The Bulldog supercar, which Aston Martin built with the aim of putting the world's fastest sports car on its wheels, was recently brought together with HMS Prince of Wales, Britain's largest warship, before the car is to be tested on a Royal Naval airfield to see if the 200 miles per hour (over 320 km/h) target set at the time can now be achieved following the one-off restoration.
Target missed in 1980
When Aston Martin built the Bulldog in 1980, the plan was to create the fastest production sports car with a top speed of over 200 MPH. However, the gullwing did not manage more than 191 MPH (307 km/h) at the time. The project was discontinued due to financial constraints.
Extensive complete restoration
After an 18-month complete restoration, during which technicians from Classic Motor Cars in Bridgnorth, Shropshire, invested more than 6000 working hours in the car, it is now set to fulfill the promise made at the time with the help of the Royal Navy.
On Monday morning, November 8, there was unusual activity at a berth in the Royal Navy dockyard at Portsmouth in Hampshire. A huge crane was maneuvered alongside the aircraft carrier to move the Aston Martin Bulldog onto the flight deck of the 65,000-ton vessel.
In September, the car was unveiled at the Royal Concours at Hampton Court with the support of the Royal Marines Corp of Drums, after it was agreed that the car would undergo its first tests at the Royal Naval Air Station in Yeovilton.
It was then agreed that in between these activities, the vehicle would visit the aircraft carrier, which has just returned from sea trials where F35 Lightning stealth fighters landed on the flight deck for the first time. It is now ready for worldwide operations.
Performance on a huge ship
HMS Prince of Wales is one of the most powerful surface warships ever built in the UK. Her flight deck is 280 meters long - enough for three soccer pitches - and her supplies last for 45 days. The crew consists of around 700 people, which will increase to 1600 with the aircraft on board.
The huge ship can carry 36 F-35B fighter planes and four Merlin helicopters, and can support up to 70 fighter planes.
HMS Prince of Wales is the second Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carrier, the first being HMS Queen Elizabeth, which is currently on its way back to the UK after worldwide deployments. The ship was ordered in 2007 and completed in 2019.
On Monday, the crew, assisted by port engineers and crane operators as well as the Ministry of Defense Police, prepared to receive their latest visitor on the quayside and on sea patrol around the ship.
The car was placed in a specially designed sling that lifted the car to one of the two aircraft lifts used to move fighter planes and helicopters from a massive hangar to the flight deck. There were a few nerve-wracking moments as the car was swung into the air, but soon it was on board, on the flight deck and headed for a photo position next to the forward bridge of the aircraft carrier.
As the crew changed shifts, more and more people came up to look at the car pulling up on the deck - a meeting of the latest military technology with the then latest automotive technology of 1981.
It was a proud moment for Richard Gauntlett, son of former Aston Martin chairman Victor Gauntlett, and the team at Classic Motor Cars in Bridgnorth, Shropshire, who restored the car. Richard Gauntlett said: "The car was built in a time of great adversity and restored in a time of great adversity."
Nigel Woodward, Managing Director of CMC, said: "This really is one British engineering icon meets another. It was a fantastic moment for the CMC staff to see the car on the deck of HMS Prince of Wales after all their hard work."
The car remained on board overnight under guard before being viewed by members of the CMC team who restored the car, Richard Gauntlett with his mother and sister, and members of the media.
