Aston Martin Bulldog restored in Shropshire hits 176 miles an hour despite horrendous weather

The three times Le Mans 24-hour class winner Darren Turner, put the unique car through its paces at the Royal Naval Air Station at Yeovilton, hitting 176 miles an hour in horrendous driving conditions.

The test drive took place in heavy rain. But Darren said it had performed really well.

"When I heard that the car was being restored, I wanted to drive it it was a dream come true."

A jubilant Keith Martin, the project leader who originally worked on the car when it was being built at Aston Martin, and who accompanied Turner on the test run said: “It was just magic, and I just wish my colleagues could have been here and witnessed this.”

The car, which has been fully restored by Classic Motors Cars of Bridgnorth in Shropshire, was making its second visit to the Royal Naval Air station.

At the first attempt it reached 162mph last year, as part of a programme of events with the Royal Navy. The car was unveiled at the Hampton Court Concourse and won the RAC Restoration of the Year award.

Friday's test drive was watched by Phillip Sarofim, the owner of the car, and Richard Gauntlett, the son of the former chairman of Aston Martin who has masterminded the restoration with CMC.

The Bulldog was billed as Aston Martin's 200mph supercar which hit speeds of 191mph during testing in 1980.

Phillip Sarofim said: “The car is on its way to passing 200 mph which it never quite did. It just managed 191 before the company was forced to shelve the project. I cannot thank the team at CMC enough for the work that they have done and the Royal Navy who have allowed us to visit the airfield and run in between their operations, when they are extremely busy.”

“I also want to thank the Navy Wings charity who conserve and operate historic Royal Navy Aircraft including a Bulldog aircraft that took me on a flight over my own Bulldog. They then flew their iconic Seafire, which produced an image which will become iconic for both pieces of machinery.”

Richard Gauntlett, whose father had to cancel the project to make Bulldog the fastest production car ever, because it was too expensive for a then ailing Aston Martin company said: “I cannot believe that we are approaching the magical 200mph which I am certain we are going to exceed.

"My father would have been proud, as he always was, of the achievements of British engineers and designers and he would certainly re-iterate the importance of nurturing these skills and ensuring their survival in places like Aston Martin and CMC.”

Over the winter months CMC will continue to test the car ready for the 200+mph attempt. Both Phillip Sarofim and Richard Gauntlett would like to see this take place at the Wolfsburg circuit in Germany which is what Aston Martin intended in 1980 but other locations are being considered including Italy and Campbelltown in Scotland.

Tim Griffin from CMC said: “Our team have put in over 7,000 hours of restoration time which has resulted in the speed which was accomplished by Darren on Friday for which they are extremely proud.”

He added: “Our task now is to continue to ‘bring the car up to speed’ which we will do so now that the car is ready for the next step on its journey next spring.”