who later went on to become a partner in Aston Martin’s financial rescue during the mid- Seventies – at the time I sent my pocket money to the company to help save them – and became co-owner of Aston Martin Lagonda while he was still using this car.
It’s not to everyone’s taste and Sir Stirling Moss said: ‘Good Lord, boy, how are you going to stand sitting in that?’ when I showed him some pictures of the car just after I’d bought it. He had a glint in his eye, though, and to be honest, if I’d wanted anyone to playfully insult my Aston, it would have been one of the greatest Aston Works drivers of all time… sorry – couldn’t resist!
I love the colour, though – it was one of the things that attracted me to the car because it contrasts with the pale green (California Sage) exterior beautifully and just looks so period – you can just imagine Roger Moore getting out of it in a flared safari suit to greet Jochen Rindt and Jackie Stewart. Oddly it’s pretty much the same colour as the interior of my Opel Monza 3.0 E Rallye Pack, although that, of course, is finest Eighties velour.
One of the other things I like about the interior is its lovely patina, which, in a way, is much nicer (carpets excepted) than when it would have been new. I was very keen to preserve the leather and that lived-in look but had decided that with money being so tight and lots of work to do on the car, sorting the seats was way down the list. It would pass an MoT with a torn seat – I still strongly believe that all road cars should be MoT’d – so I’d sort of ignored it.
The car is now with GTC engineering – boss John Winsor hasn’t spent the last 40 years restoring Astons without learning a thing or two. He pointed out, quite rightly, that the two major tears in the side bolster and the ribbed centre panel were being damaged every time anyone got in and out of the car because the stuffing and strapping had collapsed. Much more damage would make them unrepairable, which would be a shame because I’d end up with a new seat base that would never quite match. It would be much more expensive than ma
