Why Aston Martin and Mercedes-AMG's tie-up will only go so far

If you think I’d buy anything that I considered an Aston, you are mistaken. They’ve made some truly great cars, and they’ve made some, well, not- so-great cars. You think I’m unrealistic, and of course I’d love a completely independent Aston Martin, and a clean sheet Aston engine like the old Marek straight 6 and V8. But I fully understand that isn’t going to happen, nor have I suggested it should or that it’s possible. However… Using Benz (or anyone’s) platforms is much too far in the opposite direction, as would be using the essentially unchanged AMG engine, which sounds like it may happen.
Aston need not, and should not, equal uncompetitive or antiquated. “Old school” may be good, even great, if it means we can still buy a car with real steering feel and a manual gearbox that doesn’t need to be driven 200mph before it becomes engaging…
I completely agree that they can’t be independent – a wonderful and romantic idea, but not possible anymore. A beneficent owner that understands, appreciates and values Aston’s heritage -- like Ford did -- is needed. The big question now is whether M-B could or would be such a partner. I hope you’re right, but I’m not at all sure M-B learned from the Maybach episode, and reducing that once-great marque to basically a trim level now suggests to me that they don’t respect heritage. And then there’s the whole Chrysler debacle, and McLaren with the SLR. M-B’s history of doing things with others is less than encouraging.
The next Astons can still have engines that are “Aston Martin engines.” To me, that means something akin to the current engines – not clean-sheet bespoke, but far more bespoke/differentiated than off-the-shelf and merely electronically tweaked to act “like an Aston Martin engine.” Profit vs maximum profit, perhaps, but badge engineering can be a very slippery slope.
Provenance is integral and vital to Aston, IMO. What’s the point of a prettier Benz, which is what a Vantage built on the AMG GT platform would be? This is certainly not “needed” for the marque to survive. For me, and I’m not alone, such a thing would NOT help it survive but rather it would destroy the integrity of the marque (especially since it’s been said that the next platform will also be adaptable to different wheelbases and so on). I’d much rather see Aston go upmarket and not do a car in the Vantage’s market (even if I end up priced out of a new Aston) than offer one that isn’t an Aston underneath. Authenticity is mandatory.
The DB7… It’s a beautiful car, and it played a crucial role in Aston’s history, but it isn’t really a true Aston to me since it’s based on an XJS. However, it was created at a time when Aston was in truly dire straits. As bad as today is at Aston, it’s nothing like it was when the DB7 was conceived – Aston built only 40-something cars in ’93 (IIRC -- give or take a year). And here’s the important thing (big credit to Ford) – once the DB7 saved Aston, Ford gave them the money to develop the completely bespoke and wonderful Vanquish, and then the bespoke Gaydon cars – no more platform or engine sharing (again, everything in the current V8 engine is unique to Aston). Ford understood that this is vital for the marque’s integrity to be preserved and to play in the top league with Ferrari (different cars of course, but similar status in car hierarchy).
Yes, they need someone to partner with, and hopefully M-B will provide enough of that, but off-the-shelf engines WON’T do – if it’s true that they’ll only be electronically changed then that’s nothing more than fakery. The engine itself – the mechanical bits – have to be different enough that Aston can legitimately claim it’s their own engine. How many/which parts must be bespoke to do this is obviously debatable, and I don’t know exactly where I’d draw that line. IMO, the current engines qualify as Aston engines, whereas an off-the-shelf AMG with different electronic tuning absolutely would not.
While the tech in the current V8V is now quite old, it remains a great car to drive. EVO recently did a comparison test and, while the AMG GT won, the V8VS (in N430 form -- identical to a V8VS mechanically) tied for second – rather good, especially for a car that’s been on the market for 10 years (and EVO says what it really thinks IMO). It did so well because the authors LOVED driving it – because it had real steering feel, beautifully balanced and exploitable handling, was engaging at low speeds as well as high, had a characterful engine and was plenty fast. That it did so well against much newer competition was NOT just because it looks great and says Aston Martin on the badge.
I bought my V8V new in ’09 after looking very thoroughly at the various “competition.” I wouldn’t have bought it if it hadn’t been objectively competitive AND subjectively appealing. But I wouldn’t even have considered it if it used a modified Benz (or anything else) platform, or if it had someone else’s off-the-shelf engine.