LANCE and Merlin look at two Aston Martins in very different conditions. One is a rare V8 Vantage X-Pack 580X, one of only a few hundred made, which despite only having 30,000 miles on the clock is having some engine trouble. The other is a shell of a 1960 Aston Martin DB4 which Lance will be using as the base for a Zagato replica, an 18 month project that will test his skills as one of the country's leading metalwork experts. The engine is being built by Aston Martin around $125,000, and the finished car should fetch over $1.25 million.
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00:00Master craftsman Lance McCormack owns one of Britain's best classic car restoration
00:05businesses, Romance of Rust. Helping him manage it is his son Merlin, the cutting edge salesman,
00:12who also runs his own classic car dealership. Together, they turn rust to riches.
00:18Today, Lance and Merlin look at two Aston Martins in very different conditions, demonstrating
00:24the extremes of work they do, from tweaks and tune-ups to full rebuilds. And this first
00:30project will test Lance's skill as one of the country's leading metalwork experts.
00:34Right, what we've got here is an Aston Martin DB4, or at least the platform chassis and
00:39the superstructure of one. We've removed all the aluminium panels. We're going to be creating
00:44a Zagato replica. What you've got here is, along with the roofline, is possibly the only
00:51identifiable piece. This is where the grill would be, the DB4 grill, in here, and you
00:56can see the classic Aston shape. All steel, and it's called a platform chassis, so it's
01:01all folded box section, and that's for lightness. Everything about this was lightness, lightness.
01:08Launched in about 1958, 59, the DB4 was an instant success. It went through various guises,
01:17series, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, then the 5 came out, which we know as the James Bond car. This is where it
01:22all came from, and in fact, like this, there's very little to tell between that. It's only the
01:28outer panels that really gave it the James Bond shape that we know and love. Zagato were quite
01:36a flamboyant coachbuilders, very notable for making beautiful cars, and the DB4 Zagato was
01:42sanctioned by Aston Martin, who sent them these type of bodies, and they converted them and put
01:49beautiful sculptural bodies on them. They clothed them in aluminium, even more flamboyant than this
01:56car was. Those cars are worth about five million. Our one finished would be just over a million
02:01pounds, but it'd be a faithful replica of a Zagato. I've even got the engine being built by
02:07Aston Martin at a cost of 100,000, and it would have GT twin plug heads, so once I've completed
02:13the Zagato conversion, it would be unrecognisable. As exciting as the conversion process is, Lance
02:19has a lot of work ahead of him. Now, I do the metal work, the panel work. A friend of mine
02:24supplies me with the aluminium skins in a very crude form, that's the outer panels. I have to
02:29be responsible for the augmentation of this body, the closing up of the wheelbase by five inches,
02:34so we're about to make a fixture that allows for that to be measured once we put the cuts in
02:39exactly the right place. These here, this is like the rib cage, this is a sill section that would
02:44all come off and be replaced with a metal course. It's not going to be like an absolute facsimile,
02:49that's not the requirement of the customer. I mean, the rear axle would look correct from
02:53underneath, but we'll house a DB7 axle, a better axle. There'll be improvements along the way,
02:58but essentially the silhouette, the general feel, the ride will be a bit better, because obviously
03:03we've progressed a bit on suspension technology. So, there's a year and a half's work here for me,
03:07not a solid year and a half, but this will be my friend, enemy, confidant for about a year and a
03:13half. Outside, Lance joins Merlin to take a look at a rare Aston Martin, in much more recognisable
03:19condition. This one's special, so this is an 89 V8 Vantage X-Pack, 580X, there's only a few
03:28under the mate. How many miles has this done? It's done 30,000 miles from you. 30,000, isn't that
03:33colour? If this wasn't an X-Pack, we'd be looking at a value of about 90 to 100,000, but in its
03:40current state, as an X-Pack, 240, 250,000. Pop the bonnet and see if there's something
03:47gone wrong with the actual linkage itself, yeah? But despite its low mileage, the car is experiencing
03:53engine trouble. If something idles, it's showing that not all is wrong, you know, if there's
04:01something seriously wrong, you won't get it idling. Idling is a delicate little phase, but on the
04:05acceleration there, it could be that the points have just closed up, it's simple as that, or it
04:12could be a diaphragm has gone and the fuel pump or the carburettor, but what we do with that,
04:16because we, you know, I go as far as I can with looking, and if it's something I can manually do,
04:21but what we tend to do at this stage is give it to our rolling road man, who has computer
04:25diagnostics, he sticks probes up the exhaust and like sensors on the engine, and the computers
04:32don't lie, generally speaking, you know? Yeah, I don't think his screwdriver's going to clear that.
04:43It's not terminally ill, but it needs diagnostics. Wednesday, she will dance again.
04:49Next time on Rust to Riches. This is a genuine 396SS,
04:53of which there really are only a handful in the country.