So I was dreaming about owning cars beyond my reach as I often do while surfing around ebay motors. Specifically I was looking at a 2002 Aston Martin Vanquish

Aston Martin : Vanquish - eBay (item 150582672729 end time Apr-16-11 01:46:27 PDT)

I noticed the interior shares many of the same parts as our XK8s. The trip reseter, fuel and trunk buttons, turn signal lever, windshield wiper selector, A/C control, traction control button, etc. I'm sure people already knew this but it was news to me

 

There are certainly lots of similarities between XKs and Astons, and their "sibling relationship" is mentioned many times. Ford's ownership of Jaguar and their interest in Aston Martin had a lot to do with this, but does anyone know how the relationship stands in today's business world? I suppose I could go search through back issues of Fortune and/or Road & Track to find out, but I suspect someone here knows and is just itching to fill us in.

Thanks,

 

I have this book at home: "You and Your XK8" and it is a great read. Nigel Thorley is an expert in things Jaguar and put together a great collection of photos and commentary about the development and earliest days of the XK8.

Amazon.com: You & Your Jaguar XK8: Buying,Enjoying,Maintaining,Modifying (You and Your) (9781844252244): Nigel Thorley: Books

There is an interesting chapter on the development of various interior prototypes with many pictures. As I recall, the design brief spanned several themes - Modern, Sporting, Retro/Traditional (which won out), American, etc. The Modern themed interior buck was sold or transferred to Aston Martin for their use.

The book is very much worth the $20.

 

Take a look at the door mirrors on this Aston DB I did

 

I see thay also kept the stick-up-in-the-air wiper arms as well.

I swear, the XK8 (and DB1, I presume) have beautiful, graceful hood lines when viewed from the inside. Or would, if the view wasn't marred by the underside spring apparatus of the wiper arms which blocks most of it.

Check it out. Soooo close.

 

Dalen, I've been doing the same and have viewed that same car many times, she's a beaut. Some of the TECHs have mentioned before that the earlier Astons, like the 94-04 DB7s, share the same suspension components too. The basic silhouette of this car is very similar to ours:

I have to say though; I'm a sucker for the XK8/R interiors. Some prefer the modern carbon fiber look, or the piano black. But I love the Burled Walnut and leather dash.......better than the contemporary look of the new Xks or Astons. That's a Jag to me. Just my opinion.

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I knew that but when those cars were new you had to pay twice as much to buy just a fancy name ...May be not because Astons are cool .At least engine is V12

 

I recall reading that the suspension location hard points are the same. Those types of things, I guess, are expensive to engineer and sharing the solution saves money. It happens all the time on more mainstream cars...

The other day I was travelling when a DB7 (I think) came along side and he waved and everything - I'm pretty sure he thought my Jag was an Aston. In person, they look very much alike.

I really like the traditional burl 3-gauge dash. I passed on several cars until I found one with gauges, in part, to keep the old school feel. To me the long, broad, flat, wooden expanse is uniquely English. I think, though, that the piano black would be interesting to see in person.

I wonder - how hard could it be to swap out the 4 or 5 dash panels and change the interior look? Anyone parting out a Piano Black car?

 

What you do is collect all the wood panels from either Ebay or Jag bone yards, doesnt matter if they dont match doesnt matter if they are damaged slightly, you then sand and repair where necessary and paint them yourself, copious amounts of lacquer, flatting inbetween coats.

Very time consuming but if you doing it for yourself very cheap to do.


You can even get a letraset and put Jaguar and Airbag back on if you wish or something more personal, I have done it many times

 

Of course! That would be a great summer project for even the mildly handy. You don't even have to take the car off the road. I'm gong to try and locate a set...

 

I have only had my XKR for three months, but I've already started looking at the DB9 for my next car. Early models in seemingly mint condition and with under 50,000 miles can currently be found on UK eBay for around £40K: Examples

Seeing photos like the one above make me realise that AMs are significantly sexier than our cars, even if the Jag easily still makes the top 10.

In another couple of years I will be 50 and DB9s should be around the £30K mark and within my reach. Nice birthday present to myself?

 

I too prefer our interior to the Aston

 

Me too

 

Agreed.

The Aston styling is too new-ish for me. If I were to decide on a car with more modern styling, I'd rather get an Audi R8 Spyder.

The 97-06 XK's just have a classic look and appeal that I just love.

 

IT'S A FORD!

When Ford owned Aston Martin, Jaguar and others the parts flowed around. The following cars shared the same "platform":

Jag S type, Ford Tunderbird and Linclon LS.

Ford's super computer was tied up for 3 or 4 months running simulated crash tests on the all aluminum XJ8's that came out in the 2004 model year.

 

I'm wondering if that's an '02. Seems pricey and updated for that year. Wonder if the listing has a misprint. I saw a '02 Aston listed for 52K and the body styling was slightly different. The door windows had a noticable classic dip along the bottom edge towards the rear, which is missing from this design.